GAA Digest: Cork Rebels too strong for Down

News from GAA pitches around Ireland

Stricker Colm O’Neill believes his Cork team deserves more credit as they chase a third successive National League crown.

The Rebels were too strong for Down in Sunday’s Croke Park NFL semifinal and will now meet Mayo in the league decider.

“In fairness, we have been in three and a Division Two final before that. There is great credit due to the team,” said O’Neill after the Mayo win.

“I think sometimes we don’t get the credit they deserve. People forget that. That is a great record to get to four league finals in a row. Hopefully, we can finish it off now.

“The league is a very important competition for us. If you were knocked out after the regulation rounds there would be a big gap to championship so it prepares you very well for championship.”

Just over 11,000 fans watched the NFL semifinal double header at Croke Park on Sunday, and Cork forward Paul Kerrigan admitted the occasion was bizarre.

“You don’t really think about it to be honest but it was a bit surreal. But we’re here to do a job and we don’t that thankfully,” said Kerrigan after the eight point win over Down.

“It was a bit different compared to one of the last times we played up here but it was an enjoyable win for us from a forwards point of view, there was nice scoring.

“There was probably a bit too much space and you won’t get that come championship. It wasn’t a game free of cynicism and blanket defenses so it was enjoyable.

 “We had a good win a couple of weeks ago against Mayo and we’re looking forward to playing them again. They are a real contender now so we’ll have huge test. They had a great win here today. We’re really looking forward to it as it’ll be a big challenge again for us.”
 
Mayo Wins

Mayo finally ended their Kerry hoodoo with an extra-time win over the Kingdom in Sunday’s NFL semifinal at Croke Park, but manager James Horan refused to get over-excited by the result.

“Monkeys on backs or whatever don’t interest me,” insisted Horan afterwards. “We just want to do the simple things and stick to our game plan whether it’s against Kerry or anyone else. Things worked for us this time.

“We kept at it and tried to stick to our game plan and if stuff didn’t work we tried to change it.

“We were lucky in the end maybe to get one or two of the goals, but we were probably unlucky not to get a penalty or two along the way as well.

“All in all, we are delighted at sneaking it in the end. Any time you come to Croke Park and win games it builds confidence.”

Kerry boss Jack O’Connor was able to take positives out of the Mayo defeat ahead of this summer’s championship.

He told RTE.ie, “We are disappointed we didn’t win the game. We thought we had it won twice. We were four points up with time virtually up in normal time and we gave away a very bad goal.

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Nster.com