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| Final Score in Killarney |
The Kingdom dominated the first half much to the delight of the 43,000 in attendance. The thrill of the match and the warm sunshine proved too much for some in the crowd as a man next to me in the O'Connor Stand spent the first 10 minutes of the match screaming and the rest sitting with his head down. Maybe he just had too many pints but a poor performance on his part nonetheless.
Kerry led by 9 at the half. A goal from Darren O'Sullivan and an impressive display of accuracy from Declan O'Sullivan helped build the lead. Also Kieran Donaghy was brilliant all over the pitch. He won possession at full forward but also wandered out to shore up the midfield at times. Kieran O'Leary was the only black spot as he fired wides and moved the ball poorly in comparison to the brilliance of the others in the Kerry front six.
The match could have been quite different from the start. In the fifth minute Kerry keeper Brendan Kealy made a great save on a Donnacha O'Connor goal chance. It was The Kingdom's half as Cork would scarcely threaten again in the first 35 minutes.
A Game of 2 Halves
The second half however belonged to Cork. Kerry tallied an early score and the match looked to be over. The Rebels had other ideas. They held Kerry scoreless for 25 minutes and chipped away at the lead. Cork dominated the midfield as waves of Rebels streamed down the centre of the pitch for easy scores. Kerry substituted Micheal Quirke into the midfield to patch the broken middle third. Quirke's presence on the pitch made matters much worse for Kerry.
Jack O'Connor doesn't seem to realise what the other 43,000 people in FitzGerald Stadium already know - Micheal Quirke does not have the pace nor the skill for inter-county football. In fact, I wouldn't put him on as a Junior B manager. Cork ball-carriers waltzed past Quirke. The Rebel points continued with Quirke chasing 5 steps behind the ball. Awful stuff.
A goal from a penalty saw the Cork supporters near lunacy as a fantastic comeback looked to be in the making. It was not to be. After closing the gap to a single point, Kerry turned the tide with confident scores from Eoin Brosnan and James O'Donohue (who should have started in place of Kieran O'Leary in the #15 jersey) to finish the match ahead by three.
Kerry now look to avoid the Quarter-final let down they experienced last year against Down. Cork head to the qualifiers but remain serious contenders despite the loss. It was a great day for football...too bad the seated man next to me missed it.
We never know what might happen in sports, and in a drunken man's head.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I couldn't see the match, from what I've heard and read about it, it was a great and full of turnarounds match, makes me regret bitterly I did not watch it.
Hi Antoine. Thanks for the comment. It was a great match and a great day to be in the stadium and I have a sunburn to prove it! Thanks for reading the blog.
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