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RTÉ GAA analyst Oisin McConville believes that Cork’s victory over Kerry yesterday has opened up one side of the all-Ireland soccer championship.
The rebels ambushed the Kingdom at Páirc Uí Chaoimh to reserve its place in the Munster SFC final against Tipperary in two weeks.
For McConville, who won an All-Ireland with Armagh in 2002, there is now a great chance for one of the outsiders to reach the final next month.
“Obviously there is still a blue cloud over the championship with everyone looking towards Dublin,” he said on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
“On the other side of the draw we are going to have a finalist from May, Galway, Tipperary or Cork.
“All those teams have to sit down this morning and think, ‘what chance do we have to reach a final’ in what has obviously been a strange year.
“There is a great opportunity for those counties to reach the final.”
Recalling Cork’s victory yesterday, McConville said it was no fluke and that Ronan McCarthy’s team will be the favorite in the provincial decider against Tipperary.
When asked if they were a team that could have a championship run, he continued: “They definitely are. There was a definite change in Cork that we saw yesterday. They were willing to fight and fight for absolutely everything.
“They probably needed that bit of luck towards the end of the game, but using luck (to explain victory) would not be kind to them because in the balance of the game, with everything that happened, they probably deserved it in the end.
“What a result for Ronan McCarthy and his team. You have to say this has to be one of the crashes of the last 10 years.
“A lot of people said that Cork was moving in the right direction, but there was a clear possibility that they would fall short against Kerry, but they didn’t. It is seismic.
“They have power. They have athleticism. The most important thing for Cork now is to back him up and win a Munster championship.”
“I think that’s the game that a lot of people will watch now. That’s the big test for them now, can they play two games in a row?
“You have to say, in the hearing we saw yesterday, that’s a clear possibility.”
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