IT’S the morning after the day before, as I sit down to gather my thoughts for this column.

Cork fans are suffering from what Trent Reznor, and later Johnny Cash, once described as ‘the old familiar sting’, with our senior footballers once more reeled in by a superior Kerry team after a fast start. 

There are many reasons for the Kerry dominance in Munster, including their seemingly innate football skillset compared to everyone else in the province and most of the country, however Cork contributed to their own downfall with a poor kick-out strategy, toothless attacking and defensive disarray in the second half. 

All those factors and the presence of a certain David Clifford ensured the Killarney upset we hoped for on Sunday didn’t materialise. More about him anon. 

As we have done so often in the past, Cork came out of the blocks superbly in the frantic opening exchanges of this Munster final in Killarney. Fine two-point scores from Brian O’Driscoll, Mark Cronin, a sideline kick from Steven Sherlock and a nice score from Chris Óg Jones helped Cork to a 0-6 to 0-1 lead after six minutes. 

Clifford then signalled his intent with two points in response before Sean McDonnell cancelled those out with one long-range kick of his own and restored the five-point lead after 11 minutes. That was as good as it would get for Cork, though, as Kerry started to take more control of proceedings playing into a stiff breeze. 

Kerry reeled Cork back to level terms by the 25th minutes before Jones, Cronin and O’Callaghan kicked points to give Cork a three-point lead at half-time. The prevailing sentiment in the stands was that the lead would not be sufficient given the breeze behind Kerry for the second half. Nonetheless, Cork were well in the hunt and the Clyda Rovers man beside me wondered aloud if Cork might play better into the wind. Sadly, those hopes would prove to be little more than wishful thinking. 

As the teams re-emerged from the dressing rooms, the stadium tannoy announced the introduction of Tony Brosnan in place of Paudie Clifford and there was an audible gasp from the packed crowd. Clifford had kicked a point in the first half but for the most part had been well marshalled by Maurice Shanley. What seemed like a fillip for Cork would prove just the opposite as Brosnan set about proving that he was no downgrade on this particular day. 

Brosnan kicked a fine two-pointer with his first possession before his pass found the younger Clifford cutting back along the end-line. Clifford was inside the cover and the result felt inevitable, one dummy solo past Patrick Doyle later and the ball was planted in the net. Kerry had the lead for the first time and they would not relinquish it.

Kerry took complete control around midfield and the worry that Cork followers have long had about teams targeting our kick-outs came to pass once more. 

We have been critical here of elements of Cork’s tactical plans in the past, with the kick-out strategy and our attacking set-up under the old rules being particular sources of frustration. Both those old failings came back to haunt us in the second half. 

Cork’s newest kick-out plan involved the two midfielders, Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan, taking up station right on opposite sidelines at the flags marking the 45-yard line. Patrick Doyle was picked to start primarily due to his ability to pick out players in pockets of space, and to be fair he did so on a handful of occasions on Sunday. 

However, when Kerry pushed up hard and Doyle was kicking into the breeze, it became harder to get these mid-range kick-outs away and Doyle resorted to targeting the midfielders on the wing. In truth, it was a poor tactic and Kerry ate Cork up on these restarts. 

I was in the stand close to the goal at the town end and had a very good view of where Maguire was positioned. When Doyle floated the ball into the pocket in front of him, Maguire was all but stationary whereas Sean O’Brien was coming on the run with momentum and plucking the ball way over Maguire’s head. O’Callaghan did have a little more success on the opposite flank but Mark O’Shea and his team-mates again claimed more than Cork did. 

We have referenced the increased impact of the kick-out now that it is no longer possible to go short inside the 40m arc, and when a team gets a hard press on their opponents’ kick-outs, they are in big trouble. To be fair to Cork, they tried to innovate but sometimes innovation can seem to be just for the sake of it, and the new strategy was highly ineffective and only put Cork under extra pressure. 

Cork also stuck with the plan for far too long when it clearly wasn’t working. Late in the game, Maguire decided to reposition himself in a more traditional spot and the longer kick-out ended up with Cork possession and moving up the field. Too little, too late, though. 

What was also very apparent watching from the stands was the space that was available infield if Cork had targets to claim kick-outs away from the towering Kerry midfield duo. The likes of Paul Walsh and Ruairi Deane are midfielders with their clubs and should have been able to contest kick-outs against the Kerry wing-backs, but Cork never looked to utilise this option. To be honest, we have been cleaned out in this area in Killarney time and again and it is one of the single biggest contributors to our lack of success in Fitzgerald Stadium. 

Ruairi Deane kicks forward against Kerry in the Munster senior football final at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney. (Photo: George Hatchell(

Malfunction number two for Cork in the second half came with the breakdown of the attacking threat Cork had shown in the early stages. With the lead, Kerry were happy to employ a more zonal defensive approach, filling the centre behind the arc with defensive bodies. Kerry were happy to let Cork play around them just outside the arc knowing that Cork’s two-point threat from range was no longer a problem. Cork shuffled sideways and recycled possession, which is okay in itself to an extent, players have to be patient against packed defences, however when the openings did present, Cork were shot-shy into the wind and woefully off target with the efforts they did go for. 

As the 60th minute approached, Cork only had one point in the second half, from our best forward on the day, Mark Cronin. Cork’s other top operator on the day was Brian O’Driscoll and he conjured a moment of individual inspiration to breathe life into the Cork challenge. 

O’Driscoll’s goal was a cracker and substitute David Buckley followed up with a point from play and the gap was down to two. In spite of Cork’s soporific second half, the game was still in the melting pot if Cork could produce a big finish. You don’t need me to tell you now that the exact opposite happened. 

Conor Corbett struck the post with five minutes left and Dylan Geaney was more accurate at the opposite end. In contrast to Kerry’s work as a defensive unit, Cork went entirely man for man and were mostly left chasing shadows when the game was being decided. Killian Spillane got his usual point off the bench, Clifford clipped over a close-range free after a Cork breach and Brosnan applied the coup de grace with a two-pointer that sealed an eight-point win for Kerry on home soil. 

Given the number of injuries they suffered before and during the game, it was an impressive performance and a statement win for the Munster kingpins. They will now turn their attention to Donegal in the All-Ireland series on Saturday week and tending to their walking wounded will be their foremost concern. They will need reinforcements for Donegal and for the knockout games to follow, however with David Clifford fit and firing, you will always have a chance. 

I’ve seen and played against some great players in my lifetime, yet I don’t think I’ve ever seen as complete a footballer as the Fossa man. Daniel O’Mahony is a fine defender, however leaving him one-on-one with very little secondary cover was highly dubious. While Saturday week’s game may still not be a cut-throat knockout, I very much doubt Donegal and Jim McGuinness will be so obliging. 

For our part, Cork welcome Meath to Páirc Uí Rinn later the same evening – 5.30pm on a Saturday evening makes for an attractive fixture, so Páirc Uí Rinn should be close to capacity. The home game in the same venue was possibly Cork’s best performance of the year so far, so we will hope for more of the same. 

More about that next week, for now, disappointment in Killarney is our lot once more. The streak must end at some stage, but 2026 was again not the year.

Result apart, it was an occasion to savour, and hopefully we won’t have to wait another five years for another crack at the code. The solution to the puzzle seems elusive, but good things come to those who persist. Killarney is parked now, the All-Ireland series awaits. 

We definitely feel the season is still taking far too long to get to the point, however we are looking forward to some good football in the coming weeks. Up next, the Royals.