CORK must win the midfield battle against Kerry if they are to cause a Munster senior football semi-final shock, says John Hayes.
The former Cork footballer – and Southern Star columnist – believes the Rebels’s settled pairing of Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan must lead the charge to give John Cleary’s men the best possible chance of upsetting the formbook at Páirc Uí Chaoimh this Saturday night (7pm).
Cork have only beaten Kerry once in championship football since 2012 and that was also the last season the Rebels won a Munster SFC title, whereas Kerry travel to Lee-side on Saturday as Division 1 league champions and reigning Munster kingpins.
‘The midfield battle is an interesting one as Kerry’s new pairing of Joe O’Connor and Barry Dan O’Sullivan go up against Cork’s more experienced duo of Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan,’ Hayes writes in this week’s column.
‘O’Callaghan is a physical monster with legs to burn, and while Maguire may not be quite the box-to-box performer of a few years back, he still covers serious ground both in defence and attack.
‘The Barrs man has toiled against Kerry for a decade now with little joy and will be as motivated as anyone to reverse the trend of almost constant defeat. Cork will need to win the midfield with something to spare to have a chance in this contest.
‘Micheál Aodh Martin is expected to start in goal and Cork will hit 80 percent or more of their kickouts to the left wing overload. Maguire and O’Callaghan are the premier targets in their zone, but they may need more help in this regard on Saturday evening.’
