Kerry's front men must be at their best

THERE is a consensus that tomorrow's Church & General NFL final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh between Cork and Kerry at least represents the two best teams in the competition. There's nothing too unusual in that any team that puts sufficient effort into the League to reach the final stands a good chance of being one of the best teams in it.

There are other, more striking novelties about this latest Cork Kerry clash. It's the first League final in 13 years not to feature a Leinster or Ulster county, and the first all Munster final since 1982.

The central question that arises every year before this event is `Who wants it more?' In other circumstances, it's as well to steer clear of such determinist spoofery but a League final is different.

This is a point that has been argued vehemently during the week, with former winners providing all sorts of testimonials to the status of the League. This is not surprising. The competition has always excited hypocrisy. "I remember a winning captain in his victory speech denouncing those who would call the League a secondary competition", even though he had unsolicited offered that precise description in a private conversation the previous week.

What adds excitement to tomorrow's match is that both teams, and Kerry in particular, could do with winning the League. Finalists fall into a number of categories, from teams that can expect to win nothing of substance during the summer and who consequently can't be choosy about trophies to those who need the reassurance of a competition win before tackling loftier targets.

In reality, only three teams in the last 20 years needed this reassurance and exploited it to win All Irelands. It was certainly important for Cork in 1989 after they had lost two All Ireland finals, maybe for Kerry in 1984 after the traumatic setbacks of the previous two years, and again for Derry in 1992.

Both Cork and Kerry are part of this tendency, although Kerry's need is more pressing. Having broken out of Munster last year, they failed to make an impact on the All Ireland. Now with Cork under new management, their neighbours know that they need to win something to maintain momentum. Having to do it against their possible Munster final opponents makes the matter all the more delicate.

You could be forgiven for thinking that Cork aren't as motivated. Larry Tompkins is only about six months in the job and hasn't yet had to deal with any crises of self esteem. Opinion in the county, however, suggests that Cork are taking it seriously. All the usual cliches about "not being so successful we can afford to turn up our noses at a League medal" are doing the rounds, and whereas not disputing that they're true, there are more telling signs that Cork are serious.

Tompkins has said that he has varied training to take the match into account, and Colin Corkery has had to take the drastic step of cutting short his honeymoon to be back in time for tomorrow.

On the basis of the semi finals, the match itself looks to be an evenly balanced affair. Both teams laid the foundation for victory with devastating first half bursts against poorly performing opponents, and then responded when the opposition recovered sufficiently to push the issue in the second half.

In Kerry's favour is that Laois looked - superior to Kildare, but Paidi O Se's team still had problems. Primary among these is the centre of the defence. Barry O'Shea has done enough to merit automatic consideration for the fullback position, but there is a suspicion that he may not be entirely at ease under the high ball.

This suspicion wasn't quelled by the facility with which Hugh Emerson took a couple over his head when moved to the edge of the square in the semi final. That the switch turned out to be a vain attempt to revisit the success of the Derry quarter final didn't alter the fact that O'Shea conceded ball.

In front of him, Liam Flaherty was caused difficulty by two opponents. The not usually prolific PJ Dempsey managed to shave a couple of points off his encounter with Kerry's centre back, and the quick and elusive Michael Lawlor posing a different kind of challenge, led him a merry dance after taking the field as a substitute.

For tomorrow, Kerry are using two wing backs in the corners a hazardous stratagem against penetrative corner forwards. There is also a concern over the consistency of Dara O Se and William Kirby at midfield. Both have been going well of late and subdued Laois's Tony Maher and Hugh Emerson, a more than useful pairing, for a good deal of the semi final, before fading a little. This is an area where Cork will exploit any inability to sustain the pace.

In their favour, Kerry have in Maurice Fitzgerald the best forward in the country, at present at the height of his powers, and Dara O Cinneide, one of the best of the rest. Fitzgerald may well be unmarkable, but he is likely to be given more of an opportunity to prove it than the non attentions of both Kildare and Down allowed. He also has a good track record at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, where in the Munster championship of 1992 and last year he gave exceptional displays.

With forward quality like that, Kerry have a chance of winning anything. In addition, Liam Hassett showed a return to form, admittedly against some loose marking, in the Laois match, and will probe such possibilities as Niall Cahalane's suspect hamstring presents.

There are a couple of reasons, however, for believing that they won't win this. Cork have an abundance of physical strength at their disposal. Tompkins has pushed them hard at training, and against Kildare the conditioning showed as they burst through their opponents at will in the early stages.

This will create difficulties in the very areas where Kerry are open to question. Steven O'Brien, assuming he does play at full forward, will test O'Shea, and beside him in the stripped down attack favoured by Cork, Aidan Dorgan, another in exceptional form, is quick and sharp.

Much will depend as usual on Colin Corkery's humour. For understandable reasons, he was probably ambivalent about winning the semi final a few days before his wedding, but he'll be expected to raise his game tomorrow.

Damien O'Neill at midfield was very impressive and can again dominate in this area. Tompkins has developed the mystifying habit of naming his team in almost random order and making about 40 switches before throw in.

The most likely change is the deployment of Ciaran O'Sullivan at midfield, where he played well and, according to himself, enjoyed the position. This would leave Martin Cronin free to play as a third midfielder, with maybe Corkery attempting to repeat his successful posting on the 40 in the quarter final against Louth.

Cork are not without weaknesses, but the main one is a tendency to let their attention wander, as they did in the second half of the semi final. It has been argued in their favour that an eight point interval lead killed off their motivation, but tuning in and out of matches is a bad habit. Notwithstanding this, their strength and more reliable performers in the central positions make them favourites.

Finally, the match will be preceded, at 1.30, by the Vocational Schools final between Tyrone and Kerry. Despite Kerry's excellent recent record at this level, Tyrone, coached by county senior Enda Kilpatrick, are given a good chance of making it a memorable few days for the county's underage scene after the emphatic victory of St Patrick's Dungannon in last week's Hogan Cup final.

. Clanna Gael Fontenoy are anxious to point out that despite broadcast announcements to the contrary, tomorrow's football challenge match between Dublin and Down at the club's ground in Irishtown goes ahead at 3.30.