Earley fears blast from past

DERMOT EARLEY was “very sorry” to see Kildare exit the Bank of Ireland football championship in Portlaoise last Saturday. It was the natural reaction of a man who managed the county for two years and whose son of the same name is a current player, albeit one who missed the game through injury.

But of course, he's a Roscommon man, widely admired for his skill and sportsmanship over a long period of time, and he gained as much satisfaction from the team's victory as any one of the huge following who travelled for the game.

"I thought Kildare made a huge contribution to a fantastic game," he commented. "They played with great skill and determination, even though they had to do so while tiring fast after their massive effort against Laois in the Leinster final the previous weekend."

His only regret was that the match came a week too early for his son, who was coming back to fitness. "Naturally, you were hoping that Kildare would get through and perhaps get into a semi-final."

Next Monday's game will be Roscommon's sixth of the campaign. That's one more than they played in 1980, the year they contested their last All-Ireland final against a Kerry team which lost Eoin Liston and struggled a lot. At the end, they were winners by three points (1-9 to 1-6) and for Mick O'Dwyer and his players there was the bonus of completing a three-in-a-row after nearly 40 years.

Twenty-three years on, Earley hasn't changed his view that it was a game Roscommon "let slip" through their fingers. "No doubt about it. That defeat hurt for a very long time. With time it has eased, and you can watch the tape a bit more. It has been shown on TG4 and various other programmes, but I didn't look at the tape for twelve years. I certainly didn't see any moment of the game until then, which shows how much it hurt to lose the game," he added.

"Certainly we had the chances, we had the skill and we had the ability. But we just did not perform on the day. That was what was very disappointing about it."

Earley, a Colonel in the Army and based in Dublin, also harbours regrets about the criticism directed at the team in the days and weeks following the final. I know that in my report of the game I faulted them for 'negative' tactics, while reserving most criticism for the refereeing of Seamus Murray from Monaghan.

"We were a bit annoyed over some of the criticism, at the suggestions that we had gone out in a deliberate fashion to take a very skilful team apart in any way we possibly could," he remarked.

"I have always expressed the view that we got a brilliant start to go a goal and two points up and felt that this was 'our game'. And then as Kerry came back at us we did foul much more than we did in any other game including myself.

"It wasn't dirty, it was just over-enthusiasm. You didn't want the Kerryman to get away from you. You didn't want anybody to get in and get a scoring chance. Particularly when they got close to goal, these frees were punished by Mikey Sheehy and at the end there were just three points between us. Having said that, we missed three or four scorable frees as well.

"There were fouls committed against Roscommon and had we kicked those frees we could have won the match."

What impresses him most about Roscommon in their current campaign is the continuing progress they have made. "The game against Kildare last weekend was their fifth championship match, which is fantastic for any team. Years ago if you played two or three, it was a 'run' in the championship! To see the way they have come on since the game against Galway on May 18, under the tutorship of Tommy Carr, has been great.

"The team played with a unity and a tremendous sense of purpose in Portlaoise. And like Kildare they didn't give in. However, they were fresher and they were stronger. And they had Frankie Dolan!"

Dolan kicked some tremendous scores over the course of the 90 minutes, none more important than the kick which levelled the game in injury time. "Maybe his kicking wasn't as out of the ordinary on other occasions as it was so extraordinary on Saturday. But Frankie has kicked sideline balls, has scored vital scores and has popped up when no other player would attempt a shot.

"He has been a terrific finisher at crucial times. To score twelve points in the previous game against Offaly and 13 points against Kildare was a fantastic achievement."

Tommy Carr took the Roscommon players to Croke Park on Tuesday night to acclimatise to the surroundings. They were almost 'giddy' after the excitement generated by the dramatic nature of their win and, Earley points out, they were taken to Dublin "to get it out of their system".

The extra games have undoubtedly brought the team on and with Carr describing the clash as "the perfect draw" they have a powerful incentive to better Kerry this time. But any reservations about their ability to win relate to the strain of playing again so soon.

"I think that Roscommon will probably experience what Kildare experienced last Saturday night. It's another big game and I know it's eight days this time, while Kildare had six after the Leinster final.

"It's still very tight and I would say that the fresher team will have the advantage.

"I would think that the aces are in Kerry's favour."