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Survey: Kerry fans question team’s ‘negative’ tactics

Published

5 years ago

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MIRACLE: Substitute Mark Keane scores the match-winning goal for Cork. Pic: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile.

Kerry fans have voiced concerns about their team’s defence-oriented tactical approach after last Sunday’s unexpected championship exit at the hands of fierce rivals Cork.

When asked the open-ended question ‘what went wrong?’ in a poll carried out online by the Killarney Advertiser, defensive or negative tactics were mentioned in 25% of the answers provided. Team selection was the next most popular explanation with 16%.

Kerry appeared to be “more focused on defence than attack” according to one fan, while another claimed that “negative team selection and tactics” were to blame.

“Management went with a certain game plan, which is fair enough, but deciding not to change it up at some point was disappointing,” read another response.

Poor shooting and decision-making were the next most-cited factors at 14% each.

WORST

Around 45% of respondents said that Sunday’s result is as bad as the infamous defeats to Meath and Armagh in 2001 and 2002, while a further 23% ranked it as the worst Kerry defeat this century.

A significant portion of supporters disagreed with this assessment, however: 26% said the Cork defeat was bad “but not as bad as Meath or Armagh”, while the remaining 6% felt that it didn’t rank amongst Kerry’s worst results since 2000 at all.

When asked if Kerry or Cork deserved to win the closely-fought encounter, almost three out of four (73%) of Kerry fans said that The Rebels were worthy winners.

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, the vast majority (85%) of Kerry supporters believe that Cork will go on to beat Tipperary in the Munster final, but few believe they can go all the way and win the All-Ireland. Just 1% of those polled think that Cork will lift Sam Maguire in December.

Unsurprisingly, most Kerry fans (77%) predict that reigning champions Dublin will retain their title and make it six-in-a-row, with 11% opting for Donegal and the remaining 11% choosing Mayo.

As for the team Kerry fans want to win the All-Ireland, that’s an entirely different story. Just 5% of participants said they hope that Dublin prevail (these people are more than likely of the opinion that if anyone is going to stop the Dubs, it should be us).

One in eight supporters (12%) would like to see Pádraig Joyce’s Galway go all the way while a little under a quarter (23%) will be rooting for Donegal.

But there are no doubts about which team the largest number of Kerry fans will be throwing their weight behind now that The Kingdom are out of the championship. Almost half (46%) of Kerry supporters said they hope that Mayo break their curse and win their first All-Ireland senior football title since 1951.

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Home cup tie for St Paul’s could be epic

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2 months ago

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7 November 2025

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Paudie O’Connor National Cup (Round 1)

Utility Trust St Paul’s v GCU Brunell

Saturday 7.30pm

Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre

The St Paul’s women’s team will be hoping to get their National Cup adventure off the ground on Saturday when they welcome 2024 champions Brunell to Killarney. Tip-off in the Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre is at 7.30pm.

Paul’s have displayed some fine early season form, although their unbeaten start in the Super League came to an abrupt end last weekend when they lost to the Trinity Meteors in Dublin. James Fleming’s side weren’t at their best on the day but they were well in contention heading into the final quarter with the scores at 47-45 in favour of the hosts. The Meteors pushed on in the fourth, however, eventually running out 63-53 winners.

St Paul’s scorers on the night were Maisie Burnham (13), Tara Cousins (12), Lorraine Scanlon (12), Lovisa Hevinder (9), Denise Dunlea (5) and Leah McMahon (2).

The Killarney club are now joint second in the table alongside the Meteors with both teams holding a 4-1 record. Killester are top having won each of their first five games.

Paul’s opponents on Saturday, Brunell, have won three out of five league matches so far.

LAKERS

The Utility Trust St Paul’s Lakers have now won three of their last four games in Division 1 of the Men’s National League following an impressive home victory over Moycullen in Killarney.

Eoin Carroll and Jack O’Sullivan made significant contributions of the Boys in Black; Carroll hit 17 points and collected 13 rebounds while O’Sullivan had 14 points, 12 rebounds and some spectacular blocks.

Steve Kelly posted 30 points and the durable Sam Grant played every second, adding 21 points along the way.

The Lakers started well before the visitors found their footing and the sides went in level at the half-time break after scores by home captain Carroll. There was still nothing to separate the teams entering the fourth quarter (68-65) but buckets by Carroll, Pablo Murcia and Grant opened up a nine-point lead. Moycullen fought back admirably, however, cutting the deficit to just four, but Luke O’Hea’s charges held firm to prevail by eight (88-80).

Next up is a cup tie against the Tipperary Talons, a side they defeated by 30 points just a couple of weeks ago. The cup can be very different to the league, though, and they will need another solid performance to advance to the next round. Tip-off in in Killenaule is at 6.30pm on Saturday.

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Chances of Kerry v Cork Munster final in 2026 decrease as Munster GAA delay seeding plan

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2 months ago

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7 November 2025

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After facing a backlash from Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Tipperary players, Munster GAA have postponed their plan to keep Cork and Kerry separate in the 2026 Munster Football Championship.

The new seeding system – which gives the two highest ranked Munster teams in the National League byes to separate semi-finals – will now come into play in 2027, twelve months later than initially planned.

This will give Clare and Limerick a chance to earn promotion to Division 2 of the league, potentially overtaking Cork if the Rebels were to get relegated to Division 3.

Despite traditionally being the two main contenders for Munster football honours, Kerry and Cork haven’t met in a provincial decider since 2021. The Kingdom have won each of the finals since then (one versus Limerick and three versus Clare) by an average margin of 15.75 points.

More high-profile Kerry v Cork finals might be desirable for fans of those teams, businesses in Killarney and Cork, and neutrals alike but Munster GAA’s plans to effectively keep the great rivals on opposite sides of the draw understandably drew criticism from the other participating counties. A statement by the GPA confirmed that players from Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Tipp had met via Zoom to discuss the matter. They were said to be “deeply disappointed and concerned” by the decision.

The 12-month delay will at least give two of those disaffected teams an opportunity to benefit from the new seeding process.

The draw for the 2026 Munster Football Championship will take place on November 27 under the old rules. As 2025 finalists, Kerry and Clare will get byes to the last four (but they will not necessarily be kept apart).

Nine members of Kerry’s squad are up for All-Stars at tonight’s awards ceremony in Dublin with Joe O’Connor and David Clifford also in contention for the prestigious Footballer of the Year award.

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