Kerry's struggle to break Cork down will offer other counties food for thought, says Jim McGuinness
Jim McGuinness reflects on Kerry’s hard-fought win over Cork, identifying three question marks surrounding the Kingdom. Meanwhile, Ciaran Sheehan says there are 'green shoots' for the Rebels as they face into the qualifiers.
Monday 9 May 2022 11:42, UK
Although Kerry's class eventually told on Saturday evening, the Division 1 champions were frustrated by Cork for long periods.
Jack O'Connor's charges struggled to break the Rebels down for the first 50 minutes. Sean Powter anchored the defence as a sweeper, as the Lee-siders set up effectively on what is an open field in Páirc Uí Rinn.
After running riot against Mayo in the National League final, David Clifford was subdued by Kevin Flahive and limited to just one point from play.
And although Cork ultimately didn't have the depth in their panel to sustain the challenge across the full 70 minutes, Jim McGuinness feels they laid out a blueprint for how other teams can look to counteract Kerry's attack later this summer.
"Cork were well set up, and Kerry struggled to break them down. In the bigger picture nationally, teams will look at that. Cork laid down the foundation in terms of making it really difficult," opined the former Donegal manager.
"They man-marked David Clifford inside, they doubled up on him with the sweeper. The other sweeper covered the middle, with the runners coming down the flanks, and then they covered the bodies around that.
"The problem for Cork was that when they turned it over, they took the ball into contact.
"In terms of the overall context of the game, if Cork ended up 50:50 on the kick-outs, that game would have gone down to the wire.
"Up to 50 minutes, Kerry couldn't break them down. So for me, that's a big one.
"We spoke about David Clifford before the game, the attention that he's going to get, and he got it tonight. That's another situation.
"And Cork didn't push up fully on the kick-out, so we don't know the answer to that. So those three question marks are still sitting over Kerry in my opinion."
'Green shoots' for Cork
John Cleary's side now head for the qualifiers. Given the big names already in the draw which will take place next week, the Rebels will likely face into their tie as underdogs.
"There's a lot of green shoots there," said 2010 All-Ireland winner Ciaran Sheehan.
"I'm looking forward to seeing this Cork team with a fully-fit [Ian] Maguire. We all know he had an issue with his hand. But also [Sean] Powter, back at full fitness. We saw what he added to Cork's attack when he was on the pitch.
"I'm looking forward to them really building on this, using the momentum. But also learning from the mistakes. It was important that you learn from that too. So overall quite positive.
"Obviously the result is very disappointing, I'm sure the lads will be devastated. But it's just about getting back on the horse now and looking forward to what it brings next."
Sky Sports' live GAA coverage continues on Saturday with the Leinster SHC meeting between Dublin and Kilkenny.
