Longford defeat spurred on Kingdom

KERRY’S disappointment at their dramatic opening day defeat to Longford has inspired the side to an NFL Final according to County Board Chairman Sean Walsh yesterday.

The Kingdom crashed to an embarrassing away loss (3-7 to 1-12) at Pearse Park on February 1 on Jack O'Connor's managerial debut.

However, the result merely helped strengthen the bond within the panel who went onto win five of their remaining six games and advance to a semi-final meeting, and subsequent victory against Limerick last weekend.

"The players were a bit crest-fallen after our defeat in the opening round by Longford, although I still feel we probably played our best football that day. It was a torrid day, but we played quite well and were unlucky to concede a goal five minutes from the end," Walsh said.

"However, there was a pact made inside in the dressing room that day by the players and by Jack O'Connor that we would turn this around to 'work' to our advantage. That happened the following week and happened all the way through. It has put us into the final.

"You'd have to be happy for Jack, for the management team and the players, who have made a tremendous effort since last October,'' he commented.

With Kerry having earned something of a reputation for being a 'second-half' team, Walsh admitted that the management had stressed the importance of not falling behind early on.

"They were very anxious not to have that happen this time. A lot of emphasis was put on that during the week. We didn't want to be four or five points down at half-time and trying to turn it around,'' he added. "It wouldn't have been easy in the Gaelic Grounds with a very partisan crowd.

"We made a good start to the game and again at the beginning of the second half. Our form in the opening ten minutes of the second half gave us the lynch-pin for our victory.''

Conceding that the team's inconsistency was a little baffling, selector Ger O'Keeffe accentuated the positives. "While we seemed to fall away in the middle of the first half, we came good when our backs were to the wall. Nobody seems to know the answer, but we seem to be able to dig it out of the fire, which is a great sign. It showed their resilience. We knew it would be difficult after Darragh Ó Sé was sent off, but we have players who can play midfield as well. And we have a lot of good workers around wing-forward. A game like this will really tell you how you're really doing.''

He agreed that the quick scores after half-time had been crucial in deciding the game.

"We said during half-time that we would drive into them as ferociously as possible to see if we could upset them, to see if we could get a couple of quick scores. The idea was to get them on the back-foot and play the game in their half of the field and we did that!

"We set out at the start to win the League and now we're only a step away from one of our goals. We're going in the right direction.''

A calf injury may rule Tyrone defender Ciarán Gourley out of next Sunday's Division One semi-final replay with Galway at Pearse Stadium.

Gourley endured a torrid time against an in-form Pádhraic Joyce, who scored 0-7 in total before being sent off after 78 minutes, during yesterday's drawn game at Healy Park in Omagh.

However, Tyrone sharp-shooter Owen Mulligan believes his team displayed the sort of improvement they needed to when Galway asked questions of them in Omagh.

"It was a tough game, but it was a great game of football and there isn't much between either team. Conditions didn't help, either; the weather has been bad up here all week and the pitch was a little heavy.

"But we know what to expect now when we go down to Galway. They are a fantastic football team, who work very hard for each other and we are going to have to work just as hard if we are going to beat them.

"We did miss a couple of chances that could have sealed the game, but that will come with confidence. We improved a lot from the Cork and Kerry games and that is what we were looking for against Galway."