Kerry should prove too strong for Cork in this weekend's All-Ireland SFC group game, but any further dip in performance could be seized upon by the Rebels, says Eamonn Fitzmaurice.
The All-Ireland champions were well below par in their home defeat to Mayo last time out, but with Division 2 sides Louth and Cork also in Group 1, few expect the Kingdom to be the side that falls by the wayside.
The recent history with their neighbours would suggest it is a timely fixture for Jack O’Connor to regroup his charges.
Since the turn of the millennium, the sides have crossed swords 33 times in championship fare, with Cork coming out on top on just half a dozen occasions.
The more recent history is full of one-sided encounters. Last year, despite an encouraging display from the Rebels, they fell short by 12 points against a team that rarely looked out of third gear. The year before the margin was 22 points.
The shock 2020 victory at Pairc Ui Chaoimh is Cork’s only win in the last 10 games.
John Cleary’s men were impressive in getting over Louth last weekend – a game many viewed as the shootout to avoid a championship exit – yet few give them a realistic chance of making it two from two.
Former Kerry manager Fitzmaurice expects his county men to leave Leeside with the win, but is wary of what could transpire if the Mayo performance is replicated.
"There is always the reminders of underage football, where they have lost to Cork teams. They know them from Sigerson," he told the RTÉ GAA podcast.
"There is always those angles to make sure that, from a Kerry perspective, that they are really tuned in for Saturday.
"From a Kerry point of view, it’s unthinkable (a Cork win), but not impossible.
"Looking at it through a Kerry lens, you go down there, you perform, you’re probably going to win. You go down there, you don’t show up, you’re probably going to lose.
"If both teams play to the top of their games, Kerry will have too much."
Fitzmaurice says the Kerry DNA doesn’t allow anyone within the county bounds write the fixture off as a gimme, while the questions around Kerry’s work-rate against Mayo will need to put to bed.
Former Tyrone footballer Enda McGinley agrees that while the Sam Maguire holders should have more than enough to pick up the win, the 2020 nightmare on their last visit to Cork, and the questions arising from the defeat to Mayo might come to the fore the longer the hosts can stay in the fight.
"There is that wee bit of weight on their shoulders, suddenly there is a wee bit of pressure there," he said.
"While it’s only a small possibility, they have only to look at their last visit to Páirc Ui Chaoimh to remember what that felt like when they came in as raging hot favourites.
"That pressure can build in a game, the longer they take to put Cork to bed. Or we could see a dominant Kerry performance. It will be one or the other."
The win over Louth has taken the pressure off Cork somewhat as they could conceivably lose to Kerry and Mayo and still advance.
Fitzmaurice believes Cleary’s side are arguably better suited to playing higher quality opposition, citing the example last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Dublin, this year’s league performance against the same opposition and how they performed for 50 minutes in last year’s Munster clash with Kerry, where at that point they trailed by just a point before Kerry upped the gears.
"When they are up against the big dogs, I think it suits them," adding that the players will now be getting more used to coach Kevin Walsh’s training methods."
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Watch Tyrone v Armagh in the All-Ireland Football Championship on Saturday from 6.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on all matches on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to updates throughout the day on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch an All-Ireland Football Championship double-header on Sunday, Mayo v Louth (2pm) and Donegal v Derry (4pm), follow a live blog on all matches on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to updates throughout the day on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
