CORK 1-25
KERRY 3-21
(aet)
MATTHEW HURLEY REPORTS
‘YOU might believe me now,’ Kerry boss Jack O’Connor quipped after watching his side get out of jail in an epic Munster senior football semi-final.
It took the reigning provincial champions and Division 1 kingpins almost 90 minutes to fight off a Cork team that will rue this as one that got away. Extra-time was needed to separate these two, and even then it took a superb goal by Joe O’Connor to fire Kerry to a two-point win as the rain cascaded down on Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night.
‘I was trying to convince you fellas that we were in for a big battle. You weren’t believing me. I don’t think you believed me anyway,’ Jack O’Connor added. ‘This is a good Cork team. When they have all their men, they are a serious team. They’re big. They’re strong. They’re athletic. They have pace.’
While O’Connor was a relieved man, Cork boss John Cleary was dejected – he knows this was a great opportunity for his side to make their mark, but ultimately the Rebels came up short.
‘There is nothing positive in my mind at the moment. We were beaten. We’re not going into the Munster final,’ Cleary stated.
‘We came in here hell-bent on winning the game. We firmly believed we could. A lot of people outside our group didn’t believe that but I knew we were going very well in training in the last two weeks and I knew we’d play well here.’
After Conor Cahalane made it 1-25 to 2-21 with five minutes of extra-time to go, a famous win looked on the cards. But then Joe O’Connor unleashed a rasper to send Kerry two ahead.
Instantly, Cahalane had a goal chance as he saw a gap but dragged his shot wide.
Cathail O’Mahony had a couple of two-pointed efforts to take the game to spot kicks but it just wasn’t to be as the Rebels had ten misses in extra-time compared to Kerry’s none. The difference between victory and defeat.
‘It didn’t look like there was a goal on. In fairness, Joe O’Connor took it. It was a huge score but after that we had chances but ultimately we fell that small bit short and we are going home disappointed,’ Cleary admitted.
With 29 minutes gone, the visitors led 0-11 to 0-4 and it looked to be easy for the Kingdom. To Cork’s credit, they hit back. Four unanswered scores from Brian O’Driscoll (0-3, 1tp), Ian Maguire and a Mark Cronin 45 had the gap down to two going into the dressing rooms, 0-11 to 0-9.
A Brian Hurley two-pointed free had the Rebels level but points from Seán O’Shea, Paul and Dylan Geaney, Paudie and David Clifford and Barry Dan O’Sullivan had Cork chasing the game again. A great run by Paudie Clifford set up Paul Geaney to blast to the net and it seemed to be curtains for Cork, trailing 1-17 to 0-13. That was until a high challenge from Paudie Clifford on Matty Taylor resulted in Kerry going down to 14 men.
Two two-pointers in the space of two minutes by O’Mahony and Seán McDonnell made it a one score game. A bad Kerry kickout followed and Chris Óg Jones fired to the bottom corner. The Páirc was alive. 1-17 each. Game on. Incredibly, Ruairí Deane gave the home side the lead for the first time and hope was turning to reality. However, O’Shea made a great run in cutting inside from the left before goaling to put Kerry in front again. Cork never gave up though and Cronin and Eoghan McSweeney brought this rip-roaring game to extra-time.
Four misses at the start of the additional period, including Jones’ goal chance being saved by sub Kerry shot-stopper Shane Murphy were vital in denying Cork. Those missed chances became even more paramount when Cork’s Seán Brady was dismissed following a challenge on Joe O’Connor.
‘From my vantage point, I thought both sending-offs were very harsh. I think on another day, Paudie Clifford’s was probably a yellow-card and Seán Brady’s was definitely not a sending-off,’ Cleary insisted.
Cork battled on though and took the lead in the second period of extra time but Kerry showed their experience in seeing out an incredible encounter.
Scorers
Cork: Chris Óg Jones 1-3 (1f); Brian O’Driscoll 0-5 (2tp); Mark Cronin (1f, 1 ’45), Brian Hurley (1tpf), Seán McDonnell (1tp), Eoghan McSweeney (1tp) 0-3 each; Cathail O’Mahony 0-2 (tp); Ian Maguire, Ruairí Deane, Conor Cahalane 0-1 each.
Kerry: David Clifford 0-9 (1tp, 1f); Paul Geaney 1-3; Joe O’Connor, Seán O’Shea 1-1 each; Paudie Clifford, Dylan Geaney 0-2 each; Ruairí Murphy, Barry Dan O’Sullivan, Killian Spillane 0-1 each.
Cork: Michéal Aodh Martin; Seán Brady, Daniel O’Mahony, Tommy Walsh; Brian O’Driscoll, Rory Maguire, Matty Taylor; Ian Maguire, Colm O’Callaghan; Paul Walsh, Seán Powter, Seán McDonnell; Mark Cronin, Brian Hurley (captain), Chris Óg Jones.
Subs: Maurice Shanley for T Walsh (14, inj); Ruairí Deane for S Powter (48); Eoghan McSweeny for P Walsh (53); Cathail O’Mahony for B Hurley (59); Neil Lordan for M Shanley (65); Seán Walsh for I Maguire (76); Conor Cahalane for S McDonnell (78); Hugh O’Connor for M Cronin (ht-et); Darragh Cashman for R Deane (84, inj).
Kerry: Shane Ryan; Paul Murphy, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Tadhg Morley, Gavin White (captain); Joe O’Connor, Barry Dan O’Sullivan; Ruairí Murphy, Paudie Clifford, Graham O’Sullivan; David Clifford, Paul Geaney, Dylan Geaney.
Subs: Shane Murphy for S Ryan (24, inj); Seán O’Shea for R Murphy, Damien Bourke for P Murphy (both ht); Tony Brosnan for P Geaney (60); Killian Spillane for D Geaney (et); Micheál Burns for G O’Sullivan (78); Armin Heinrich for B Ó Beaglaoich (ht-et).
Referee: Barry Tiernan (Dublin).
