A meeting between the Cork GAA Executive and Ronan McCarthy on Monday night saw the former decide not to extend McCarthy’s term into the final year of their two-year agreement.

It is understood that McCarthy was interested in staying on next year and also wanted an extension until 2024.

McCarthy was in the role since 2017 and was at the helm in the Rebel County for four seasons.

McCarthy had served as a selector and coach for a total of three years previous to taking the top job in the county.

The Douglas native won Division Three of the Allianz National Football League in 2019 with the side.

Cork went unbeaten on their way back to Division Two but McCarthy failed to take them back to Division One.

Four successive Munster final defeats culminated with a 4-22 to 1-9 thrashing at the hands of rivals Kerry in what was McCarthy’s last game in charge.

On top of this, the side only reached the business end of the All-Ireland championship once under the former inter-county player when they came last in their Super 8s group in 2019.

County Chairperson Marc Sheehan said “Ronan has been an outstanding servant to Cork GAA over many years, and I would like to thank him both personally and on behalf of Cork for all that he has done.

“We wish Ronan, his selectors and backroom team all the best in their future endeavours and thank all involved for an immeasurable contribution over a number of years.”

All in Cork GAA wish to thank Ronan sincerely for his decades of service to GAA at all levels in the county, as player, coach and manager.

A process will now be put in place for the appointment of a new manager.

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Claiming their 82nd Munster championship title, the Kingdom demolished rivals Cork 4-22 (34) to 1-09 (12) at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney.

Pulling out a statement to the rest of the teams left in the championship with a 22-point win – reaching another All-Ireland semi-final.

The opening five minutes were madness – Cork had a three-point lead with scores from Michael Hurley (2) and Daniel Dineen giving his side the opening spoils.

At the other end of the pitch, Kerry broke with pace, with David Clifford and Sean O’Shea missing guilt edged chances – although Michael Martin made some crucial saves to keep the Kingdom at bay.

By the 16th minute, the scoreline read 0-03 to 0-05 to Cork, with Kerry looking sloppy in their play, often giving the ball away from overly eager hand passing – mainly due to Cork’s rough tackling.

Cork’s only goal of the game came after Kerry captain Paul Murphy was dispossessed, leading the Rebels to quickly counter-attack with Ian Maguire handing it off to Brian Hurley who cut inside to finish past Shane Ryan.

Superb goal by Brian Hurley for @OfficialCorkGAA in the Munster Senior Football Championship Final! #GAANOW pic.twitter.com/F5uesyDR1H

— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 25, 2021

The goal gave Cork the boost of confidence they so badly needed – ahead at the water break by 1-05 to 0-04.

The break itself did no favours for Cork, and seemingly gave Kerry a much-needed break and mental rest to regroup.

Coming out with six unanswered points to get a foothold in the game.

Luke Connolly kicked Cork’s first score in 12 minutes after Kerry’s assault, with the score now 0-10 to 1-06, defender Brian O’ Beaglaoich ran through the right-hand side of the Cork defence and slotted the ball home for Kerry’s first goal – and his second-ever championship goal.

At the start of the second half, Kerry was leading 1-12 to 1-07.

Sean O’Shea ran brilliantly through the middle of the park to lay it off to Paul Geaney, who finished calmly to give Kerry a further 8-point lead.

Paudie Clifford laid it off for Sean O’Shea for Kerry’s third goal of the game to make it 3-14 to 1-07.

Seán O'Shea slams in a third @Kerry_Official goal in the Munster Senior Football Championship Final! #GAANOW pic.twitter.com/K1w0FqRYkb

— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 25, 2021

Geaney got his second goal of the game after some quick passes around the Cork box saw a scuffle before the Dingle man tapped the ball into the net from close range.

Paul Geaney scores his second and a fourth @Kerry_Official goal in the Munster Senior Football Championship Final! #GAANOW pic.twitter.com/hvW3j8KE8B

— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 25, 2021

Thankfully for Cork, the game ended soon after that, only scoring 0-02 points in the second half, losing Ruairi Deane to a red card – sustaining their biggest ever losing margin to Kerry in championship history.

Now, Kerry will turn to either Tyrone or Monaghan, with an All-Ireland semi-final in three weeks time – capturing the 82nd Munster title will give them unbridled confidence going forward.

Kerry Scores

Kerry: Shane Ryan, Brian Ó Beaglaoich (1-00), Jason Foley, Tom O’Sullivan (0-02), Paul Murphy, Mike Breen (0-01), Gavin White, David Moran (0-01), Diarmuid O’Connor, Stephen O’Brien (0-01), Sean O’Shea (1-06, 3fs), Jack Barry (0-02), David Clifford (0-01,1f), Paul Geaney (2-01), Paudie Clifford (0-03).

Subs: Killian Spillane (0-02) for D O’Connor (inj, 18), Tommy Walsh (0-01) for O’Brien (blood, 45), Graham O’Sullivan for O Beaglaoich (blood, 53), Adrian Spillane for J Barry (56), S O’Brien for T Walsh (blood reverse, 57), T Walsh for P Geaney (57), O Beaglaoich for G O’Sullivan (blood reverse, 59), Gavin Crowley for T O’Sullivan (64), Tadhg Morley (0-01) for G White (66).

Cork Scores

Cork: Micheal Martin, Kevin O’Donovan, Sean Meehan, Kevin Flahive, Cian Kelly, Sean Powter, Mattie Taylor, Ian Maguire (0-01), Brian Hartnett (0-01), John O’Rourke, Ruairi Deane, Michael Hurley (0-02), Luke Connolly (0-01), Brian Hurley (1-03, 1f), Daniel Dineen (0-01, 1m).

Subs: Mark White for M Martin (ht), Mark Collins for L Connolly (41), Colm O’Callaghan for D Dineen (43), Kevin O’Driscoll for M Hurley (47), Kevin Crowley for O’Donovan (50).

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The forward received 5,923 votes from the public, over 1,000 more than Tyrone’s Darren McCurry and Mayo’s Ryan O’Donoghue.

The older brother of fellow inter-county star David Clifford made his first start for Kerry earlier this year and has performed brilliantly so far in 2021.

His performance against Davy Power’s Tipperary continued this trend with the Fossa native leading the Kerry attack to an impressive 1-19 (22) to 1-8 (11) victory.

He controlled Kerry’s attacking tempo with 34 possessions underlining his importance as a playmaker in the final third, the most in the Kerry side.

His work allowed his brother David and Killian Spillane to shine, with the former grabbing a goal on the day to help Kerry gain control of the tie.

Sean O’Shea also benefitted from the East Kerry forward’s movement in the final third as he moved into scoring positions because of it.

Paudie’s point is the icing on the cake for a spectacular performance that earned him the Man of the Match award and solidified Kerry as one of the top sides in GAA this year.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Clifford acknowledged the strength of Ronan McCarthy’s Cork side, who beat them in last year’s Munster semi-final.

“These two games are going to give us a good template to go on but, obviously, we’re going to have to lift it another bit for Cork.”

Kerry will play Cork in the 2021 Munster Senior Football Championship Final, a repeat of the 2019 final which saw the Kingdom edge a tight game.

Cork will want to go one step further than they have been able to go in the past nine

The final will be held on Sunday, July 25th at 4 pm in Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney.

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