Éamonn Fitzmaurice: On All-Ireland final day, there are two unforgettable moments of quiet
Kerry’s Tom O’Sullivan and Sean O’Shea celebrate after the semi-final. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
When our national anthem is being belted out in Croke Park on Sunday, take a second, wherever you are. Those of us lucky enough to be there in person and the blessed few inside the ropes will have the hair standing on the back of our necks. As a nation we are great to beat ourselves up but our All Ireland final days are unique, to be treasured and enjoyed. Before the madness begins, embrace the pride.
When we travelled to Croke Park for the big championship games by train it was a sign that the serious stuff had arrived. Páidí Ó Sé loved the giddy energy on the train as we laughed our way to Dublin. From old stories being retold to cheating at cards we always had tremendous fun. There was always some poor unsuspecting soul cleaned out at the cards. The Ó Sé’s and Seamus Moynihan were never too far away from the action. We were more like a bunch of kids on a school tour than a team facing into a season-defining battle. Black magic was how Páidí described the jovial atmosphere and he always felt it was a good sign for what lay ahead.
Damien Comer and David Clifford are front runners in the Player of the Year race and will have a huge say in where Sam Maguire heads on Monday. Comer has scored 2-9 so far this championship, all from play, while David has amassed 1-13, in a game less. Whichever one catches fire can decide the final. Both will have designated man markers, Jason Foley and Seán Kelly in my opinion, and both will have sweepers sitting in front of them. Both are aerial options, as evidenced against Dublin and Armagh. Bearing in mind the struggles that Galway had with the high ball at the back against Armagh and at the end of the Connacht final against Roscommon I expect Kerry to test their pulse here, which leads us to ‘D’.
This will be critical both with and without the ball. While the teams have the capacity to kick inside and counter-attack at pace they will face packed defences at various stages during the match. Early on, I am expecting the game to be cagey and nervy. Galway will have plenty of bodies back to keep it tight in the initial stages. They started slowly against both Armagh and Derry and will know that a similarly slow start against Kerry could be fatal. On the Kerry side this is where decision-making will be key. They will want to kick inside as much as possible but the man in possession needs to assess when this is on and when it’s not. Early against Mayo they were guilty of forcing kicks unsuccessfully and in the replayed All Ireland of 2019 there was an aerial bombardment early that didn’t work. When it’s on, put it in - when it’s not don’t force it.
Should it materialise a huge battle awaits between David Moran and Paul Conroy. They are of a similar vintage and are similar type players. Both are leaders, kick pass through the middle third and are very strong in the air. That aerial battle could be pivotal. Galway, in particular, favour going long with their kickouts. Conor Gleeson will go short if it’s obvious but other than that he takes no risks. He has a big boot and Galway like to get plenty of bodies around Conroy to pick up breaks if he doesn’t catch it clean. They try to box out the area around the fielder to increase their chances on the breaks. Gleeson also uses Damien Comer as a kickout option at times, particularly long down the middle. Consequently, Kerry will be careful with their press. They will go man to man to prevent the short one but will need bodies under long kickouts, which is where Gleeson wants to go anyway. If they push too many players forward in their efforts to force Gleeson long they could be caught short at the back. In the four big championship games this year Galway have score 3-26 from their own kickout, short and long. Moran and Conroy’s battle for control of the skies will be captivating and crucial.
Along with Dean Rock, Kerry and Galway possess the best free takers in the country. Sean O’Shea and Shane Walsh are masters of their craft. Throw in David Clifford for good measure and it is an expensive sin giving away cheap frees. Usually it is harder to win frees in All-Ireland finals and both teams are quite disciplined in the scoring range. Kerry have conceded an average of three scoreable frees per match in the championship while Galway are almost at four. Both teams will be über conscious of this. Where a free taker can come into their own on the biggest days is kicking a crucial kick at the end of the game, a la O'Shea against Dublin, Rian O'Neill against Galway or Rock’s All Ireland winning kick in 2017.
A goal in any game is significant but even more so in an All-Ireland final - especially an early one. It can set the tone for the day. When it comes to goals the finalists have very different stories to tell. Kerry are conceding very few, one so far, but they are also short of goals upfront scoring a mere three in the championship. Conversely Galway are scoring plenty (11) but they are also conceding them having left in six goals so far. If they get the chance to go a bit more direct at times goal chances may result for Kerry.
There is a great history and connection between two counties on the western sea board, counties with a rich tradition and a record of trying to play football the right way. In the last 20 years - going back to the 2000 final - Kerry have had the upper hand, winning most of the big games. When Galway did the three in a row in the 60's they held the whip hand beating Kerry three years in succession. Mick O’Dwyer, despite all his success, always had a respect and dread of Galway. The last big championship game featuring the counties was won by Galway in 2018 and a large cohort of players from both sides featured in the 2017 All Ireland U21 semi-final, also won by Galway. When they get to Croke Park and get a head of steam up, Galway sides can be hard to stop. History tells us that there will be nothing in it.
