All Ireland SFC Semi Final: Cork v Kerry

[Mickmack]

Cork will need 16 points in some shap or form to win in my view. Where will that come from? I cant see it.

Ignore the Munster Championship............ this is the real deal now.

My big fear is losing players for the final thru yellow/red cards.

Dont mean to sound arrogant.......... just the way i read it...........

Cork hurlers can win with 40% of the play. Their footballers need 60%. Cant see it happening.

[kerryman99]

confident kerry will beat cork, probably not by much though. 3-4 points i think. sheehan out is bad, will MFR stick with the frees? cant afford to be missing them again the next day.

[kerrygold]

the stats from the munster football finals are totally irrelivant for this game,they will have no bearing on the game.This a totally different new ball game.This is the game that its all about,the cutting edge of championship football.

kerry have improved,can you say cork have,or have they gone back,the middle ground will have narrowed,it all depends on which cork and which kerry teams turn up.

thats the facinating beauty of championship football,anything can happen,thats what keeps uscoming back to sporting events year after year.

the lure of the unexpected,thats what happen to armagh,they didnt see the train coming,i must admit i didnt see the speed it was traveling at either though,but i did catch a glimpes of it in the distance.

[Sons of Pitches]

When will the team be named?

[twohands]

Spot on. This is the real deal. The Munster championship didn't matter. Ye were only booing that day to exercise the vocal chords.

[TheCritic]

This might sound strange but I think Sheehan been out will help Mike Frank's Frees. At least some of the pressure will be off him now because he knows he won't be sub'ed if he has a few bad one because there is no other free taker to come on!

[Owenabue]

Ah shur the Munster final was only a training exercise for you to face the Northern teams. Of course we went ahead and knocked another Northern team out for you so you could get a soft all Ireland. And you say the Cork people aren’t nice?

[buck02]

Have a look at this from todays Indo - Bryan Sheehan available for selection?

CORK selectors have made just one change to their starting line-up for Sunday's All-Ireland SFC semi-final showdown with Kerry.

Conor McCarthy will line out at centre half-forward in place of Fintan Gould as manager Billy Morgan looks to repeat his side's Munster final victory over their fierce rivals.

Speculation was rife that a number of alterations might be made following a lethargic display against Donegal in the quarter-final. In particular, it was believed that Michael Prout, substituted at half time the last day, would be dropped.

However, Morgan has kept faith with the corner-back while handing the centre-forward duties to O'Donovan Rossa man McCarthy.

Meanwhile, Ger O'Keeffe has warned Kerry fans not to get carried away by the emphatic win over Armagh as they contemplate their side's prospects for Sunday's clash.

"There is no way that we were eight points a better team than Armagh," argued the Kerry selector.

"We got a run on Armagh in the closing stages, and once you get a bit of momentum behind you, it becomes very difficult for the opposition to get back into the game. Armagh were threatening to battle back until we got a somewhat lucky break, when we intercepted a pass out of defence, and Darren O'Sullivan put the ball in the back of the net.

"In many ways, our game with Armagh was very similar to last Sunday's hurling game between Kilkenny and Clare. Like ourselves, Kilkenny had eight points to spare at the end, but the final scoreline certainly did no favours to Clare, as it was only late on that Kilkenny pulled away."

Contribution

A trump card for Kerry against Armagh was the contribution of the towering Kieran Donaghy. "Playing Kieran at full-forward has worked out very well for us, but I'm sure that Billy Morgan will have a few tricks up his sleeve for Sunday," said O'Keeffe.

"Having played at corner-back myself against the likes of Ray Cummins, Declan Barron, David Hickey, Anton O'Toole and John McCarthy, I almost felt sorry for Francie Bellew when those high balls were being kicked into Kieran."

Darren O'Sullivan only got his chance to make his mark against Armagh because the very impressive Sean O'Sullivan was forced to retire because of injury.

But the clinical manner in which he took his goal chance, as well as the excellence of his general play, will certainly enhance his prospects of making the starting line-up.

