Ciaran Whelan backs Cork to win All-Ireland

Ciaran Whelan has backed Cork to win this Sunday’s All-Ireland final against Down.

“I expect Cork to learn a lot from the semi-final,” Whelan said in his exclusive column with JOE.ie

“If they can play a bit more direct and avoid the sort of slow, lateral, monotonous approach play they got sucked into against Dublin, they should do enough to win.

“Conor Counihan’s team are in an All-Ireland final without having been impressive,” he added, “and they’ve shipped a bit of criticism so they have a lot of incentives to prove people wrong.”

Whelan believes the game will be won or lost in midfield, and area of the pitch he expects Cork to dominate in.

“Peter Fitzpatrick and Kalum King played well against Kildare but they’re stretched fairly thin there with Rogers out injured and Dan Gordon needed at full back.

“Cork, on the other hand, will have Alan O’Connor and Aidan Walsh giving it everything for the first 45, 50 minutes, and will then unleash Nicholas Murphy, one of the best fielders in the game, and Derek Kavanagh, who’s been playing very well every time he’s come on this year.”

The match will kick off at 3.30 pm on 19 September in Croke Park.

To read Ciaran Whelan’s All-Ireland final preview click here.