Cork v Kerry

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1. Ken O'Halloran (Bishopstown)

2. James Loughrey (Mallow)

3. Michael Shields (St. Finbarr's)

4. Tom Clancy (Clonakilty)

5.Tomás Clancy (Fermoy)

6. Stephen O'Donoghue (Ballincollig)

7. Jamie O'Sullivan (Bishopstown)

8. Eoin Cadogan (Douglas)

9. Fintan Goold (Macroom)

10. Kevin O'Driscoll (Tadhg MacCarthaigh)

11. John O'Rourke (Carbery Rangers)

12. Colm O'Driscoll (Tadhg MacCarthaigh)

13. Colm O'Neill (Ballyclough)

14.  Mark Collins (Castlehaven)

15. Brian Hurley (Castlehaven)

Subs:

16. Michael Martin (Nemo Rangers)

17. Conor Dorman (Bishopstown)

18. Noel Galvin (Ballincollig)

19. Brian O'Driscoll (Tadhg MacCarthaigh)

20. Donnacha O'Connor (Ballydesmond)

21. Patrick Kelly (Ballincollig)

22. Paul Kerrigan (Nemo Rangers)

23. Daniel Goulding (Éire Óg)

24. John Hayes (Carbery Rangers)

25. Donal Óg Hodnett (O'Donovan Rossa)

26. Barry O'Driscoll (Nemo Rangers)

Note: Ian Maguire, Ruairi Deane and Kevin Crowley continue their rehab following injury and therefore were not considered for this game.

Cadogan at midfield, Loughrey at corner-back, Collins at full-forward - Cuthbert and co trying this hand their hand at clever is always amusing

[twohands!!!]

1   Brendan Kealy
2   Pa Kilkenny
3   Mark Griffin
4   Fionn Fitzgerald
5   Jonathan Lyne
6   Jack Sherwood
7   Paul Murphy
8   Anthony Maher
9   David Moran
10   Michael Geaney
11   Bryan Sheehan
12   Johnny Buckley
13   Stephen O'Brien
14   Kieran Donaghy
15   Barry John Keane
   
   
   
   
   
16   Brian Kelly
17   Tommy Walsh
18   Paul Geaney
19   Killian Young
20   Kieran O'Leary
21   Padraig O'Connor
22   Alan Fitzgerald
23   Philip O'Connor
24   Shane Enright
25   Peter Crowley
26   Paul O'Donoghue

Only change from the Dublin game is Barry John Keane in for Paul Geaney

[Ciarrai_thuaidh]

Cork look very light on options in the full back line and at midfield TH?
Loughrey, Shields and Clancy are all natural half-backs (even though Shields is experienced at 3) and without Maguire the midfield looks very lightweight. Collins will play around the middle I'd assume and Cadogan will play as a sweeper/defender.
Noelie Galvin, once fit, will slot into a corner back spot you'd think. Crowley is a good young player aswell and might be an option. Brian O'Driscoll was doing well in the Sigerson until he got injured, he will probably start.

Not really sure how Sunday will go. Cork will continue the defensive alignment and hope O'Neill and Hurley can get enough scores. Depends on how the Kerry attack fares at the other end to decide the game then.

[twohands!!!]

Looking at the Cork setup I think it looks very much like a side who are being set up to not to lose/ keep the Kerry score down as much as possible/ avoid another hammering at all costs as opposed to actually going out to actively try and win the game. I think the Cork gameplan is going to be as ultra-defensive as possible - The Munster final debacle was all about leaving the Kerry forwards acres of space to play in and not putting any sort of pressure on the good quality ball coming in to them. Can't help but think of the quote about generals fighting the last war.

With the personnel selected it looks very much like the main tactic will be to pack the defence and hit on the break. Cork certainly managed to pack the defence the last day against Donegal, but the whole hit on the break part of things was a massive failure. It will be interesting to see how Cork manage to fare in terms of their attack given how abysmal they were at getting the ball to their dangermen in Donegal with Colm O'Neill having a miserable 4 possessions.

I assume O'Donoghue will be down to mark Donaghy given he did fairly well on him in the Stacks Ballincollig game.
Will be interesting to see which of the Kerry backs is down to mark - I presume it will be Griffin v Hurley again  - Hurley was in the form of his life the last time they met, whereas his form since has been a lot more patchy. Will it be Kilkenny or Fitzgerald who will get assigned to O'Neill?

