Kelleher heaps praise on his forward colleagues

IT was no major surprise that Peter Kelleher was called up to the Cork senior football squad for last year’s championship.

He had been very impressive with the Under 21 team earlier in the season, most notably in the Munster final when his contribution at full-forward was the primary reason why Cork managed to run a better-balanced Tipperary side to a point in Thurles.

He made his senior championship debut as a late substitute in the opening round against Clare in 2015, but he didn’t feature for the rest of the campaign, and it seemed as if it might take a while before he would be able to nail down a regular place on the team.

He got an opportunity to lay down a marker in the league this season, however, and he certainly made the most of it, so much so that he is now in pole position to claim the No 14 shirt in the championship ahead.

While obviously delighted with the way things have gone for him so far, Kelleher admits he didn’t expect to be included on the senior team for so many games in the league, stating that his main focus at the start of the year was on the Munster Under 21 championship.

“This is my last year with the Under 21 team, so I wasn’t thinking about playing with the seniors too much, but when I got the chance I just couldn’t turn it down, and once I stayed injury-free, I felt it might work out okay,” said the second year accountancy student at CIT.

“To get to play against Dublin in Croke Park was a great experience, because it was my first time up there, but the most important thing as far as I’m concerned at this stage is that we have qualified for the All-Ireland Under 21 final, and it would be the icing on the cake if we can get the job done against Mayo on Saturday.”

Kelleher revealed he was very hopeful about Cork’s prospects going into the Munster championship, especially since they appeared to have a relatively straightforward passage to the final.

“We knew we’d be able to get through the first two games against Clare and Waterford providing we weren’t too complacent, and I felt winning a couple of games on the road gave us a good building block, although some people suggested it would be a handicap that we hadn’t been seriously tested before we took on Kerry.

“We were certainly tested below in Tralee, but we really showed what we were capable of, and it was a huge boost to confidence when we came through it.

“We went two goals up in the first half, but then we took the foot off the pedal a small bit, and, to be honest, I felt we didn’t play with as much intensity as we should have in the second half either.

“We knew there was a lot more in us, and we produced it in the All-Ireland semi final to come out on top against a very good Monaghan side. No doubt, we’ll be facing another stiff test against Mayo, but we’re quietly confident we can rise to the challenge, knowing that form is a great thing, as is consistency, and we’ve had both of them so far.”

Kelleher says he didn’t see much of Mayo’s semi-final win over Dublin, but he doesn’t imagine Cork will be adopting a different approach for the showdown with the Connacht champions.

“I’m sure our management will have their homework done on Mayo, but I expect we’ll be told to concentrate on our own game, because there’s no need to change something that has worked out well up to now.”

Whatever about Cork’s strategy, it can be safely said that keeping Kelleher in check will form a major part of Mayo’s plans, given his rapidly growing reputation as a target-man up front.

He insists, however, there’s a lot of talented individuals in the Cork attack.

“We have a good balance inside, and I have Brian Coakley, who was the most influential player on the Carrigaline team that won a premier intermediate county title last year, and Michael Hurley, who is absolutely alert to everything, at either side of me, so you just can’t single out anyone,” he remarked. At the same time, the likelihood is that the extent of Kelleher’s influence on the proceedings will have a big bearing on the outcome in Ennis on Saturday when he will be hoping create a little bit of history by becoming the first Kilmichael clubman to win an All-Ireland Under 21

medal with Cork.