"Once Darren got the ball a goal was the only thing on his mind, and he was helped by the fact that he was in a one-to-one situation (with Armagh goalkeeper Paul Hearty)," remarked O'Keeffe, who, along with team boss Jack O'Connor and Johnny Culloty, will finalise the Kerry side tonight.

"Darren is an option for us, as is Declan O'Sullivan (who replaced Tommy Griffin in the second half), and it was great to see him coming back to form."

Surprisingly, another used forward sub against Armagh, Bryan Sheehan, will also be available for selection. Sheehan is making a very encouraging recovery from the ankle injury sustained in a club game last week.

"Bryan is making good progress, and we will know more about him on Thursday night," said Jack O'Connor.

CORK (SF v Kerry) - A Quirk; M Prout, D Kavanagh, K O'Connor; M Shields, D Spillane, A Lynch; N Murphy, P O'Neill; S O'Brien, C McCarthy, K McMahon; J Masters, D O'Connor, J Hayes.

[kerrygold]

they will hardly start him if the ankle is weak.

[inforthebreaks]

While I do think Kerry will win I feel that this game is set up for Cork. All the press is "donaghy this, Kerry revival that" blah blah blah. Yes Cork were very poor against donegal, but they were also very poor against Limerick and then played far above anyone thought they were capable (bar probably the 30 players in the panel and King Billy) against Kerry in the munster Final. All the pressue is on Kerry on Sunday, but having said that I do think Kerry have the bit between their teeth now and if we get big games from our big players we should be ok. there is absolutely no room for complacency though

[buck02]

Complacency wont come into it "inforthebreaks" - when a team only beat you five weeks ago you will not underestimate them. I'm sure after that game (no matter what he said publicly) Billy Morgan didnt expect to be meeting Kerry in an all ireland semi final. I'm sure he'd prefer to be playing Armagh on Sunday.

[austinstacksabu]

owenabue said:

Of course we went ahead and knocked another Northern team out for you so you could get a soft all Ireland.

Has this started before Sam is even lifted, by any captain?

[TheCritic]

Totally agree Buck02, Billy talks the talk but I don't think Cork are one bit happy bout meeting Kerry again! I'm not sure who said it but think it came form someone on the forum; Cork fan "the worst thing about the back-door, we might beat them (Kerry) once but we'll never beat em the second time!"
I think Kerry will be fired up for this one. Nice to see some anger back in the Munster rivalry.

[austinstacksabu]

Lads, rumour coming from good footballing circles that Canty has been kicking about in training? I thought he was going under the knife last week. Can somebody confirm something?

[kerryman]

kerrynorth said:

1 to 8 is the same - but Darragh is playing much better. He has been forced to up his game as the lead midfielder and has really stepped up.

I don't agree. Diarmuids kicking has started to improve, but our defence is looking shakier than it was in Munster.

[buck02]

Maybe Canty is of the same religious beliefs as Marvin Andrews, the rangers centre half who also had a cruciate ligament injury but played on as he believed God would sort it out for him.

I for one would be delighted if Canty lined out on Sunday, I'm sure the fully fit guys on the panel would also be delighted.

Wasnt it Kavanagh that got "injured" last year before the semi final and ended up playing and was crap?

[inforthebreaks]

austinstacksabu said:

Lads, rumour coming from good footballing circles that Canty has been kicking about in training? I thought he was going under the knife last week. Can somebody confirm something?

Himself and bryan sheehan will be marking each other... when are the Kerry selectors naming the team?

[buck02]

It'll probably be announced on the Ciarrai Abu programme on Radio Kerry at 9. Not sure though.

[watchdahop]

Im amazed the the Cork team named last night is not being discussed.
Maybe we are too flat out with "thrash talking" to have time??

See McCarthy is in for Gould for Cork. Hes not a bad player but I think he takes too much out of the ball and runs across the field. Dont know if Seamus will pick him up or not.

I also not they only seem to have 3 "midfielders" in Spillane O'Neill and Murphy. Kavanagh will be a big loss from that middle four. Maybe McMahon will go to Centre Forward?

How will Prout be after his show the last day when he was taken off after a bad chasing. Profit for Kerry there?

Corks half back line is nearly their strongest line and Kerry will have to have some plan for that.

