Jason Sherlock Football Column - Sep 17

This year’s race for Sam concludes this Sunday with an intriguing final to look forward to between Down and Cork.

Looking back on the 2010 GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship I think it has been a great year. There have been some super games and a few new teams have emerged as contenders to the established big three of Kerry, Tyrone and Cork. Everybody loves an underdog and who could have predicted Roscommon’s provincial success or Down’s resurgence once they reached Croke Park.

I have to give an honourable mention to Louth who found themselves on the verge of one of the biggest days in their history in over 50 years. The team themselves handled the whole situation with great dignity and let’s hope it inspires them on to bigger and better things in the future.

With Kerry and Tyrone both exiting at the quarter final stage, it brought a freshness to the championship and teams started to play as if they felt they were genuine All-Ireland contenders. Both semi-finals were enthralling and could have gone either way and all that remains to be seen now is which of our finalists can emerge victorious on the biggest day of all.

The weight of expectation can be a difficult challenge to any sportsperson particularly in such a high profile game where there are a number of weeks of build up to the actual match. There will be very little time, if any, when both sets of players would have thought of anything else over the last few weeks.

The expectation on Down comes from the fact that they have never been beaten in an All-Ireland final. The Down players will have not needed me to point this out to them as I am sure they have been reminded of this by everyone that they have spoken to about the game.

Will this expectation help or hinder them?
Their last two performances in Croke Park would suggest that it can only inspire them to raise their game. They have looked so comfortable and assured in both games – apart from the end of the Kildare game when they could see the finishing line in the distance. It certainly helps when their manager James McCartan has experienced the same situation himself as a player in the past. The only history that will concern this Down team is their own and I feel, regardless of the result, Down will perform to the standards they have set this season.

Cork have their own expectation to deal with as they have been most people’s tip for Sam all year. Looking back on it, things really couldn’t have worked out better for them with Kerry and Tyrone being knocked out along the way. It has to be Cork year doesn’t it? That’s the perception but the reality of their play would suggest not.

So far they seem burdened with the favourites tag and have laboured to victories against Limerick and Roscommon in particular. Things certainly didn’t look any better with 58 minutes gone against Dublin but to their credit they found a way to get the required scores. Conor Counihan will know only too well that nobody gets what they deserve in sport; this Cork team has to go out and perform on Sunday to earn the victory.

From a spectator’s point of view, finals are all about star performances. Who will be the Lar Corbett of the football final? Between the two teams there is no shortage of contenders that can turn Sunday’s game in their teams favour.

As much as Down are a well balanced side, there are two players that the majority of their hopes depend on. Until this year Benny Coulter would have been known better by most for his outstanding displays representing Ireland in the Compromise Rules over the years. We have now been able to see him perform to his best for Down in Croke Park and it would be great to see him doing it again on Sunday.

At the same time, you cannot underestimate what the presence of Marty Clarke has done to the Down team. Not only have his performances been out of the top drawer, his return from Australia seems to have energised to whole set up and given them the belief that they belong at the top table again. A match winning performance on Sunday would wrap up what has been a seamless introduction to inter-county football for him.

Who holds the key for Cork?
Observing from the Hogan Stand, I struggled to see where the Cork fight-back was going to come from against Dublin. They had missed a number of chances and it was the type of day when players start looking around to their teammates to get them out of trouble. For me, Paul Kerrigan was crucial in Cork’s revival as, despite not having his best game, he never gave in and was always direct when he received the ball. Kerrigan is blessed with an abundance of pace and the Down backs will have to be at their best to curtail his threat.

Towards the end of the game Dublin gave away a penalty and a number of frees but they still needed to be scored. Like Kerrigan, Donnacha O’Connor was not having his finest game either so it showed a lot mental strength to put that to one side and execute every placed ball when it counted. For me O’Connor has been the brains behind the Cork attack and he will arrive back to Croke Park confident that he can deliver.

So who will be the 2010 All-Ireland Champions?
Being honest, I have struggled to separate the two sides. I have no doubt that Down will play with the honest endeavour and aggression that we have got gotten used to this summer. Their forwards have proved that if they get enough ball they will get the scores but in their semi-final but I do think they were helped in the possession stakes with Kildare losing both their first choice midfielders, Dermot Earley before the game and Daryl Flynn in the first half.

What impressed me about Cork the last day was that despite how badly things were going for them they didn’t deviate from their game-plan and they had the inspiration of Nicholas Murphy and Colm O’Neill in particular to come off the bench to give them the added impetus they so desperately needed.

As a neutral I am really looking forward to this game and I hope it rounds off a memorable 2010 GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship in the right way. I would like to see Down win as I am a big admirer of how they play the game but I believe Cork’s greater strength in depth will guide them to victory.

Verdict - Cork