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Kearney admits All-Ireland semi-final regrets

Daniel Kearney of Cork was at Dublin Airport this morning where Aer Lingus, in partnership with the GAA and GPA, unveiled the one-of-a-kind customised playing kit for the Fenway Hurling Classic which takes place at Fenway Park in Boston on November 18th. 

Daniel Kearney of Cork was at Dublin Airport this morning where Aer Lingus, in partnership with the GAA and GPA, unveiled the one-of-a-kind customised playing kit for the Fenway Hurling Classic which takes place at Fenway Park in Boston on November 18th. 

By John Harrington

Cork’s Daniel Kearney admits it was a mistake for him to come back onto the field for extra-time against Limerick in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final.

Kearney limped off the field ten minutes from the end of normal time presuming his race was run, but then Limerick staged a dramatic comeback that saw them erase a six-point deficit and force extra-time.

Kearney re-emerged onto the field for extra-time but struggled to get back up to the pace of the game and was subbed again before the end.

That summed up Cork’s performance in extra-time as a more energetic Limerick grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck to claim the victory and their place in the All-Ireland Final.

“I suppose I probably I should have put my hand up and said I'm not able to come back on, you've to bring someone else back on,” admitted Kearney at the launch of the playing kits for the Fenway Hurling Classic in Boston.

“But it's very hard when they're asking you in an All-Ireland semi-final to come back on, to say no. There definitely is a learning in that for me.

“It was actually cramp, cramp in my calves. I was probably mentally checked out. For the last 10 minutes I was in the dressing-room, just lying down in the shower, it's too hard to watch it, I wouldn't really watch the games coming off.

“To hear then it was a draw, your mind, there's a lot going on. Extra-time can be tough mentally to prepare for because you're unwinding towards the end of the game and mentally and physically I was probably not in the best shape going into extra-time.

“I tried to give it everything but it just wasn't enough.”

Their year ended with that gut-wrenching defeat to Limerick, but Kearney still believes Cork can take positives from a season that saw them successfully retain the Munster title despite ferocious competition in the province.

Daniel Kearney limps off the field in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Limerick. 

Daniel Kearney limps off the field in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Limerick. 

And he’s convinced that the Rebels aren’t that far off the standard required to win the All-Ireland if they keep faith with game-plan that has won them those back to back provincial titles.

“I don't think we need to change too much,” he said. “I think we need to do more of the same and keep that level up.

“It's not easy, at the level we're at, it's hard to sustain that because you're pushing fellas mentally, physically, so it's number one to stay where we are and then to look for those refinements, those small two, three per cent, where it's maybe that bit of extra depth that we can find more cover, push starters better for starting places and make them a bit more under threat for their position.

“Those probably few things a bit of depth, I think physically and skill wise and mentally, I think we're in a good place.

“It's probably just to get that bit of extra level of competition in the squad and the panel and the team, just to push ourselves to the next level and maybe learning from our experiences as well a bit better.

“I think whether people said it was the subs that came on cost us the game against Limerick, I think it was just more that we just sat off them and maybe tried to protect the six-point lead and drew them on us rather than just finishing out the game.

“I think there's too much emphasis on the subs that we didn't have enough depth, it was more that we just as a team sat off them. There's a lesson in that that we need to go for the full 70 minutes at full pace rather than sit off and protect a lead.”

Regardless of what new players they unearth next year, Kearney is confident that Cork will improve as a team because the younger players who have already broken into the team are still on an upward curve.

Mark Coleman is one of the rising stars of Cork hurling. 

Mark Coleman is one of the rising stars of Cork hurling. 

The likes of U-21 stars like Mark Coleman, Shane Kingston, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Luke Meade and Robbie O’Flynn have already made a big impression in the senior grade but will only get better.

“Exactly, yeah,” said Kearney. “Luckily we've a good age profile in our squad. I don't think there'll be any retirements coming into next year.

“We'll have a lot of the same faces around for the next few years. If we can get the likes of Darragh, Mark and Shane, just another five per cent that you experience because experience is huge.

“It's a word that I heard when I was young, I was like what are they on about, a throwaway kind of rubbish word. But you do realise when you get older that experience, it counts for an awful lot.

“You'd be hoping the younger guys and even ourselves will learn a lot from those big pressure games, where they've gone wrong to make sure that doesn't happen again and really learn from it.

“There's definitely areas of improvement there and if we can just get two or three new younger guys coming in, and there is talent there. The minors they got to the final against Galway last year and the 21s there.

“There is a good crop of younger fellas there, it's just to find a few that are up to the senior standard. I think we're in a good position.”