Cork vs. Kerry

A Special Preview Of The 2007 Bank Of Ireland Senior Football Championship Final - Cork vs. Kerry

By Dermot Kavanagh

If Cork repeat the disappointing performances which they produced in their last two championship games against Kerry at Croke Park in 2005 and 2006, then the outcome of next Sunday's clash between those keen Munster rivals will be easily predicted. On both of these occasions Cork could just not produce anything like the form that has made them quite a formidable outfit wherever they play at Killarney or Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

However Cork went some way to exorcising these Croke Park ghosts with a highly commendable win over Meath in the semi-final. The question now remains is if they can reproduce that form against a Kerry side who, one suspects, will be more than pleased with the manner in which they disposed of Dublin last time out.

Leaving aside Cork's poor record at Croke Park in recent years, on this year's league performances they would safely be regarded with Kerry, Dublin, Meath and Tyrone as one of the 'Big Five' of the football world. They should in fact have won the Munster final when they spurned an opportunity to either score a goal, a point or free, or a penalty in the last minute, any of which would have been enough to retain their Munster title.

At the time of writing it is not known if Cork's leading goal scorer, James Masters will be fit to play. To the credit of the forwards as they lined out against Meath, Masters was not missed, but that is not to say that he would not be an asset against Kerry, despite his relative lack of success against Marc O Se in their most recent encounters.

Kerry also have injury problems in the person of Darragh O Se, their most influential player. If there are any limitations on O Se's captaincy to play up his usual high standard, Cork, in the persons of Nicholas Murphy and Derek Kavanagh could enjoy significant midfield dominance. Given the troubles that Murphy encountered against O Se in last year's semi-final, most unfairly inflicted, one suspects that he will spare no effort to balance his account with O Se on the biggest stage.

Cork must decide how best to use the undoubted talents of towering full forward, Michael Cussen. Up to now his role has not been properly defined and the service to him has accordingly been haphazard. Cussen looks an accomplished footballer and it would surely be remiss of Cork to neglect to use his best attributes sensibly. If Kerry bring the better parts of their game to the pitch it is difficult to see them coming up short. For periods of the semi-final they looked awesome, with Declan O'Sullivan and Colin Cooper appearing almost unmarkable. One of the difficulties that Cork will undoubtedly encounter is that if O Sullivan and Cooper are held Kerry have other players such as Brosnan, Sheehan and Galvin who can do untold damage. The one area where Cork might suffer is that their forward line as a unit does not appear to have the potency of their Kerry counterparts. If, however, they do manage to put away the majority of the chances that an in-form Murphy and Kavanagh will set up, Cork do have a realistic chance of winning. It's a big if, but not without its possibilities.

Were the contests just between the respected managers, Cork would already be home and dried. Cork does have a chance, but it will require that all of their high-profile players play to the limit of their abilities. Their defence and midfield is equal to that of Kerry, but it's from Numbers 10 to 15 where Cork might flounder.

If that were to happen, a familiar song will be played out as the Sam Maguire will definitely be heading kingdom way for another 12 months.