A controversial penalty has dominated the proceedings as Kerry limped to a two-point victory over Cork in Pairc Ui Caoimh this afternoon in the Sam Maguire Round Robin.
A magical first half from Seanie O'Shea had left Cork trailing by four at halftime. While both sides were defending ferociously, Cork's decision-making let them down severely with a conversion rate under 50% leaving them with a mountain to climb in the second half.
Brian O'Driscoll and Brian Hurley both created big problems for the reigning All-Ireland champions early on with their direct running winning free after free. However, Seanie O'Shea and the Clifford brothers answered all the questions about their form with their domination in front of the posts leaving Cork always a step behind the Kingdom as they comfortably rode out the first half.
John Clearly slams controversial penalty decision
However, controversy struck when a defiant Cork came out flying in the second half, closing the gap to a single point within ten minutes through Brian O'Driscoll's utterly dominant midfield performance. With Kerry on the ropes, David Clifford struck home a questionable penalty that has enraged the Cork boss, with the penalty resigning the rebels back to a four-point deficit.
The decision left Cork manager John Cleary utterly shocked, the Cork man simply couldn't comprehend how it was a penalty when discussing the incident with reporters after the game.
How it's a penalty is beyond me. If it's a goalscoring opportunity, Dan O'Mahony is straight behind him.
It wasn’t to me a goalscoring opportunity. I’ve looked at the video, I couldn’t see it properly but when I looked at the video myself, it’s more than harsh
The controversy arose when Paul Geaney who made a phenomenal run towards the nets was dramatically taken down by Sean Powter in what was undoubtedly a black card offence.
While it may have been an obvious black card, Geaney was well outside the box when he was pulled down, with Gough interpreting Geaney's run to be a clear goal-scoring opportunity the reason for awarding the penalty.
With Geaney at a tight angle, well outside the box and with not one but two Cork players providing cover, it's debatable that is was a clear goal-scoring opportunity for Geaney. Cork fans will undoubtedly be up in arms about the decision that ultimately cost them the game.
David Clifford scores from the spot to increase Kerry's lead to four.
Watch the game live on https://t.co/C7FxP1q5Ku pic.twitter.com/39jyC2FZBi— The GAA (@officialgaa) June 3, 2023
Despite the penalty undoing all Cork's hard work, they remained defiant closing the gap to just two with five minutes to play. Unfortunately for the Rebels defiance wasn't enough, as David Clifford found his range and like he has done so many times before came to Jack O'Connor's rescue.
Cork won by two - how different things might have been if the penalty wasn't awarded.
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