Kerrigan proves a right Rebel raiser

As pleasing as the victory over Mayo was, it doesn't mask Cork's deficiencies, writes KEITH DUGGAN

WHEN CORK staged their stirring revival in the second half of the All-Ireland final against Down in 2010, the all-conquering body language of Donncha O’Connor was one of the qualities least remarked upon. Every score that the normally reserved Ballydesmond man registered was followed by a blatant gesture which declared that Cork would not be denied.

There was something similar about Paul Kerrigan’s approach to Sunday’s league game in McHale Park. The Nemo Rangers man came in at half-time and quickly set about introducing some urgency into a Cork unit that was kind of sleepwalking through the game. He thumped a fine point in the 54th minute and shook his fist at his team-mates to remind them that the game mattered. The score narrowed the Mayo lead to three and signalled the beginning of Cork’s methodical march to victory.

“Arragh, we won. That is the main thing,” Kerrigan says of Sunday’s encounter. “But it was important. Unbelievably so. I was looking at the match programme on the way up and they had 10 victories as opposed to our seven. And it is always a hard place to come here.

“And especially when they were a confident team going in at half-time. They were five points up for ages.

“But we knew if we kept on clawing back and . . . it was kind of like 2010, so it is good to win.”

Pleasing as the result was, it couldn’t mask the overall deficiencies in this Cork performance. They lacked bite for long periods of the game and at times seemed content to let Mayo players run solo through the heart of their defence. In attack, they looked out of ideas and the swiftness of their ball movement – always a strong feature – was strangely absent.

“It would be fair to say we didn’t perform again,” Kerrigan admits.

“It is something we will have to figure out before the championship. We kind of came good there in the end but we can’t give teams leads like that, especially going into the championship. But the win was vital because we didn’t want to be facing a relegation battle against the All-Ireland champions.”

But maybe the league doesn’t hold the same appeal for Cork now. They know they can win it: last spring they reeled Dublin in from an eight-point lead to land the title in an engaging final. It didn’t seem to matter much in September.

Kerrigan, however, feels positive that Cork are interested in defending their title this year.

“It is still a national title,” he says.“It would be three national titles in a row. Any county would love that. But you can count your medals when you are finished. The important thing is to keep on winning and to get to Croke Park leading into the summer. No. we would love to win the league. We won the McGrath Cup and we are out to win any competition we are in.”

If injuries undid Cork’s summer last year, they are still in the recuperation stages, with Daniel Goolding and Ciarán Sheehan the key men yet to return to the Rebel attack. Perhaps knowing that those Howitzer talents are on their way back has led to some complacency among the squad . . . a feeling that things will fall into place when they have to.

“Well . . . I dunno. We have young fellas there like Barry O’Driscoll who came in and did a job. Mark Collins was doing well up until today. So there are fellas coming through. With all due respect to Daniel and Ciarán, they are useless to us at the moment. When they are injured they can’t have an impact and they wouldn’t be on our minds one bit. Hopefully they will be back in the next couple of weeks and we will need them.”

For now, Cork have a fortnight to prepare for their final league game against Dublin. The All-Ireland champions visit Mayo next Saturday evening to complete the fixture abandoned due to fog on the opening night of the league. Then they roll south to Páirc Uí Chaoimh a week later for a rematch of last year’s final. “It is a great way to finish the league,” Kerrigan says.

“That leads into the championship. This was the first sunny day of the year and it feels like championship. It takes a bit of getting used to. I remember we played Mayo two years ago in a dead-rubber game down in the Páirc and that was no good to anyone. At least it means something and we are looking forward to it now.”