How’s everyone? It’s Munster football final day in Killarney and the province’s marquee fixture is about to go down again.
Will it be revenge for hosts Kerry or can Cork, who shocked them in the championship last year, become the first team to win on Kerry soil in 1995?
Poll Results:
Here’s how the two sides line out today, with Kerry making two changes and Cork one change to their originally named teams.
Cork change with Michael Hurley in for Paul Walsh.
— Fintan O'Toole (@fotoole13) July 25, 2021
Kerry bring in Paul Murphy and Jack Barry for Gavin Crowley and Micheál Burns.
Kerry: Shane Ryan; Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Jason Foley, Tom O’Sullivan; Michael Breen, Paul Murphy, Gavin White; David Moran, Diarmuid O’Connor; Jack Barry, Seán O’Shea, Stephen O’Brien; David Clifford, Paul Geaney, Paudie Clifford.
Cork: Mícheál Martin; Kevin O’Donovan, Sean Meehan, Kevin Flahive; Cian Kiely, Sean Powter, Mattie Taylor; Ian Maguire, Michael Hurley; John O’Rourke, Ruairi Deane, Brian Hartnett; Luke Connolly, Brian Hurley, Daniel Dineen.
You just know this fella has been thinking all year about last season’s game…
1′ – A bit of a scuffle before the ball is even in the air delays things slightly. Great start.
And now we’re under way at Fitzgerald Stadium!
2′ - Really nice team move by Cork ends in a score: Kevin Flahive started it and Michael Hurley finished it. Great point and Cork, who have started the brighter (less than two mins in), lead.
3′ - Goal chance! A surging run by Jack Barry who puts Sean O’Shea through, and rather than square the ball to Clifford he fires towards goal but it thwarted by Micheál Martin. Cork shepherded him well, too, in fairness.
Up the other end, Luke Connolly fires high and narrowly wide.
5′ - Michael Hurley with time and space doubles Cork’s lead.
6′ - ANOTHER goal chance for Kerry! Great play by Páidí Clifford, who tees up David Clifford, but his left-footed drive is not only saved, but held by Martin. Great Kerry move, good save. Kerry should have two goals!
7′ - Dan Dineen scores his first ever championship point from a mark, and Cork lead by three early here in Killarney.
8′ - Seán O’Shea gets Kerry off the mark from a free after a good run by Páidí Clifford. Seconds later, Paul Geaney fists one over. He made that one himself.
10′ - Ah, that’s a beautiful score by Brian Hurley, whose brother already has scored two.
He curls one over the bar from the tightest of angles and Cork lead by two once more.
13′ - Another sweeping team move by Cork finished by Brian Hartnett. A really impressive start by the Rebels.
15′ – Tom O’Sullivan pops one over, an easy score and a cheap score from Cork’s perspective. Kerry back within two.
17′ - IT’S A GOAL FOR CORK!!! Brilliant, brilliant goal: it all starts with some superb defending by John O’Rourke. Cork break through Ian Maguire, who plays a nice ball to Michael Hurley.
Hurley backs himself and steams through on goal before finishing low into the net.
Páidí Clifford points in response for The Kingdom.
19′ - Kerry scored another point a couple of minutes ago, there — I missed who got it, apologies.
Brian Hurley and David Moran have since exchanged tidy scores.
21′ - Páidí Clifford, who has been impressive again, tries to manufacture a goal chance but winds up firing over off his left.
23′ - Tom O’Sullivan grabs his second. Kerry are warming into this.
26′ - The gap is down to one. Good play by the Cliffords, with Jack Barry eventually being put through. Barry takes his point — there may have been a goal there for him.
28′ - Michael Hurley is way off the mark with a mishit free. Luke Connolly does exceptionally well to turn it into a chance for John O’Rourke, who hits the post. Kerry come away.
Seán O’Shea levels up the other end!
30′ -David Clifford lays one off to Seán O’Shea, who puts his side in the driving seat.
Kerry all over Cork since the water break.
