Christy O'Connor: Cill na Martra and Kilmurry can buck the trend against Kerry clubs in Munster

SHORTLY after Cill na Martra had beaten the Clare champions Kilmihil in the Munster Intermediate football quarter-final two weeks ago, Cill na Martra manager John Evans was already training his and his team’s sights on the Kerry champions.

Evans wasn’t sure who their opponents would be, as the final between Fossa and Milltown-Castlemaine wasn’t played until last weekend, but the excitement and anticipation was already evident in his words, especially with Cill na Martra hosting the game.

“When you are on your own field, you are a lot more comfortable,” said Evans. “So we will be welcoming whoever wins in Kerry.” 

The intrigue is all the greater again now for Evans with his side facing Milltown-Castlemaine, which is a neigbouring club of his in Kerry. Evans has an extensive managerial CV at inter-county and club level and, while he has had limited experience of coming up against Kerry sides, nobody will understand that mentality better than Evans.

DOMINANT

Something has to give for Cork clubs considering the dominance of Kerry clubs in the Munster Junior and Intermediate championships over the last two decades; in the last 16 seasons, Kerry clubs have won all but two of the 32 championships in both grades.

Is it any wonder when the 25th-ranked team in Cork has to take on the ninth best team in Kerry in Intermediate? 

The disparity between the Junior representatives is even bigger again with Kerry’s 25th-best team taking on Cork’s 49th-ranked team.

That’s a whole other debate, but, despite the dice being so heavily loaded against them, there is a chance in the next couple of weeks that Cork clubs could strike the most decisive blow in two decades against the Kerry Junior and Intermediate champions in the same season.

In the history of both competitions, that only happened once, in 2003, when Carbery Rangers beat Annascaul in the Junior final (by two points) and Ilen Rovers edged past – believe it or not – Milltown-Castlemaine in the 2003 Munster Intermediate semi-final.

Kilmurry are not at that stage yet as they play the Limerick champions Feenagh-Kilmeedy in the Junior semi-final on Saturday in Cloughduv, the same day as the Kerry champions Listowel Emmets play the Clare champions, Killimer, in Quilty in west Clare. 

Yet a Kilmurry-Listowel final is certainly on the cards.

Kilmurry will only be focused on Saturday, but they know this terrain better than any other club, having reached last year’s Munster final. They were well beaten by Fossa but Fossa have since gone on to show just how good they are, winning the All-Ireland Junior title and progressing from being the 25th-best team in Kerry last year to the 10th-best in the county this season.

Does that give a silent indication of Kilmurry’s potential in this championship? Fossa did beat them by 11 points last December but they got a goal in additional time.

BLIPS

Comparing opposition teams in different seasons is never an easy or exact science but the trend of Kerry’s dominance has still been too consistent to expect too many blips.

Kanturk were well beaten by Rathmore last year. The previous season, Newmarket were taken out in the semi-final in Mallow by Corofin, the Clare champions, who were subsequently beaten in the Munster final by the Kerry champions Na Gaeil, by 18 points.

Kanturk did have home advantage last year but Rathmore cut them apart on a big open and fast field in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. 

Having to go into Cill na Martra’s backyard though, will be a whole different challenge for a Milltown-Castlemaine side, especially after the euphoria and hysteria of last weekend’s final win with all the hype around that match.

Milltown-Castlemaine’s players are used to big occasions, especially having five starters on the Mid-Kerry team which lost the recent county senior final to East Kerry. They had all the neutral support in that match and, while Milltown-Castlemaine will bring a big crowd again on Sunday, especially when Milltown is the fastest-growing town in Kerry, there will be a real edge to the atmosphere in Cill na Martra. 

Being so close to the Kerry border will ramp up the intensity even more for the locals.

Cill na Martra proved how good they can be when beating a really good Bantry team in an outstanding county final. It may have taken them longer than they expected to finally get over the line but Cill na Martra had consistently been right there at the business end of a tough championship in recent seasons.

Kanturk had proven to be their real nemesis, with Cill na Martra having lost to them in the 2019 quarter-final, and semi-finals in 2020 and 2022, with last year’s one-point defeat coming after extra-time. In the 2021 semi-final, Cill na Martra lost to a Newmarket side that went on to win the title.

Losing three semi-finals in a row has clearly steeled Cill na Martra, which was evident in this year’s Cork championship. A good team has been polished even more through Division 1 football in Cork, with Evans’ side having reached last year’s Division 1 semi-final.

At face value, this looks straightforward. Kerry clubs are seeking to win a 16th Munster Intermediate title in the last 17 seasons, along with a 14th provincial Junior title in the last 15 seasons. Kerry sides have won the last three Munster Junior and Intermediate finals by an aggregate margin of 85 points.

Yet Cill na Martra and Kilmurry may yet prove that this season is not as straightforward for the Kerry clubs in the Munster Junior and Intermediate championships as everybody else outside those camps expects it to be.