One area of possible weakness to me is the Kerry half-forward line - Geaney hasn't impressed and I thought Sheehan was woeful in the first half of the Dublin game while Buckley was almost invisible. Geaney got hooked at half-time and Sheehan and Buckley got a bit better but I feel that was due to the fact that Kerry owned the ball and they had very little to do in the way of defending. For me both of these are far better players when their team is going forward and attacking as opposed to when the opposition have the ball.

Relegation-wise it's very hard to see either of these 2 go down at this stage and whoever wins would nearly have a foot in the playoffs, however I'd say that the league considerations will be very far from their minds and it will be a case of once more unto the breach to face the old enemy.

[Ciarrai_thuaidh]

Looking at the Cork setup I think it looks very much like a side who are being set up to not to lose/ keep the Kerry score down as much as possible/ avoid another hammering at all costs as opposed to actually going out to actively try and win the game. I think the Cork gameplan is going to be as ultra-defensive as possible - The Munster final debacle was all about leaving the Kerry forwards acres of space to play in and not putting any sort of pressure on the good quality ball coming in to them. Can't help but think of the quote about generals fighting the last war.

With the personnel selected it looks very much like the main tactic will be to pack the defence and hit on the break. Cork certainly managed to pack the defence the last day against Donegal, but the whole hit on the break part of things was a massive failure. It will be interesting to see how Cork manage to fare in terms of their attack given how abysmal they were at getting the ball to their dangermen in Donegal with Colm O'Neill having a miserable 4 possessions.

I assume O'Donoghue will be down to mark Donaghy given he did fairly well on him in the Stacks Ballincollig game.
Will be interesting to see which of the Kerry backs is down to mark - I presume it will be Griffin v Hurley again  - Hurley was in the form of his life the last time they met, whereas his form since has been a lot more patchy. Will it be Kilkenny or Fitzgerald who will get assigned to O'Neill?

One area of possible weakness to me is the Kerry half-forward line - Geaney hasn't impressed and I thought Sheehan was woeful in the first half of the Dublin game while Buckley was almost invisible. Geaney got hooked at half-time and Sheehan and Buckley got a bit better but I feel that was due to the fact that Kerry owned the ball and they had very little to do in the way of defending. For me both of these are far better players when their team is going forward and attacking as opposed to when the opposition have the ball.

Relegation-wise it's very hard to see either of these 2 go down at this stage and whoever wins would nearly have a foot in the playoffs, however I'd say that the league considerations will be very far from their minds and it will be a case of once more unto the breach to face the old enemy.

On Kerry half-forward line..I'd agree on Mikey Geaney, not up to much really. Not sure what Fitz sees in him. I disagree on Sheehan and Buckley though. I thought Sheehan was moving well enough myself. He's in a lot better nick than he usually is this time of year and barring injury he will improve massively by Summer. He did well enough the last day, kicked some good scores and linked play well mostly. Buckley lost McCaffrey twice in first half which resulted in 2 points, but apart from that he did ok. Not his best game, but he wasn't bad either. Improved out of all order last year. Don't agree with sentiment that he only does it when things are going well. He took Munster final by scruff of the neck early on last year. His score under huge pressure in AI Final was as good as you'll get.

Anyway, aside from that..not sure I'd be putting Griffin on Hurley again. Fionn Fitz or Kilkenny I'd say. Kilkenny has marked him and done ok at least once before. It's not so much about who marks who though, but about keeping the ball away from O'Neill and Hurley by winning the middle third and closing down space in front of the inside line. Cork as you say, will be attempting to counter-attack a lot, so it will be an interesting tactical battle if nothing else.

On recent form Kerry would be favourites, but these games are usually (last year apart) tight and tense encounters, so a goal or 2 may decide the outcome.

[twohands!!!]

Looking at the Cork setup I think it looks very much like a side who are being set up to not to lose/ keep the Kerry score down as much as possible/ avoid another hammering at all costs as opposed to actually going out to actively try and win the game. I think the Cork gameplan is going to be as ultra-defensive as possible - The Munster final debacle was all about leaving the Kerry forwards acres of space to play in and not putting any sort of pressure on the good quality ball coming in to them. Can't help but think of the quote about generals fighting the last war.

With the personnel selected it looks very much like the main tactic will be to pack the defence and hit on the break. Cork certainly managed to pack the defence the last day against Donegal, but the whole hit on the break part of things was a massive failure. It will be interesting to see how Cork manage to fare in terms of their attack given how abysmal they were at getting the ball to their dangermen in Donegal with Colm O'Neill having a miserable 4 possessions.