This Japanese expression means that which gives your life worth, meaning, or purpose. It is about finding joy in what you do. When I think of Jack O'Connor involved in football I think ikigai. He is obsessed but in a good way. He is consumed by it. That love for football is infectious. He has been involved in Kerry teams of one shape or another for over thirty years going back to his time with the Kerry Vocational Schools. He will know tomorrow is all about winning. This will be the eighth All-Ireland final he will be involved in as a selector or manager. So far he has won five and lost two.
It doesn’t surprise me in the least what Pádraic Joyce is achieving with Galway. We are the same age and played a lot of football against each other all the way up through minor, U21, and senior. He was a brilliant and driven player. He is a successful businessman and he made his private ambitions as a manager public from the off. He has adapted this year in particular and is now tactically flexible. He has learned the hard way that gung-ho won’t win the All-Ireland. He is happy to be defensive when necessary and attack when possible. He is a formidable opponent and regardless of what happens Sunday, Galway have made massive strides this year. He will know too that it is hard to get to All-Irelands and it is about cashing in when you get there.
Galway have been on an adventure through the championship and from winning in McHale Park to the penalty shoot-out against Armagh, it is clear they've been surfing a wave. Any team in any sport is dangerous in that space but Galway’s history magnifies that threat. However, they haven’t been there on the big day before. Nearly all of the Kerry team have, most unsuccessfully and some with success. That knowledge and know how counts. While cliched to say that you have to lose one to win one it can often be the case.
Both managements and sets of players will try to control as much as possible but on the day a couple of breaks can be crucial. It is an uncontrollable so there is no point in focusing on it. In the 2016 final Mayo scored two own goals in the drawn All Ireland. How can you explain that? Right at the end of the 2014 final we had played most of the football, got a lot right but Donegal mounted a last-ditch attack and Colm McFadden palmed the ball against the outside of the post. We got the rub of the green that day. Napoleon famously preferred lucky generals and tomorrow that rub can be decisive.
We would refer to this in the lead in to a big match. When a team loses a big match, any match, the thought is often 'I would love to be back in the dressing room before the match and start over'. There is no going back. The moment of maximum potential is just before a team takes to the pitch. The match is a blank canvas and everything is there to be contested. It is about having no regrets.
The Kerry All-Ireland winning team from 1997 is being honoured before the match Sunday. It will be a poignant day for the Ó Sé family as Páidí was central to that success as he led and empowered that team. They showed the way for the group that followed through the noughties. It was the first All Ireland that Kerry had won in 11 years ending an unwelcome famine. The group contained grizzled veterans who had seen it all and had been at the wrong side of some results including losing to Clare in 1992 and an emerging force of All Ireland under 21 winners. Many of this group didn’t know how to take a backward step and that attitude will be needed this time too. It would be apt, if on the day that they are honoured it coincides with the end to the latest famine.
It is clear to me that Cian has had a big impact on Galway. From their defensive shape, to set plays, to their approach to kickouts and everything else in between, I can see the evidence of his work. I am sure the other coaches, including Joyce himself, and John Divilly in particular, have a big input as well but having worked with Cian, I recognise his coaching. Crucially he also has relatively recent All-Ireland final experience which will be of help to the westerners. While he was in our camp in 2014 he would love putting one over a traditional powerhouse.
Both sides are comfortable putting an aggressive press in place against the opposition kickout. The conundrum facing Kerry is already covered in E. Against Derry, Galway adjusted their press at half time and pushed five bodies into their full forward line in the second half. Odhran Lynch had got a couple of chip outs away in the first half and Galway reacted. They forced him long and did very well in the resulting contests. I have my doubts if they will be as brave Sunday as such a strategy leaves them wide open at the back if they don’t win the long restart. They will also realise that Kerry are good at the bunch and break. The Kerry backs are blessed with explosive pace and are good at getting separation and presenting themselves as an option. Shane Ryan has also been excellent both in terms of decision-making and execution. Galway may elect to place a narrow zone around them to make it harder and they may even give up the kick out for stages. To win they will have the mix their approach and the bias of that mix could be telling.
Once a team hits Croke Park on All Ireland final day, there are two moments of quietness - one welcome, the other not. When the bus enters the stadium under the Cusack Stand and slowly crawls around under the Canal End the focus starts to really narrow. To that point, it's been an adrenaline-filled journey as the Garda-escorted bus flies through the crowds on the way to the match. The thrill of this is hard to imagine and never gets old. The cheering, flag-waving, colour, sirens and blue lights envelope the bus close to the stadium. Then, silence. Most of the players will be tuned into their music but for those of us without earphones, the only sound now is the whirring of the air conditioning. Around the corner up under the Hogan Stand and the bus stops outside our designated dressing room. The time to perform is here and the normal dressing room and match day sounds take over. The other time quietness intrudes is when a vanquished side returns to a losing dressing room. Bryan Sheehan captured this very well on this week's Irish Examiner Football Podcast. Trust me: that melancholy is to be avoided.
