JOHN Cleary was rallying the troops when he insisted that Cork will go in with all guns blazing against Kerry on Saturday evening. The reality is that the Rebels don’t have much choice.
After losing their opening Group 2 game to Meath last weekend, Cork need to get at least a win against either Kerry or Roscommon to be in the conversation for the knockout stages of the All-Ireland series.
It’s that familiar foe Kerry this Saturday at Páirc Uí Chaoimh (4.45pm, live on GAA+), and another chance to end Cork’s poor record against the neighbours in recent years. Cleary’s crew came so close to recording a famous win when the sides clashed in the Munster SFC semi-final just six weeks ago, but Kerry survived to win in extra-time thanks to a Joe O’Connor wonder goal. That 3-21 to 1-25 loss felt like a missed opportunity.
While that game showed Cork can compete with the current All-Ireland favourites, this upcoming encounter has a totally different feel.
While Cork lost to Meath, Kerry hammered Clare 4-10 to 0-21 in the Munster final and then Roscommon 3-18 to 0-17 in their Group 2 opener.
‘Since that game, Kerry have blown every team out of the water and we’ve been beaten,’ Cleary admitted.
‘We’ll prepare the same as we did for the last day and hopefully that we can manage things better than we did against Meath. It’s another day out. We’ll see how next week goes. We’ll go in all guns blazing as always and see where it takes us.’
The one week turnaround since Cork’s loss to Meath is going to be a tough task, especially after the defeat in Navan. Cleary agrees but also admits that others are in the same boat.
‘That’s maybe the reward you get for winning your provincial (title) and so be it. I think even what’s coming down the line, whoever is there, two weeks later there is a game, whoever goes into the preliminary quarter-final and then you have a quarter-final,’ the Cork boss said.
‘You’re out three weeks in a row. That’s very hard, particularly in the new game. The hits are hard around the middle, particularly for the kickout. That’s for another day. We have the same rules as everyone else. We fell short against Meath. We just have to brush ourselves down and go again next week.’
As the Rebels’ manager mentioned, the kickout battle was one of the key aspects as to why they lost against the Royal County. Out of Cork’s seven kickouts lost in the second spell, Meath hit 0-5. No doubt, it’s an area that needs to be addressed this week.
Shooting accuracy will need to be sorted, too. It was 47 percent accuracy against Meath. It was 51 percent against Kerry six weeks ago. A better figure will be needed to pull off a shock win against a Kerry team starting to find their feet.
In terms of availability, Matty Taylor went off against Meath late on with a knock. Meanwhile, Brian Hurley, Tommy Walsh, Conor Corbett and Seán Walsh didn’t play any part in Navan, Walsh was a late omission to the panel. The management will look at the five during the week before making a call on the team.
‘They’re not that far off it but in games like that (the Meath game), you need to be 100 percent fit. They’re just not at the moment,’ Cleary explained.
