Not surprisingly we are absolutely gutted after a defeat like that – manager
A LOT for anyone to have to take in after everything that happened over the course of the 80 plus minutes, but Cork Junior manager Paul McCarthy did take a degree of pride in how close Cork ran the reigning All-Ireland Champions at this level.
“Not surprisingly, we are absolutely gutted after a defeat like that because in normal time we almost had it. We did a couple of silly things late in the game, but there’s massive credit due to our fellows for coming back and forcing the match into extra-time.
“Unfortunately, we came up short in extra-time and Kerry showed that they’ve quality players all over the field with a lot of options off the bench on top of that. Sadly, we couldn’t match that,” he said.
Considering the opposition and the total scored it makes the defeat all the more harder to take.
“Not many teams take Kerry for a score of 3-20, regardless of extra-time, which made the result all the more unpalatable from a Cork perspective. Scoring 3-20 and losing is quite unbelievable really, though it was a high-quality game with some brilliant scores at either end.
“We came into the game as massive underdogs and few gave us a chance of winning, but we decided to have one cut off it and were probably only two minutes away from winning, the Cork Junior boss said.
Even with the odds seemingly stacked against them in advance, McCarthy said that the team were always confident of putting in a performance.
“There was never a doubt about the character in the team. We knew that all along. Once our lads settled into the game they played some outstanding football. We took them on up front with our pace and worked the ball quite sensible into the forwards. We Players will benefit hugely from the experience and hopefully one or two might to on to our seniors
got some tremendous scores,” he said.
The question about the future of the Junior grade is propping up more and more, but McCarthy still feels there is value to it.
“Leinster had their biggest entry this year in the competition. Unfortunately, there were teams who dropped out in Munster for some strange reason. I’ve no doubt the people here thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle and they will reflect on what a tremendous game of football they witnessed.
“Players will benefit hugely from the experience and hopefully one or two might go on to our senior team in the years to come, as I’m sure some from Kerry will do as well.”