Different year different Cork but expect the same result as Rebels will fail to ambush Kerry in Killarney again

JACK O’Connor suggested that Cork “like coming to Killarney and in many ways they almost prefer Killarney to Cork in the sense that the pressure is almost off them a bit”.

Hmmm, we’re not so sure. They might like coming to Killarney for Munster Championship games but they’re not very good at winning them. The year 1995 still stands as the landmark year when Cork last beat Kerry in a Championship match in Fitzgerald Stadium, and until that particular albatross is removed from around the Rebels’ necks we will reserve judgement on just how much any Cork team of the last 30 years has enjoyed their day out in Killarney.

The problem for them on Saturday is that previous iterations of Cork teams – much better Cork teams than what they have now – have pitched up under the shadow of the Reeks and failed to win. Yes, there have been draws and near misses and all that, but this doesn’t look like a Cork team that can unduly trouble a Kerry team with very firm ambitions of winning the All-Ireland.

Needles to say, Jack and the Kerry players will be cautious. Cork teams playing Kerry are seldom beaten until they are back on the bus and headed down Lewis Road, but there have been have too many mismatches of late to offer much hope for a Cork shock win. The Kerry manager referenced last year’s All-Ireland Group Phase game that Kerry struggled to a two-point win in, but that was in Pairc Ui Chaoimh and one can hardly saw Cork have improved leaps and bounds since then.

That they fail to get out of Division 2 year after year indicates a certain stasis in their development, and this year’s National League campaign was mediocre to poor for John Cleary’s side by any metric. They lost their first three games, managed to win the next three (against the more inferior teams in the division) and managed a final round draw with Armagh when the Ulster side had already qualified for the Division 2 final and were never likely to extend themselves fully on a long trip south the Cork.

As for Kerry, the management have their Portugal training camp behind them and are now very much in Championship mode, even if the paucity of competition in the Munster Championship feels like somewhat of a hiatus until the All-Ireland series kicks in. Nevertheless, as training moves from softer surfaces in Currans to a (hopefully) quickening sod in Killarney, everything about Kerry’s season will have been geared up a few notches in the since the start of April.

The provincial champions will, as expected, be without Jason Foley – though the news is quite positive on the full back who is back doing some training following the ankle injury he suffered in the League game away to Roscommon on St Patrick’s Day. O’Connor was circumspect enough on the exact readiness of some of those who sat out the latter stages of the league because of injury, other than to assure the media on Monday that all bar Foley are in training and therefore in contention to face Cork on Saturday.

The big conundrum then is who wears the no.3 jersey? Dylan Casey carried the full back jersey in the final league game against Galway but Tadhg Morley was the de facto full back that day, and something similar can be expected on Saturday. Indeed, it may well be a horses for courses policy from Kerry when it comes to their full back line, with Cork’s inside trio of Conor Corbett, Brian Hurley and Chris Óg Jones to be respected and a little feared. Morley, Graham O’Sullivan and Tom O’Sullivan (if fit) may well be tasked with shackling that inside threat from the visitors.

Outside them, Paul Murphy, Gavin White and either Brian O Beaglaoich, Sean O’Brien or Casey might get the nod in the half back line.

Midfield could be a head-scratcher too, for Kerry, much less so for Cork. John Cleary will reliably turn to Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan to bulwark the middle of the field, and it is an area Cork will hope to make some gains. In fact, they absolutely must come out on top there is they are to have any chance of victory.

Kerry are less than certain in this area. The departure of Jack Barry leaves an opening, one that Joe O’Connor seemed most likely to fill, although a slight injury could keep the Austin Stacks man and Kerry’s 2022 All-Ireland winning captain sidelined on Saturday.

Diarmuid O’Connor is a lock to start in the middle, so it remains to be seen will it be his namesake Joe or Barry O’Sullivan who lines up beside him. Adrian Spillane would be a safer alternative, while Cillian Burke named at centrefield would be less so.

Up front the Clifford brothers and Sean O’Shea pick themselves, and after that it is anyone’s guess. The aforementioned Burke – prior to his mid-League injury – was impressive in the half forward line, while Dara Moynihan did little wrong when he was on the pitch.

Adrian and Killian Spillane will stake their claims for inclusion in the half and full forward lines respectively, while Paul, Conor and Dylan Geaney along with Darragh Roche will come into contention too.

It all adds up to a Munster Championship clash between Kerry and Cork that should be coming in on a much bigger wave of anticipation than it is. Optimists suggest there might be 20,000 in Killarney, though a number closer to 15,000 might be more accurate; much will depend on weather, though the absence of the game on free-to-air television (it is available on GAAGO) might tempt a few more to the Stadium, if only out of a sense of duty and/or morbid fascination.

In any event, we can expect the usual: Cork put it up to Kerry for somewhere between 30 and 50 minutes, maybe cause a scare or two before running out of gas and ideas and seeing Kerry pull away to the tune of an eight to 12-point win.