We targeted third quarter – Kerrigan

WHILE Cork’s victory over Monaghan last Sunday has helped to ease their relegation worries, Paul Kerrigan says it’s imperative that there will be no drop in their intensity levels for the next two games against Down and Kerry.

The Rebel captain revealed the management and the players were approaching the run-in in the group stage of the league with championship-like intensity, adding that it amounted to a big shift in attitude from what was evident when they were humiliated by Roscommon at Pairc Uí Rinn last month.

“We were probably a bit naive in the way we set ourselves up that day, but we had a chat amongst ourselves the following week with the aim of figuring out how why it went so horribly wrong for us.

“I know it’s a buzz word that can be thrown out there, but we felt it basically came down to work-rate, so we decided we needed to show a bit more pride in ourselves and get more out of ourselves over the next two games.

“We have now put two good performances back to back, the first against the All-Ireland champions Dublin, which we didn’t win, and today against Monaghan, which we did win.

“Just to be a bit more consistent from this point onwards is obviously the priority, and if we can manage that, I think we’ll be a very hard team to beat,” he stated.

Kerrigan said there was ‘fierce purpose and massive intensity’ in Cork’s display against the Ulster champions, and that everybody was well tuned in from the throw-in.

“That should be non-negotiable in every game, because if the work-rate and endeavour isn’t there, we can look very average, as was plain for all to see against Roscommon.

“When it is there, we’d be in with a chance against anyone, and hopefully we can take it forward into the next match against Down.”

The Nemo Rangers man admitted he expected a much stiffer test from Monaghan, especially since they were more or less in the same position as Cork going into the game.

“Monaghan gave a very similar performance as us against Dublin in Croke Park, they played very well and lost by a point or two in the end. They were also pipped at the post by Mayo last week-end, so they facing a third defeat in a row, and this was a kinda championship game for them as well, but we went at it right from the off today, and we had 1-5 on the board before they knew what hit them.

“They were always chasing the game from there, although they did pull the lead back to four points nearing half time. We settled down again to go in six points up, but, after what happened against Dublin, the third quarter had been a big talking-point for us before the game.

“In the Dublin match, we probably went into our shell a bit in the second half, so we really targeted the third quarter today, and we won it by six points to three, which set us up nicely for the victory.”

Kerrigan said there is a very positive mood in the squad as a result of the last two displays, but he wasn’t prepared to make any predictions as to how the rest of the league would pan out.

“Obviously, it would be ideal if we could get to the quarter finals, but the bottom line is that we don’t want to go down to Division 2.”