In the 1974 World Cup, the hosts and eventual champions, West Germany, played a brand of soccer that became known as Rambazamba. It was a term used to describe their fluidity and player interchange and was personified by Franz Beckenbauer. Modern football has become a form of this with Kerry's Tom O'Sullivan as likely to kick a point as dispossess a man in his full-back line. On the flip side, Damien Comer has forced huge turnovers in his own last line of defence while also doing his thing at the other end of the pitch. The fitness levels of the players to continually repeat this is remarkable. Of course, R is also for replay...
As we saw in last Sunday's All-Ireland hurling final, a strong bench is critical. It was Dublin’s not-so-secret weapon for years. Kerry, on paper, appear to have the upper hand here and Padraic Joyce tends to use his subs sparingly. I don’t think Jack and the management will have been totally happy with the contribution of the bench against Dublin. They will expect more tomorrow. Against Cork, David Moran, Paul Geaney and Paul Murphy came off the bench and finished the Rebel challenge. There is a school of thought that suggests it is better to finish with your strongest team rather than starting with it. I wonder will Jack be tempted to hold one of his experienced lieutenants in the hope that he can steer the ship home in the last quarter when experience counts double.
Tadhg Morley’s significant role has been discussed plenty by myself and others already this year. As previously mentioned he will be helping out Jason Foley in Kerry’s efforts to contain Damien Comer. While I am not privy to the work that Paddy Tally is doing with the players I am sure he has had plenty of involvement in improving the structure at the back. For the final, his experience of breaking down a massed defence may be of greater significance. Kerry have struggled with this in the recent past and as a discipline of mass defence no better man to know the way around it. I expect Kerry to play with patience, but also with pace. Pace on the ball and pace in the movement of the ball. When I was involved we often used the mantra of “patience at pace”, which applies again tomorrow.
Oftentimes one of the expected stars catches fire and has one of those special days on the biggest day, Maurice Fitz in 1997, Seamo in 2000, Padraic Joyce in 2001, Gooch in 2004 and a host of Dubs during their run. Sometimes a final can throw up an unlikely hero, at least unlikely to everyone outside the squad. There is so much analysis done on the key players that someone else can step up. Tomorrow is an opportunity for one of the lesser lights to be the name on everyone’s lips Monday morning.
The French Enlightenment writer maintained that perfect is the enemy of good. In an All-Ireland final players and management will be striving for perfection but often good will be enough. From a players' perspective, the dream is to play well on the big day but it only works out like that for a select few - or else you are Gearóid Hegarty. Often it is about being patient, backing yourself and concentrating on your job, particularly if you are not involved in the game early. Wear yourself into it and don’t panic. Don’t worry about perfection, do what needs to be done on that day, for that match. Good will suffice and if perfect happens, fantastic. As Confucius put it “better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.”
This is all that counts. For everyone looking on from around the world there is an appetite for a lovely open game of football. A classic. The problem is there is always a loser in a classic. For those on the inside, the manner of victory doesn’t matter. Yes, it is superb to win with style but it is a bonus. Despite all the systems and tactics ultimately it still comes down to mano-a-mano. There is an All-Ireland medal to be won and it is between me and you. One of us is going home with that treasured possession and the other is going home with his tail between his legs and a lot of what-ifs.
Shane Walsh and David Clifford undoubtedly have the X Factor. One of them could make Sunday's decider his final. Sit back and enjoy watching a pair of geniuses at work.
It is a long time since Sam Maguire has visited either county. That appetite for success brings with it expectations. Both teams will appreciate that is it so hard to get to the final in the first place and that it is vital to seize the day. The beauty of it is whichever county prevails, they'l have some homecoming and celebrations will last long into the winter. It will lift an entire county and their vast overseas diaspora. When we won in 2014 it was so unexpected within the county it was as if we hadn’t won Sam in 20 years. It added to the post All Ireland glow.
I saw my compadre Paul Galvin complimenting the Limerick hurlers on their consistent ability to operate in a flow state, in the zone. Kerry and Galway are still developing in general terms, and growing that aspect in particular. Winning big, tight matches repeatedly over time builds that ability to operate in the zone. Both teams have performance coaches of renown in Bernard Dunne and Tony Griffin and the pair were name-checked by their respective managers this week. Battles everywhere, not least amongst the performance coaches.