A lot of talk Cork about troubling Moynihan for pace but surely Jack will counter that.

I don't buy into some of the stuff on the thread about it being a handy one for Kerry. Were these guys at the two previous games?
I think it will be tight. Kerry should squeeze through.
Cork will make a right go of it but their problem is where are the scores going to come from if Masters is held? The other side of that is they dont give away too many goals.
I think the red haired fellow will have a big say......

[austinstacksabu]

I'm surprised that McCarthy is being brought in. He's not the worlds most prolific half forward by any stretch of the imagination but is a good ball winner and distributor of the ball as we saw a few times last year so maybe they are using him as another avenue into Masters?

Other than that, Billy has come across a team that has got used to digging results out and wasn't going to abandon a winning formula that quickly. He experimented enough to find a team that can win, so he isn't going to do anything rash now.

Beware though if you see Canty anywhere near the team in the next few days!

[austinstacksabu]

Diarmuid Murphy

Marc O'Se, Mike McCarthy, Tom O'Sullivan

Tomas O'Se, Seamus Moynihan, Aidan O'Mahony

Darragh O'Se, Tommy Griffin

Sean O'Sullivan, Eoin Brosnan, Paul Galvin

Colm Cooper, Kieran Donaghy, Michael Francis Russell.

[buck02]

Yeah no surprises in that team (for once!). Sheehan isnt named among the subs either.

[austinstacksabu]

So, no changes. Not suprised in the slightest to be honest, despite the latest rumours about Brosnan being injured etc.

Not much more to be said at this stage!

[pony]

ya very happy to see finally a somewhat settled team, is sheehan named on the bench?
glad to see MFR is still there,i still think he coming into form few early scores for him will settle him down,plus his good link up play is of great value to the rest of the forward line. big day for Dara and Tommy at midfield, Nic Murphy is having a savage campain so far.

will be totally different to the Armagh game they will run at us, and have a lot of pace in their half forwards and half back line.will be very very tight lads, speedey forwards seem to give our lads a bit of trouble.

[mickthebridges]

Yes 'Stacks' I heard from a usually reliable source that Canty's injury was only a strain. He was seen jogging up and down the pier in Bantry yesterday and jumping in and out of boats anchored at the wall.
He wont start though as the knee is still a bit tender.
They recon that Kavanagh can handle Donaghy no bother and Canty will only be brought in for the last 10 minutes if needed.
The biggest problem is McCarthy. Seemingly he's been roasting Spillane in training and is determined to win his place back.
Masters has a tummy bug though and may not start. Some young lad Cussens or Gussens might start instead of him.
That's all I know.

[kerryeye]

mickthebridges said:

Masters has a tummy bug though and may not start. Some young lad Cussens or Gussens might start instead of him.
That's all I know.

Thats probably Michael Cussens,he was midfield for U-21s a few years back,Cussens is about 6'3 or 6'4.Could Billy Morgan be lookin for a Donaghy of his own.

[scorcher50]

Lads, ye come up with some very strange rumours on this board. Sure it's in the papers this morning that Canty is going in for surgery next Tuesday. This Cussens thing is a non-runner.......Billy would never put a guy who's never played for Cork before in at full forward in an All-ireland semi-final against Kerry.

Hard to see how it will go. Cork will really have to play at the top of their game and a good start is vital..........something they never had against Kerry in '02 and '05. This rubbish about Kerry thumping Cork is exactly that: rubbish. It will be a close game and if both teams play at the top of their game, one would have to say that Kerry will win.

[twohands]

scorcher50 said:

This Cussens thing is a non-runner.......Billy would never put a guy who's never played for Cork before in at full forward in an All-ireland semi-final against Kerry.

He put a guy who had never played for Cork before in at centre half forward in a Munster final against Kerry about five weeks ago. (But of course, as Jack confirms in de paper this morning, that was a nothing game for ye really...)

[TheCritic]

The back door system has killed the Munster Final. Just look at the crowds at them!!
The price we have to pay for I believe is a better championship series!!

[Aodhan]

mickthebridges said:

That's all I know.

You’re fairly limited alright mick