Darragh Ó Sé reckons Kerry must have a double agent buried deep in the organisational structure of Cork GAA – so perfectly did the Rebel county deflect attention from the Kingdom this week.
The former Kerry star was commenting on the issued by the Cork County Board on Monday.
In it they thanked Brian Cuthbert for his work with the Cork football team, but then went on to say: “but for a totally wrong refereeing decision, Cork would now be in an All-Ireland Semi-Final.
“The short turn-around time between the replay, played in exhausting weather conditions, and the qualifier game against Kildare, cannot be ignored as a factor in that defeat.”
“I don’t know who put out that statement from the Cork County Board but whoever they were must have a bit of Kerry blood in them somewhere,” Ó Sé said in his column in today’s Irish Times.
“Just when all the focus was coming down on Kerry, Cork pipe up and start cribbing about having to play in the rain.”
Kerry’s focused attention on them as serious All-Ireland contenders, but the furore the Cork statement caused helped deflect some of the scrutiny.
“Talk about a godsend! It had to be a double agent at work,” he joked. “We thought we were goosed, we thought we’d have to spend the whole week ducking for cover.
“But out of nowhere, Cork decide that now is the time to go and take a stand.”
With tongue firmly in cheek, Ó Sé agreed wholeheartedly with the statement.
“And can I be the first to say, they were just right too. The rain. The referee. The quick turnaround. World hunger. Child poverty. It all conspired to nail poor Cork to the cross.”
H/T: Irish Times