HAVING lost by ten points to a Kerry team easing up earlier this month, the Cork U20 footballers will go into the Munster final against the same opposition as rank outsiders.
Cork needed a last-minute draw against Tipperary (1-11 to 0-14) to seal their place in Monday night’s Munster final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh while Kerry have been in blistering form, winning all their games with ease so far.
Worryingly, Cork’s 1-22 to 1-12 loss to the Kingdom in Tralee could be an indication of what is to come. There is no doubt that this will be a tough task as Cork go in search of a first Munster U20 football title since 2021. Ray O’Mahony and his management team know this.
‘It’s always challenging when you play Kerry, they are a top side. They are fancying themselves to go all the way and won all of their Munster championship matches fairly convincingly. Their average winning margin is 14 points,’ the Cork boss told The Southern Star.
‘We know we let ourselves down in certain departments in Tralee that night but if we can bring more intensity and match them in certain areas, we can go toe-to-toe with them but it’s all on the night.
‘They are littered with quality players. Ben Murphy. Eddie Healy has played senior league for Kerry against Derry. Paddy Lane obviously. Cormac Dillon is due back, he’s another big addition to them too.’
After that heavy loss, Cork needed a response against Tipperary to qualify for the provincial final. They also had to show battling qualities in a game that threatened to end their season.
‘There was a key moment in that game when we kicked the ball to Tipperary. They came down the field and Gearóid Daly and Colin Molloy put immense pressure on the kicker as he got into the 20-yard line and forced him into overcarrying the ball,’ O’Mahony recalled.
‘That next phase of play led to a wide and then Seánie (O’Leary) won the kickout and we got a goal from it. All that was in the space of two minutes. That was a key part of the first half. In the second half, we did stretch the lead out to three points, they clawed us back but I just thought the composure and character in the end down the final straight was very good by a young group in a challenging situation.’
There are some doubts on the injury front heading into the Munster final. Carbery Rangers’ Dylan O’Neill, who is the Rebels’ top scorer in this campaign with 2-7, went off early against Tipperary, but there is good news too.
‘Dylan is just nursing an injury at the moment; we’ll take it on a day-by-day basis. Micheál Maguire is back, which is positive. That was his first bit of minutes against Tipperary. Dara Sheedy is still on the road to full recovery and Ed Myers is being monitored closely by the medical team,’ O’Mahony added.
‘We went back training on the Friday evening after the Tipp game. We had to correct a few things that went wrong against Tipperary and maybe the previous day against Kerry. Our short-term objective was to get to a Munster final. We’re there now. We’ll prepare as best as we can. If we bring our A game, we’ll give ourselves a chance.’
It has been well documented that Cork have struggled against Kerry at all grades.
The Kingdom have won nine consecutive games against Cork across minor, U20 and senior and a Cork team hasn’t beaten a Kerry team since the minors in 2023.
Regardless, the U20s are just focusing on themselves.
‘We take it on a game-by-game basis. We aren’t looking at the past or whatever. Real Madrid have won the most Champions Leagues and Arsenal turned them over. We don’t look at the newspapers or tweets or any of that sort of stuff. We just focus on ourselves,’ O’Mahony stated.
‘We are focusing on what we can bring to the table. If we can put in a good performance, who knows what can happen after 60 odd minutes.’
Can home advantage help Cork turn the tide? It almost worked in the seniors’ favour in last weekend’s epic Munster SFC semi-final.
‘We travelled long distances twice in six days – we went up to Quilty on the first day against Clare and we were down in Tralee six days later. You must factor in as well that a lot of the lads might have an hour or two to get to the bus and then you go onwards for another couple of hours. That can be taxing on the body. You always take advantage when you are playing at home,’ the Cork manager added, hopeful his side can cause a shock and dethrone the Kingdom.
