Keys to the Kingdom

THERE are two ways, it seems, of looking at Kerry's defensive collapse in the final 20 minutes against Frankie Dolan-inspired Roscommon, the one that has caused mass panic and hysteria in the Kingdom.

One is that the Connacht men pierced Kerry's rearguard so often and so simply because the Munster champions were so far in front and had lost concentration. Another is that the goals signpost a sign of deeper problems which Mickey Harte has no doubt spotted and Tyrone will seize upon on Sunday.

In the Kingdom, defence has become a topic hotter than our recent spell of good weather. Even after three seasons of leading from the back, there are still cries for Seamus Moynihan to be moved to his natural centre-half home. Cries from people with glum faces, wearing the resigned features of supporters already out of the championship. Since the quarter-final, they haven't been able to enjoy the sunshine.

"I think talk of a crisis is over-blown," says former keeper and minor coach Charlie Nelligan. "In fact, conceding those three goals may be the best thing to happen this Kerry team. Because it will undoubtedly improve their performance. I am certainly not worried about our defence. If we had beaten Roscommon 1-21 to 0-8, then nobody would be saying anything about our defence, people would be saying that nobody would touch them, not even Tyrone.

"There wasn't any stage in that game when Kerry people were worried the team were going to lose the game. The back line is very settled and has been settled all year. They got a wake-up call against Roscommon which will do them no harm at all."

The debate over Seamus Moynihan and full-back is likely to rage eternally. Páidí Ó Sé's use of the most gifted footballer at his disposal, on the edge of the square has been a consistent point of conjecture. Although he remains the soul of this Kerry side, the way Roscommon sauntered through the spine in the second-half has poured fresh fuel on the fire of debate. Mike McCarthy looked decent at full-back during the league, but when the big games loomed, Ó Sé reverted to the tired and trusted.

"One of the problems in Kerry is that we don't have a natural full-back and we are being forced to use Seamus Moynihan in there," says Stephen Stack, who was corner back on the '97 All-Ireland winning team.

"How many bad games has Seamus played for Kerry in the past few years people talk about the All-Ireland final last year, but those problems started further out the field." They have been bemoaning the fact that they have no natural full-back within the county for some time. But, that is hardly an exclusive problem. Of the four football teams left contending for the All-Ireland, not one use a natural full-back. Tyrone's Cormac McAnallen is a midfielder, Armagh's Enda McNulty is a converted corner-back while Donegal's Raymie Sweeney was retrieved from the wing to solve the problem at the edge of the square. While we are living in a vintage era for hurling full-backs (Philly Maher, Brian Lohan, Noel Hickey and Darragh Ryan), the same cannot be said of the bigger ball.

"What is a full-back or what makes one?" wonders Tom Spillane, who spent the latter part of his career at no. 3 for Kerry.

"The only great full-back in the traditional sense, that I have seen in modern days is Darren Fay. But, Fay also has the attributes of what is expected of a modern full-back, he's athletic, agile, mobile as well as being big and strong. Full-back is a changed position, you need to be more of a footballer and athlete now. That's why Tyrone are using Cormac McAnallen there."

Former team-mate, and now Clare boss John Kennedy agrees. "Players will always have preferred positions, but I think they have to be more adaptable these days. The game is moving away from each player having specialist positions. Everybody wants to see Seamus at centre-back, but he is playing at full-back for the benefit of the team. That is the way the game has evolved."

Using Moynihan at the edge of square didn't hold Kerry back last year or in 2000. The malaise doesn't stem from there and Stack wishes people would stop using that as the hook of their argument, look instead at the lack of aggression.

"One thing that does trouble me about the Kerry defenders at the moment is that not enough of them use the shoulder in a tackle. Since Moynihan did it to Micheal Donnellan in last year's All-Ireland quarter-final, no Kerry defender has made a good shoulder challenge," Stack observes.

"There isn't enough of them using their physique to defend and dispossess. Look at Armagh, they are not sparing when they are engaging in tackle. And I think Kerry defenders should be like that, too. In the past, Kerry have been very good in using a bit of controlled aggression when defending, like Meath sides in the past. At the moment, Kerry defenders seem to be too cautious about giving away frees."

DEFENDERS also seem to be a rarity on the conveyor belt that has been churning out the likes of 'Gooch', Declan Quill and Declan O'Sullivan. Nelligan rejects this, pointing to the examples of Marc Ó Sé and Mossy Lyons (who Kerry were cruelly robbed of this year by injury).

"I don't think there is any great crisis. I was looking at the Tyrone team who beat the Kerry minors in the '98 All-Ireland semi-final and only one of their defenders, Ciaran Gourley, has made it onto their team this year."

Pat O'Shea, the current Kerry minor manager, believes there is another reason behind the lack of good young defenders: simply that forwards grab the headlines sooner. "Of course, people see all these high-profile forwards coming through from the minors, 'Gooch' last year, O'Sullivan this year. But there is a reason for that. It takes a little while longer for defenders to develop and mature as players.

"Defending is an art that you develop as you get older. With attacking players, it is a little bit more instinctive, you can rely on your instinct and wild abandonment to score goals and points. What you are doing is relying on your gut instinct-it is almost better for a forward to have the cockiness of youth, in defence, you need some other heads to counter-act that."

While some are doing their best to down-play the problems, Kennedy does think there are issues to be addressed.

"The selectors have been criticised for not bring fresh defensive talent in, but it might be the case that there are no quality defenders out there.

"The county board have been doing a lot of work to rectify that problem, bringing on developmental squads, that is something you see in a lot of counties, but even with the advent of those squads, all the new talent they seem to be producing is in the forwards. I don't know the reason for that, but it has to be addressed," Kennedy says.

Kerry must eye their championship rivals enviously. Although Tyrone remain a relatively young team, they have managed to unearth another gifted young defender in Dermot Carlin this summer.

Armagh discovered Andy Mallon. Galway, while out, showed their future is bright with the discovery of Kevin Brady, Kieran Fitzgerald and Micheal Comer.

All of those players were in their early 20s, but all were deemed mature enough to play championship football.

In the Kingdom, since John Sheehan and Marc Ó Sé have come on board, there have been no bright defensive things arriving down the pipe-line. Contrasting that situation with the stunning array of attacking talent will furrow brows.

"At the moment is that there is savage competition in the forwards, we have eight or nine forwards, one as good as the other, fighting for six places. And there isn't the same strength in depth in defence. And we have lost Mossy Lyons, who was a big, big blow. He is a classy defender," Stack says.

And even if their defence do pass the Tyrone test on Sunday, and there is no guarantees, Armagh may await in the final and their supporters recognise that the Orchard attack can trouble the Kerry backs.

"The problem when you meet a team like Armagh is that they like to mix low, quick ball with long, high balls," Stack says. "Lots of teams have backs and forwards sessions during training, and given the size of the Kerry forwards, they like the ball in front of them or on the wings. As a defender in those games, they mightn't be getting enough training under the high ball. I don't know if this is the case, I'm just surmising."

For the time being, though, they seem only happy when they are fretting in the Kingdom. Enjoying the good weather with the weight of their defence pressing them down. As Paídí said after the quarter-final, it ain't all doom and gloom. They are in an All-Ireland semi-final. Of course, that won't satisfy the masses.

"Kerry supporters are very hard to please. They are almost automatically critical of performances," Kennedy says. "Kerry are in an All-Ireland semi-final, but they are not happy. They are looking for the perfect performance from their team."

Kerry-and their defence-is still in a position to deliver that performance. That should be reason enough to be cheerful.