Cork's win in Killarney offers encouragement, but a few familiar warnings

It was a satisfying way to draw a line under Cork’s pre-season programme – and an engaging one, too – as the Rebels edged Kerry by a point, 0-16 to 0-15, at Fitzgerald Stadium.

The footnotes show a first Cork senior win in Killarney since 1995 and a third consecutive McGrath Cup.

Still, all of that sits some distance behind what actually matters. Sunday’s league opener against Cavan will define far more than any January silverware.

The tale is familiar. Each winter brings renewed talk of Cork’s need to escape Division 2 and re-establish themselves in the top tier.

Each spring, the story tends to twist. Flirtations with relegation, a surge to the top, before slumping to a mid-table finish. Division 2 has been unforgiving for John Cleary since he took charge.

There are few soft touches and plenty of hard stops; trips to Derry and Tyrone come to mind.

Those tests lie ahead, but if Cork are serious about breaking through, three wins from their opening four games feels like a minimum requirement. It starts now, and the trip to Killarney offered clues worth examining.

SECOND-HALF PACE 

The second half bore little resemblance to the first. Personnel changed, but so too did intent. With fresh legs came sharper roles and a more assertive attacking shape from Cleary’s side.

Cork’s forward play carried far greater menace. There were direct runs off the shoulder, quicker exchanges, and purposeful off-ball movement. Brian Hurley and Seán McDonnell were central to that shift.

Hurley earned himself a two-point free, the first of two he would convert, to go alongside his late equalising free. He also linked smartly with McDonnell for a goal chance that the Mallow man should have finished, though that will be addressed later.

McDonnell had earlier seen a goal chance saved in the 12th minute, but he grew steadily into the contest and finished with two well-taken points. Crucially, his interception in the dying seconds sealed the win, leaving Kerry with no time for reply. He was Cork’s most incisive forward on the day.

There was encouragement elsewhere, too. Colm O’Callaghan’s work rate across the hour stood out, so too did his willingness to contribute on the scoreboard.

Chris Óg Jones was a handful at times and nailed the all-important winning score.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES 

Ultimately, Cork’s missed chances did not alter the outcome, but as Cleary has stressed throughout the competition, the performance matters more. And there were aspects that did not suffice.

It was particularly relevant in the first half, when Cork were unacceptably wasteful in front of goal.

Mistakes can be tolerated in mid-January, but if Cork genuinely harbour ambitions of escaping Division 2, they need to be clinical.

The volume of goal chances passed up against Kerry here will be punished elsewhere.

Mark Cronin’s 17th-minute miss was perhaps the most frustrating. He did brilliantly to anticipate and intercept Shane Ryan’s poor kickout, but with space opening in front of him, he appeared to have too much time to think and squandered his shot.

AERIAL PRESENCE 

The contrast between both halves was clear in Cork’s aerial effectiveness, too. They struggled badly on both their own and Kerry’s restarts in the opening period.

While issues remained against Kerry’s kickouts after the break, Cork tightened significantly on their own. By crowding the middle third and making quick, scattered runs, they offered Micheál Aodh Martin clearer options, and Kerry seemed unable to get the grasp on Cork’s kickouts they enjoyed in the opening act.

Again, that fed into how different Cork’s overall approach was in the second half, both mentally and tactically.

They were much sharper and much more competitive. Against Cavan, they will need to be all of that again.