[caption id="attachment_71356" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Cork skipper Graham Canty lifts the trophy. "]
CORK manager Conor Counihan is once again attempting to play down a successful National League campaign prior to the start of an All-Ireland Football Championship.
He watched his side win a third Allianz National Football League title in a row by beating Mayo by 2-10 to 0-11 in last Sunday’s Croke Park decider. Naturally Counihan was pleased but he fully appreciates that the All-Ireland is an altogether different proposition.
“It’s nice to win the league but the championship is a whole new ball game. Now we have to focus everything on June 10.” argued Counihan.
With Kerry likely to be the opposition in the Munster semi-final, you can appreciate Counihan’s concern. As successful as they have been in the league, Cork are going to be judged on their All-Ireland campaign.
There’s little doubt in most people’s minds, however, that they have the ammunition to be major contenders. By their high standards, they were pretty average in the first half against Mayo, trailing by 0-9 to 0-5 at the interval but, once they had the advantage of the wind, they took control in the second half.
No doubt keen to gain some compensation for their surprise defeat at the hands of Mayo in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final, Cork found their feet to score two crucial goals.
The first, in the 47th minute, was superby taken by Colm O’Neill who slammed an unstoppable shot to the back of the net. The second, some eight minutes later, was much more fortunate.
In fact, Mayo could have argued that they should have had a free after Lee Keegan was tacked by Pearse O’Neill. From the counter attack, Cork’s Fintan Gould saw his effort for a point come back off an upright.
It fell perfectly for Aidan Walsh who duly dispatched it into the Mayo net. At the time, Mayo were only two points adrift so the score was undoubtedly a major turning point.
At the same time, there was no doubting Cork’s superiority. Mayo, after a promising opening half, fell away to manage just two points following the interval.
Their manager James Horan, to give him his due, didn’t use the Keegan incident as an excuse. “It was an important time in the game alright but I think over the course of the game Cork probably deserved it.” he admitted.
“We didn’t play to the level we can and we’d be disappointed about that. Cork were very strong, they were very good.”
True but Counihan didn’t feel that his side has played at all well in the first half. That period saw Cillian O’Connor score six points for Mayo, five of which came from frees.
But Cork were a different outfit after the interval, their athleticism proving too much for Mayo. Three quick points from Alan O’Connor, Patrick Kelly and Pearse O’Neill set the tone prior to the arrival of the two Cork goals.
By the finish, Cork were content to just play the ball around with skipper Graham Canty a major presence. The scores were evenly distributed while Counihan must have been pleased to see Daniel Goulding mark his return from injury with a well taken point after he was brought on as a late substitute.
O’Connor and Andy Moran showed up well for Mayo but overall they will be disappointed following yet another final defeat. Next up is a meeting with Leitrim or London in a Connacht semi-final on June 24.
Kildare, by contrast, at last got their hands on some silverware by beating Fermanagh 0-16 to 0-11 in the Division Two final. Kildare produced some outstanding finishing to move clear in the last 10 minutes but manager Kieran McGeeney wasn’t about to get carried away.
“It’s nice to get some silverware.” admitted McGeeney. “But we are not going to be measured until the summer, no matter what we do here.”
Fair enough but McGeeney must have been encouraged by the manner of of Kildare’s victory. Faced by a Tyrone side unbeaten in 13 games, they traded blow for blow before eventually racing clear of their opponents.
Surprisingly, it was a 20-year-old substitute Padraig Fogarty who provided the impetus. After being brought on in the 47th minute, he contributed two well taken points to send Kildare on their way.
Kildare scored seven points in all without reply in the final 10 minutes to overhaul their rivals. Tyrone boss Mickey Harte admitted Kildare deserved their victory, stating: “We didn’t play as well as we can and Kildare were the better team today.”
Elsewhere, Longord and Wicklow won the Division Three and Division Four finals. Longford got the better of Wexford by 1-12 to 0-13 in the Division Three decider, Paul Kelly getting the all important goal.
The worrying aspect is that they fell away after leading by 1-10 to 0-3 at the interval.
Wicklow proved too strong for Peter Canavan’s Fermanagh in the Division Four final, with a 2-16 to 1-11 victory.
It’s been a fine start by their manager Harry Murphy. Full-forward Seanie Furlong was very much the hero, contributing 1-5.
