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Former All-Ireland winning captain Darran O’Sullivan believes Kerry was guilty of underestimating Cork for granted and that they did not adapt when their game plan wasn’t working.
The 2019 Irish runner-up was defeated in Munster for the first time in eight years yesterday, a goal by Australian Rules exile Mark Keane that sealed a surprising victory for the Rebels in the closing seconds of overtime.
There is no back door and the team that was seen as Dublin’s most likely rival to Sam Maguire will now be kicking his heels until next year.
“The pressure they maybe felt, or the lack of pressure on Cork, definitely said so,” four-time winning forward Sam Maguire said on RTÉ 2fm’s Game On.
“People have been talking about how defensive Kerry was, the setup and personnel they had in certain positions. That will always be up for debate, but I don’t think anyone could have explained how many of Kerry’s guys played poorly or within themselves.
“It’s terrible to say, but I think a lot of them were looking beyond Cork. The decision making was bad at all times and it was all down to the focus, the mindset.
“When they entered, they should have known that conditions were not going to be good, that Cork had nothing to lose. They were not going to let them play.”
It’s 1983 again !! – Kerry is out of the championship. Here’s that extraordinary late goal from Mark Keane that won the game for @OfficialCorkGAA – see the highlights in @On Sunday #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/IoRBaWfxDD
– Sunday’s game (@TheSundayGame) November 8, 2020
O’Sullivan also criticized the decision to stick with a counterattack style despite Cork’s combination, eventually overriding that.
“You play to win or you play not to lose and that was very evident, which is a shame,” he said.
“The most disappointing thing was that Kerry had a plan A. It wasn’t working, where was Plan B?
“None of the changes were positive. Killian Spillane had a good impact, but I would have preferred to see him as a defensive player (rather than Tony Brosnan).
“Cork brought Luke Connolly and Keane. They were going for it. They had a chance, to push themselves or go home. They stood their ground and got their reward because Kerry couldn’t get rid of them.”
“Cork came in ready for a fight and Kerry showed up wanting to play the football that they thought they would be allowed to play.
“Cork’s attitude from the get-go was of the highest quality. They went on and held firm.”
O’Sullivan believes that going from league champions to a Munster semi-final in the space of two weeks will be even more difficult for players to process, given the current Covid-19 restrictions.
“They can’t go and focus on club football for a while, they can’t socialize, they’ll just get caught repeating that game and how many mistakes they made.”
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