Kelly: Cork will focus on lifting mood of entire county
The Cork hurlers' second-half collapse in last month's All-Ireland hurling final still stings for fans of the small ball game in the Rebel County. But, says Kelly, that frustrating day for the men at Croke Park will only focus the minds of Ger Manley's defending champions.
"You'd have to say the last three finals haven't necessarily gone to script and probably none more so than the hurling final," four-time All-Ireland champ Kelly told Des Cahill on RTÉ Radio One's Morning Ireland show.
"But if anything that will sharpen the minds of the Cork team this weekend and drive them on even that bit more to rise the spirits in the county.
"They have been a very focused team this year. They set out their goal from the start that they wanted to win a league final. I think they've only three players on that team that have league medals and they made it very clear to start the year they wanted to do that.
"If you remember back to Hannah Looney's interview after the All-Ireland last year. She made the statement even then that they want to be remembered as a generational team."
Galway have beaten Cork in an All-Ireland final as recently as 2021. The Rebels would suffer heartbreak in the following year's decider as well when they lost out to Kilkenny by just a point.
But the last two seasons have belonged to a Cork team that will now contest a fifth straight All-Ireland decider. They thrashed Waterford in the 2023 showdown and held off Galway last year. Can the Tribeswomen halt their rivals' hat-trick hopes?
"What a cracking game last year's final was," Kelly remembered. "You'd have to say right up until Cork made those few subs off the bench, they had such a big impact, the game was in the melting pot right down to that last few minutes.
"If you look at Galway's season, it's probably not as comprehensive or awesome a season that would give you as much confidence as Cork's, but they have the calibre of player, they know how to turn it on. They will come razor sharp.
"Cork's speed up front, their turn of pace. If you look at the Cork team, Laura Tracy is the springboard for everything. And outside that, you have Looney and Aisling Thompson and, and they're probably not even mentioned this year.
"You'd have to look to the likes of Saoirse McCarthy – Not even 25 yet – has secured the last four All-Ireland semi-final Player of the Match awards. Laura Hayes, Player of the Year, another one in that age profile.
"Those two players are super, and that's not even me mentioning the speed of Amy O'Connor up front and the two Mackeys. It's hard to see past them, but if Galway are in it in the last 15 minutes, you never know what might happen.
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