Rebels must be ready for a backlash from a wounded Kingdom side

CORK can expect a major backlash from All-Ireland champions Kerry when the great rivals shape-up in the second round of games in Group 1 in the new-look All-Ireland SFC at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Saturday week, throw-in 3pm.

The Kingdom are a wounded beast after league champions Mayo shocked them in a five-point triumph in the opening game in Killarney at the weekend and beleaguered manager Jack O’Connor will demand an immediate response.

Mayo’s stunning 1-19 to 0-17 victory gives the Connacht side every opportunity to top the group, which also contains Louth, and a direct route to the quarter-finals, leaving the Sam Maguire Cup holders with an extra match in the preliminary quarters.

Kerry are on course to finish second which would hand them a home tie against one of the sides finishing third in the other three groups.

Before all that, however, Cork’s focus is firmly on the meeting with Louth in Navan’s Pairc Tailteann on Saturday at 3pm in what many see as a virtual decider to determine who qualifies for the knock-out section.

By the time the game throws-in Cork will have gone seven weeks without a competitive outing since the narrow one-point defeat by Clare in the Munster semi-final in Ennis whereas Louth have been in action in Leinster, where they reached the decider.

Mayo managed Kevin McStay outlined how his side coped with the six-week break between losing to Roscommon in Connacht and the Kerry encounter.

“We gave the lads two weeks off and I know some of them went to sun,” he said. “They were probably tired of listening us so we gave them a break and credit the lads for working so hard on their return.” 

It was Kerry’s first home championship loss since a Colin Corkery-inspired Cork claimed the 1995 Munster title, winning by 0-15 to 1-9 with the Nemo Rangers great contributing 0-7 in front of a crowd of just under 43,000.

Since then, Kerry went 39 games unbeaten stretching over 28 years only for Mayo to end their extraordinary run.

“It was a big wake-up call for us,” O’Connor admitted. “It was a big step-up. We played Tipperary, a Division 3 team, and then Clare, a Division 2 side.

“One has gone to four, another who’s been relegated to three, so this was a big step-up in class. We’ve no excuses really.” 

Connacht champions Galway had three points to spare from ill-disciplined Tyrone in difficult conditions in Salthill.