Losing an eight-point league final lead was seen as typical Dublin but, as they soared to new heights, it was Cork who fell to earth
Dublin’s Tomás Quinn attempts to get away from Cork duo Fiachra Lynch, left, and Paudie Kissane during the 2011 NFL final. Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE
Paddy Kelly is not inclined to probe too deeply into the “depressing” saga of Cork’s descent from the Sam Maguire summit in 2010 or the years of league domination that followed in its slipstream.
This, you suspect, is a subject requiring a full doctoral thesis and not a five-minute synopsis over the phone. “Look, Cork football, where did it all go wrong?” he muses at one point.