Ruairi Deane insists that he is carrying no baggage from last year’s Munster final into Saturday’s decider.
Twelve months ago, Cork suffered a humiliating 17-point loss in the first big football game at the new Pairc Ui Chaoimh and it was a particularly frustrating evening for the Bantry man.
He started the game extremely well, setting up two goals for Cork though before the first half was out the home side’s challenge was unravelling badly and Deane was unfortunate to be dismissed on a black card.
He said: “Those things are frustrating. There are 30 lads on a pitch to one referee. It is difficult to get everything right.
“I’ve completely forgotten about that since then. You cannot change anything about the past, unfortunately. You have just got to move on from those things.
“Everyone makes mistakes, be it giving away a kick pass that could lead to the opposition getting a goal. Referees, in the same way, can make a mistake as well.”
He insists that there’s no sense of having to atone for last year as Kerry return to Leeside on Saturday.
“We can’t let that come into it. If you are worried about the past, you are already fighting a losing battle. We can control what is coming up.
“We cannot control what has gone before. We’ll let this year’s Munster final be the tell-tale of it.”
The Bantry man, a secondary school teacher, admitted that dealing with the fallout surrounding Cork football’s decline in recent years is testing.
“It is tough at times. You can’t take any of it personally. The staff and kids are very good below, they understand what you put in. For the most part, they are very respectful of that.
“You’d have a bit of slagging here and there from the kids, but it is all in good nature. We are very lucky where I work. Most of them mean the best 99% of the time. There is no ill-nature with regard to the other 1%.”
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