Éamonn Fitzmaurice: Kerry play the percentages, Mayo go full gas
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: Kerry’s Joe O’Connor races clear of Dublin’s Charlie McMorrow. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Kerry and Dublin battles regularly take on a life of their own, with form and the standing in the pecking order irrelevant.
There is too much history for either side to take a backward step or not to give the best of themselves, which lent itself to a physical and tactical encounter in Croke Park yesterday.
The underdog came with a plan, disrupted the favourites, came out on the wrong side of a couple of big calls, died with their boots on but ultimately lost. Sound familiar? That was us in 2016 when the same sides clashed in an All-Ireland semi-final.
The script flipped a decade later. It made for uncomfortable viewing at times from a Kerry perspective as it never felt as if Dublin were completely out of it. They were heroic in defeat, but Kerry had the class, knowhow and squad to get the job done.
Dublin won the toss and went with the breeze. They probably needed a buffer at half-time to realistically have won.
As has been a pattern for them throughout the season their shooting accuracy wasn’t elite, finishing at 50%, whereas Kerry’s stood at 59%.
In the first half Dublin had five two-point efforts, converting only two of them. In contrast Kerry were three from five in the second half. However, one of the ‘misses’ was the Dylan Geaney shot that came up short (the most dangerous ball in football) and ended up in the back of Evan Comerford’s net.
When the game was in the melting pot in the second half Kerry’s big players stood up. Joe O’Connor won a few crucial kickouts, Seánie O’Shea controlled everything, Shane Murphy made a couple of huge saves to secure a fourth clean sheet in a row, Jason Foley nullified Con, David got a three important scores (including a two), Mark O'Shea was excellent but Paudie Clifford in particular was immense.
Read More
Dublin doubled on David every time he got the ball meaning they had to let Paudie off until he came into their defensive zone. He looks fully fit once more and was stuck in everything. When in possession he was prompting and scoring, getting five from play including a two. Late on when Kerry were hanging on for dear life he was at the centre of the defence organising, tackling and intercepting. In the first half he was constantly available for ball as Kerry played a slow possession based game into the breeze and the Hill.
He played between the 45m and 65m lines, outside of the zone that the Dubs were willing to push to. Leaving him off is a big call, with him getting 70 here once more. Leaving him off or not is one of many decisions that will occupy Andy Moran’s thoughts for the next fortnight. I suspect he will send Enda Hession after him.
In the second half I expected Kerry to go faster on occasions but they continued to play a controlled game for the most part. Paudie did pick out a couple of advanced marks inside, but other than that they very much played the percentages. I’m not convinced it was the right decision all of the time as not every slow attack was leading to a shot and Dublin forced turnovers. It gave them life, fuelling their challenge and allowing them to counter attack at pace while simultaneously giving oxygen to the Hill. But for some heroic defending and an occasional rub of the green it could have been costly.
Mayo won’t allow them settle in possession in the final so that will force them to play a more aggressive game, which should suit them. They will be practising beating a man and using a one-two to get out of trouble for the next fortnight as it will be critical against the hard tacking Westerners.
Crucially Seánie O’Shea got a full game under his belt meaning he is now fully match fit once more. Similarly Brian Ó Beaglaoich and Gavin White got significant minutes. Bit by bit they are getting everyone back. Tom O’Sullivan and Paul Geaney are the only significant concerns now but with an All-Ireland final on the horizon all stops will be pulled out to get them back. Paul was a miss yesterday as he gets the best out of David and Dylan inside, as well as contributing himself. The team will take some picking for the final, which is just the way Jack will want it. He knows better than anyone that everyone will be required to secure Sam once more.
Dublin will feel hard done by with some of the big decisions. The penalty was soft. If anything Joe O’Connor sought contact. Seán O'Brien's flicked goal was a square ball. It looked as if the ball crossed the line for the Mike Breen goal-line clearance. As an underdog, to win, you need those calls to go in your favour. It has been a strange season for Dublin. They were relegated, nearly lost to Wicklow, lost to Westmeath in the Leinster Final and to Louth in the All-Ireland series.
Suddenly they found form, took out Donegal and Galway and rattled Kerry to within an inch of their lives. They are on an upward curve and there is plenty there to build on. Ger Brennan will look to retain the services of his elder statesmen to help continue the transition, while remaining ultra-competitive.
On Saturday evening Mayo dismissed Louth with their best performance yet of Moranball. They are the football manifestation of Vollgas soccer (literally full-throttle football), which is a high-intensity, gegenpressing tactical style popularised by Jürgen Klopp.
It prioritises relentless work rate, aggressive pressing high up the pitch to win the ball back, and rapid vertical attacks where possible. It is fantastic to watch. I am a fan and feel that with the right profile of player that is the way I would be trying to play the new game as well. It suits Mayo’s players and their footballing identity. It isn’t without its faults which will we revisit prior to the final but it is fantastic to watch when done in sync.
When out of possession Mayo hunted Louth all over the pitch. They were excellent at not allowing the man to beat them and making sure that every pass was pressurised. At no stage did the Louth players get an opportunity to settle themselves in possession and set up the patterns seen in previous games. Every time they looked up there was a green and red jersey in their face, to put pressure on their skillsets, which didn’t stand up to the test.
Gavin Devlin will chase improvement here for next season. Not only were they forcing turnovers but they were making it count on the scoreboard. The Westerners scored a staggering 3-12 from the 22 turnovers that they won during the game. Once they won the ball back they looked to go fast, in contrast to their opponents in the final. They are willing to kick when it is on, and some of their kicking inside was top notch.
Critically, they now have talented targets to kick to. Their full-forward line was menacing, once more, with starters Ryan O’Donoghue, Kobe McDonald and Darragh Beirne contributing 2-17 between them. Cian McHale replaced Beirne and contributed a further two points. Tommy Conroy was introduced at half-time, played inside for the second half and was electric. Kobe (who was a pleasure to watch) and Beirne are playing with the joy and innocence of youth. They are willing to try things, fail, try again and succeed.
Ryan O’Donoghue was incredible. When the team huddled on the pitch beforehand he was vocal and defiant. He scored 1-11. His two in the first half was the only two into the Hill from play in the two Saturday games, and was a gorgeous outside of the right effort that he held into the breeze. I loved his attitude at the end. He was awarded a free just outside the arc pre-hooter but before he took it the klaxon sounded. Even though the celebrating subs were invading the pitch behind him, rather than kick the ball up into the stand he insisted on taking his shot and nailed it. It summed up his mindset.
Andy Moran deserves massive credit for steadying the ship when it threatened to get nasty locally after their ten-point defeat to Roscommon in April. He kept his nerve, stuck to his principles and crucially is giving youth it’s head. Their record in All-Ireland finals is for another day, they will know that they need to improve significantly further for the final but critically they will now feel they can.
