Conor Counihan has an abundance of riches at his disposal and Cork can prevail tomorrow, writes JOHN O'KEEFFE

THERE’S A lot going on this weekend, with a crammed fixture programme around the four provinces, but I’m sure a lot of ears at the various grounds will be listening out for events in Killarney. The Kerry-Cork Munster semi-final is the “big one” – pitching arguably the two best teams in the country head-to-head at a time when the summer has just got started – and after all of the controversy over the interpretation of the hand-pass rule and some poor games to date, these giants of Gaelic football have an onus to produce a game that can really kick-start the championship.

Looking at both camps, and how they will have targeted this match in terms of planning their season, there will be absolutely no thoughts of the back door. Both will want to win and avoid the potential pitfalls that await the losers in the back door system.

Certainly, Kerry – even if they recharged their batteries and ironed out problems using that route last year – will also have been made aware of all those pitfalls, given how they only narrowly survived on so many occasions before reigniting against Dublin.

These two teams come into this semi-final in Killarney very advanced for this stage of the campaign. I sense that Kerry – on the evidence of their win over Tipperary – are much fitter and more focused than they’d normally be for this time of the year, while Cork – as they proved in winning Division One of the National League – are improving all the time and, given the youth in their side, should be more driven than Kerry.

Cork have to put last year’s All-Ireland final defeat of last September behind them, if they can. The team’s management and game plan has progressed a lot since then, quite impressively, and the other factor that’s also in their favour heading into this game is the loss of so many key players within the Kerry set-up. You can’t buy experience, and the loss of so many to retirement, Aussie Rules and Paul Galvin’s injury as well should mean Cork go into this as favourites – even allowing for Kerry having home advantage.

The midfield battle will be crucially important and I think Cork have the edge here. Alan O’Connor and Aidan Walsh are agile and good footballers and Kerry will miss Darragh Ó Sé’s involvement. Séamus Scanlon was a terrific lieutenant to Ó Sé in recent years but now he has to prove he is a general. Cork will be aware of Micheál Quirke’s handling and fielding ability but also of his lack of mobility and I’d expect their kick-outs to reflect this and I wouldn’t be surprised if the impressive David Moran was introduced to bolster this sector.

There are many intriguing battles all around the field. Conor Counihan didn’t have to plan on how to counteract the contribution of Kieran Donaghy in last year’s All-Ireland final. Now, he does.

How do you contain Donaghy? Not only is he a terrific fielder, it is what he does with the ball when he gets it that is so impressive. The Donaghy-Cooper axis is vitally important for Kerry and Donaghy’s ability to offload the ball is a tremendous asset. Remember, he only scored a point in the quarter-final win over Tipperary but set up 1-8.

Last year, Kerry made a fatal mistake – in both matches in Killarney and Cork – where they allowed the Cork half-backs to attack unopposed and you just can’t allow players like Paudie Kissane, Michael Shields and Noel O’Leary to rampage up the field like that. All of the Kerry forwards are going to have to put in a lot of hard work to stop those forays, and Bryan Sheehan will also have to keep an eye on Cork corner back Ray Carey. who has also been known to get forward.

Donnacha O’Connor’s move to the “40” will improve Cork’s attack, which contains players well able to run with the ball, to take on opponents and all – on their day – can score.

Cork also look to have the stronger bench in terms of shoring up any defensive deficiencies that arise during a game. I’ll be interested to see how Mike McCarthy gets on at centre back because this is the second championship he’s come in after missing out on all the stamina work built up over the winter. I think O’Connor’s game will prevent Mike making those inspirational runs he and his fellow half-backs Tomás Ó Sé and Killian Young thrive on.

Kerry could also have problems in the full-back line, because the form of Tom Griffin and Tom O’Sullivan has been poor.

Cork learned a very hard lesson in last year’s All-Ireland final but I think they should win this one, and it would be an important win in determining who they are and what they are about. Counihan has the edge on the bench too, with players as good as any on the field. He has an abundance of riches and Cork should edge it – but only after a hard, uncompromising match.

I hope the referee lets the game flow and shows consistency and fairness in applying the rules. Our game needs an excellent spectacle tomorrow and the top two teams in the country to provide that. If they can’t do it, we’re in trouble!

I think Limerick will have too much in store for an improving Waterford in the other Munster semi-final. The Sligo-Mayo match appeals, if mainly to see how Mayo recover from that debacle of a league final. Sligo are a serious team and I’ve been impressed with them but you’ve got to think that Mayo, even with all the changes, have too many good footballers.

Monaghan v Armagh is another interesting one. I saw Monaghan in the league against Kerry. They’re a good, quality team – but Armagh have that win over Derry under their belts and that might be crucial in getting them home.