32′ - Beautiful point from Connolly to level. Outside of the boot, 45 yards, over the black spot. Delicious. Cork needed that.
33′ - GOOOOAAALLLL! Brían Ó Beaglaoich runs about 50 yards, totally uninterrupted, and lashes past Martin into the bottom left-hand corner. Brilliant goal by Ó Beagloich, but really poor defending by Cork, who backed off and backed off.
36′ - Killian Spillane extends Kerry’s lead to four. He came on for the injured Diarmuid O’Connor about 15 minutes ago.
O’Shea gives the hosts a five-point lead at the break.
A good first quarter by Cork, but after the water break they’ve become wasteful while Kerry have upped the ante.
Catch you in a few!
36′ - Micheál Martin has been replaced at half time by Ronan McCarthy, with Clonakilty’s Mark White coming in for his eighth championship appearance.
One would imagine it has something to do with the kickouts, because Cork lost so many of them in the first half. We’re under way for the second 35.
37′ - Michael Hurley is off the mark with a long-range free. Cork need a few of those to start dropping over if they’re going to stay in this. Their shooting accuracy is less than 50% with eight wides and John O’Rourke twice hitting the post.
38′ - GOOOOOAAALLL! Paul Geaney with the finish under Mark White, after being picked out by Seán O’Shea.
It was a counter-attack by Kerry after a brilliant run by Seán Powter which resulted in nothing for Cork. That’s the difference, really.
You can probably stick a fork in this one.
41′ - Kerry lead by nine after Páidí Clifford fists over from a tight angle.
This could turn ugly, now. Going to be a long half an hour for Cork fans, and especially those players in that heat.
43′ - Mark Collins has a free drop into the arms of Shane Ryan. Cork have only scored once in the last half an hour or so.
Jack Barry fires over down the other end after nice, close build-up play.
45′ - GOOOOOAALLL! It’s Seánie O’Shea who pats the ball home after a brilliant run and squared ball by that man again, Páidí Clifford.
This is going to get ugly.
47′ - Yikes. The ball is bundled home by Geaney after a nice interchange and a fresh-aired attempt by another Kerry forward, who I couldn’t identify.
Kerry lead by 16 and they’re starting to rub it in, now.
50′ – One of the few bright points for Cork, aside from the opening quarter, has been the performance of Seán Meehan, who has so far kept David Clifford scoreless.
Meanwhile, Brian Hurley hits an awful wide. Cork understandably demoralised.
55′ - Seánie O’Shea with a free. He has a goal and five.
We go to the water break. Cork haven’t scored in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, Damian Lawlor on RTÉ is reporting that Micheál Martin may have come off injured at half-time; his shoulder is heavily strapped.
59′ - Ian Maguire gets Cork’s first score of the second half in the 56th minute. They’ve scored only two points since the first water break.
60′ - Clifford finally gets his first score, a fairly straightforward free.
63′ - Stephen O’Brien pops one over. Kerry by 18.
64′ - Ian Maguire goes on a fine run and fashions a goal chance but drags a left-footed shot wide. He cuts a frustrated figure afterwards, as do a number of his team-mates.
67′ – Seán O’Shea scores a free from 13 yards.
You’d have to say it’s unlikely Kerry will be caught from here…
69′ - Tadhg Morley fists one over after being found by the outstanding O’Shea.
69′ - Killian Spillane strokes one over.
71′ - It’s just as well Seán Meehan has kept David Clifford quiet…
72′ - Ruairí Deane is sent off for lashing out at somebody, I didn’t see who. Brian Hurley scores a point that could hardly be described as a consolation for Cork.
74′ - Mike Breen becomes the 11th player to score for Kerry this afternoon.
74′ - Tommy Walsh pokes one over off his left. Kerry lead by 22.
That’s that: Kerry are Munster champions once again and they head for HQ with a pep in their step.
Questions for Cork, whose performance got worse and worse after the first water break.
That’s all from us, folks. Fintan O’Toole will have a full report up on The42 shortly. ‘Til next time, mind yourselves.
