Cool Cooper proves the new sensation

BEFORE the game, some worried about him, others scoffed at the hype.

The Kerry supporters looked at this wee whip of a lad and feared for his safety in the Croke Park cauldron; the Galway fans were sceptical of this new sensation from the south.

Wicklow, Fermanagh, Kildare, in his previous tests? This one was acid, the limpet marking of their own proven young star, Kieran Fitzgerald, near sixty thousand crowd, headquarters. Colm Cooper, went the western wisdom, would be found out, and early.

He was, found out in the left corner by a beautiful ball from Mikey Frank Russell, and with only half a minute gone in this All-Ireland quarter-final, the gorsoon from Dr Crokes had lit up Croke Park and the scoreboard with a fine point. He went on to add three more (Russell, whose heir apparent Cooper was fast becoming, showed he was in no mood for abdication just yet, with four sharp points of his own) in as cool a performance as you’re likely to see this year and afterwards, in the sanctuary of the Kerry dressing room, took on the media with the same easy confidence. “The first shot settled me down, things went well for me after that,” he smiled, looking for all the world like a red haired refugee from an U-14 game. “The atmosphere was unbelievable in the beginning, and coming out there for the start of the second half, the crowd doing the Mexican Wave it was like something you’d see in the World Cup. Amazing feeling.”

Speaking of coming out at the beginn The championship entry of young Cooper went almost unnoticed, as did the entry of the Kerry team as a whole, their tepid reception from the few Kerry supporters in the new stadium in stark contrast to the roof-raising welcome accorded the other three teams in action yesterday.

The less said the better, but this Kerry team, especially with nery team, especially with n their stuff, the reliables like Russell as committed as ever, deserves better from their fans.

“Those two,” commented full forward Dara Ó Cinnéide, whose own form reflects this Kerry team overall, getting better with every game, “they seem to know instinctively seem to know instinct. Mike Frank there in the first half, a few points, he didn’t even have to think, he knows the geography of Croke Park so well, even with all the changes, just kicked on instinct, over the bar.

“And Gooch, he’s so cool; you don’t like to blow up young fellas. Wise head on young shoulders. Outrageous scores, very cool, it’s great to have that kind of talent.” Gooch, by the way, is Cooper.

Another impressive Croke Park senior championship debutant was wing-forward Seán O’Sullivan, busy overall, but contributed a vital goal for Kerry five minutes before the break, when Kerry needed something when Kerry needed some half time cushion, having played with the breeze.

“I don’t remember too much about it,” he said.

“Brosnan got it, I took off on a bit of a run, see if he’d slip it to me and he did.

“When I got in on goal, there was only one thought on my mind; I hit it a bit high to my mind, but it went in anyway, top corner. I was happy with that.”

Space and pace, that was the difference; O’Sullivan and Kerry made the space, had the pace.

“They keep telling me to use it, take on the defence, get at players.

“Seán Óg de Paor is quick, but I was told to get forward, support the full-forward line, take him on whenever I could. Thankfully, I was able to do it at regular intervals.”

Not that this win was all about the youngster was all about the youngsters. Midfield rank with the best; full-back, and Séamus Moynihan, as he had done in 2000, Kerry’s last All-Ireland winning season, again got the better of his old buddy, Pádraig Joyce, Galway’s chief score getter.

They were reluctant to single out any from his whole squad of heroes.

“I suppose you’d have to say that for our full back line to withstand that enormous pressure in the first half was crucial, and Darragh in the middle of the field was magnificent.

“The point he got in the second half, caught a great ball, drove forward, kicked a magnificent point. If that wouldn’t lift a team, nothing would.”

“Galway would never be happy with a point at the end of a game, they’d always sniff a goal out, play with their heads up, that’s their way,” reckoned the same Darragh, before paying

tribute to Moynihan and his cohorts at the back. “With forwards like Savage and Joyce class forwards in any language I thought our defence did very well to cope with them.”

One thing that was very apparent was that the recent run of competitive games was of huge benefit to Kerry, while Galway’s 35 days of watching it all unfold left them just that whisker off the mark, the same whisker by which three golden goal chances in the first half and one in the second were all missed.

Still, taking the scenic route to another All Ireland semi final gave the Kerry manager little enough satisfaction. “Lookit,” said Páidí, only a little twinkle in the eye, “we don’t ever get any great satisfaction from being beaten by Cork in a Munster final, I can assure you of that”.

Interesting times still ahead, perhaps.