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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Eamon Doggett

Pat Spillane highlights 'one big negative' for Kerry in win over Cork

Pat Spillane thinks there were areas of concern for Kerry despite their 12-point win over Cork on Saturday.

The Kingdom are into the Munster football final after what turned out to be comfortable success at Pairc Ui Rinn after pulling clear in the final quarter of a competitive affair.

After winning the Division One title in decisive fashion, hopes are high among Kerry fans that they can go all the way in this year's Championship.

But Kerryman and RTE pundit Spillane had some words for caution after watching their display against Cork.

Spilane said: "The positives were their tackling, their intensity, their physicality and their turnover rate were all absolutely brilliant. The first three subs that Kerry introduced Paul Geaney, David Moran, Paul Murphy were brilliant impact subs, three All Stars.

"The big different between a Division One team and the rest of the divisions is conditioning. The conditioning and fitness levels that Kerry showed last night were amazing. For the last 26 minutes of the game Kerry outscored Cork by 0-12 to 0-01.

Corks' Kevin O’Donovan, Ian Maguire, Sean Powter and Rory Maguire tackle Diarmuid O’Connor (©INPHO/James Crombie)

"The big negative for Kerry was they struggled against the blanket defence. Too often Kerry took the ball into the tackle and were turned over.

"Too often they were trying to work the moves through the hands. They was little to no kick passing last night which we had seen in the League.

"The best Kerry forward last night was Stephen O'Brien. He was effective against the blanket defence because he is a powerful, direct runner. "

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