I assume O'Donoghue will be down to mark Donaghy given he did fairly well on him in the Stacks Ballincollig game.
Will be interesting to see which of the Kerry backs is down to mark - I presume it will be Griffin v Hurley again  - Hurley was in the form of his life the last time they met, whereas his form since has been a lot more patchy. Will it be Kilkenny or Fitzgerald who will get assigned to O'Neill?

One area of possible weakness to me is the Kerry half-forward line - Geaney hasn't impressed and I thought Sheehan was woeful in the first half of the Dublin game while Buckley was almost invisible. Geaney got hooked at half-time and Sheehan and Buckley got a bit better but I feel that was due to the fact that Kerry owned the ball and they had very little to do in the way of defending. For me both of these are far better players when their team is going forward and attacking as opposed to when the opposition have the ball.

Relegation-wise it's very hard to see either of these 2 go down at this stage and whoever wins would nearly have a foot in the playoffs, however I'd say that the league considerations will be very far from their minds and it will be a case of once more unto the breach to face the old enemy.

On Kerry half-forward line..I'd agree on Mikey Geaney, not up to much really. Not sure what Fitz sees in him. I disagree on Sheehan and Buckley though. I thought Sheehan was moving well enough myself. He's in a lot better nick than he usually is this time of year and barring injury he will improve massively by Summer. He did well enough the last day, kicked some good scores and linked play well mostly. Buckley lost McCaffrey twice in first half which resulted in 2 points, but apart from that he did ok. Not his best game, but he wasn't bad either. Improved out of all order last year. Don't agree with sentiment that he only does it when things are going well. He took Munster final by scruff of the neck early on last year. His score under huge pressure in AI Final was as good as you'll get.

Anyway, aside from that..not sure I'd be putting Griffin on Hurley again. Fionn Fitz or Kilkenny I'd say. Kilkenny has marked him and done ok at least once before. It's not so much about who marks who though, but about keeping the ball away from O'Neill and Hurley by winning the middle third and closing down space in front of the inside line. Cork as you say, will be attempting to counter-attack a lot, so it will be an interesting tactical battle if nothing else.

On recent form Kerry would be favourites, but these games are usually (last year apart) tight and tense encounters, so a goal or 2 may decide the outcome.

On Sheehan and Buckley it's not so much a matter of them only being good when Kerry are on top rather they are far better at attacking than defending. I know they are half-forwards but to me they both look somewhat old-fashioned players in that their defensive contribution can be very limited (especially Sheehan) and Buckley seems to be one of those players who can go out of games for long patches.

Sheehan kicked the frees the last day and got one point of play but that was when he was unmarked. I think people over-rate him a bit  because of his ability to kick frees and because of his form in previous years - for me he looks a player in decline. I'd be shocked if he is more than a squad player this year [with Moran, Cooper and O'Donoghue pretty much guaranteed starters, his value as a free-taker declines substantially] and I wouldnt be surprised to see him hanging up his boots before too long.

What would make things very interesting to next day if Kerry got off to a flyer and got an early goal.

[twohands!!!]

Quick point from Kerry to start after 32 seconds. Donaghy fouled and BJ Keane converts.

Gould hits the post 1 one 1 with the keeper and Colm O'Neill strikes the rebound home.

BJ Keane from play

Sounds like serious pace to the game  from the start

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Kevin O'Driscoll point from play

Cork 1-1 Kerry 0-2

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Another goal by Cork 

John O'Rourke

Cork 2-1 Kerry 0-2

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Another Goal 

Donaghy - sounds like the keeper made a mess of it

Cork 2:1 Kerry 1:2

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Cork get a point after a great save by Kealy

Colm O'Driscoll

Cork 2:2 Kerry 1:2

No blanket here 

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Black card for Paul Murphy 11 minutes

Killian Young on to replace him

Colm O'Neill scores the free.

Cork 2:3 Kerry 1:2

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A ball saved off the line by Griffin to deny Cork another goal.

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"There was more talk this week about Paul Galvin than Kim Kardashian's new hair" radio Kerry special

Colm O'Neill free

Cork 2-4 Kerry 1-2

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Another goal for Cork 

John O'Rourke

Cork 3-4 Kerry 1-2

Kerry defence getting destroyed  here apparently