The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Kerry secure a fifth successive Munster title with minimum fuss
KERRY secured a five-in-a-row of Munster Senior Football titles at sun splashed Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney on Sunday last when over powering Cork to win their 79th provincial title (1-23 to 0-15).
It was a victory achieved probably a little easier than Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice would have liked but at the end of the day Kerry did exactly what they had to do. David Moran made a huge statement of intent when driving into the heart of the Cork defence from the throw-in and laying off to Paul Geaney who pointed with ease. Kerry followed with three more points in as many minutes and straight away the good start that every underdog craves for had been denied to Cork. With Geaney and James O’Donoghue in top form, Kerry drove on to put six between the sides with twenty minutes gone but they then seemed to take their foot off the pedal and Cork accepted the invitation to join in the scoring and at the break the Rebels were in a good enough position given that they were just two scores in arrears (0-11 to 0-7).
Again Kerry restarted in a devastating mood and went one better than their opening half blitz putting over five stunning points in a five minute spell with the introduction of Stephen O’Brien being central to an upping of the tempo by the home side. Kerry had taken the wind out of the Cork sails and by the time Kieran Donaghy laid on a goal for Paul Geaney in the 28th minute of the half Kerry were well on their way to an emphatic victory.
This was a welcome step up in pace and intensity from the form Kerry displayed in the semi final against Clare and no doubt Eamonn Fitzmaurice and his management team will be very pleased with the days work. Kerry’s discipline improved as well and that was another welcome factor.
KERRY head into the quarter-finals on July 30 in a good place but from here on in you would expect that the opposition – from the ‘A’ side of the qualifiers – will be somewhat tougher than that served up by Cork last weekend. Munster are paired with Connacht for the quarter-finals. On the ‘A’ side of the qualifiers at present, Meath will play Donegal and Clare will play Mayo. The winners of those two games will be drawn against the provincial final losers in Round 4 i.e. Cork and Galway or Roscommon. The Round 4 winners will play Kerry and the Connacht champions (Galway or Roscommon) in the quarter-finals. Repeat pairings will be avoided so Kerry cannot play either Cork or Clare should either advance to the quarter-finals.
The game on Sunday last may not have been the wonderful contest many people had hoped it would be but Munster final day was again a wonderful occasion and our thanks to all the voluntary people who made sure that everything ran smoothly from an organisational point of view. There was a larger than expected attendance of 31,836 at the game and unless we get a few drawn games between the sides it is going to be at least 2021 before Kerry and Cork meet in the Fitzgerald Stadium again given that the Kingdom owe the Rebels three games following the closure of Páirc Uí Chaoimh after the 2014 Championship meeting between the sides.