Meath ace Kelly offers Kerry some painful words of wisdom
“No matter who wins between Dublin and Armagh next Sunday Kerry are going to go into the All-Ireland final as the raging hot favourites and, believe me, that’s the worst possible position that any team could be in,” he said.
“I was talking a few of the lads this morning and it was all a taste of déja vu for me. We were just recalling what it was like last year when we were in the very same boat that Kerry are in now.
“I don’t think any of us will ever forget 12 months ago when we beat Kerry by 15 points in the All-Ireland semi-final. I suppose it was a memory to savour but maybe some would like to forget it in the wake of the events that followed.”
Meath had come off a sensational 2-14 to 0-5 victory over a Kerry side that was hotly tipped to retain the All-Ireland title.
“I mean I remember the following day people were saying that we had the All-Ireland won. From what I remember of it I think that we, the players, were the only ones who realised that we still had Galway to beat to win the All-Ireland. It seemed everyone forgot that we still had to Galway,” he said.
“I hope that what happened to us does not happen to Kerry. OK we had a fair amount of confidence after beating Kerry. I think we would have to admit that but we certainly did not get carried away.
“We had a lot of respect for the Galway players and we realised that Galway would be a very difficult team to beat especially in an All-Ireland final.
“But, it would appear that we were the only ones thinking that way. I suppose players are always worried. You always have that feeling at the back of their mind that something could happen. A player is always terrified that something like this might happen. You just hope and pray that it will not happen but, unfortunately, sometimes it does.”
He said one could be fairly confident that Kerry would not allow something like this to happen to them. They would have learned a lot from their own experience in last year’s semi-final. “I think this is a very good Kerry team. OK, they did not perform against us last year but that was last year,” he said.
“They were clinical against Cork and they played some exceptionally good football. They are a very experienced side. A good few of them have two All-Irelands and Paidi has brought some exciting young talent into the side. I would be pretty sure that they are not going to allow themselves to get carried away by what was a very comprehensive victory over Cork. They are experienced enough to keep their feet on the ground,” he said.
But he warned them that they can not expect to get anything easy on All-Ireland final day tipping Dublin to beat Armagh and provide formidable opposition.
“I think Dublin will do it on Sunday. They are on a roll right now. I would say they are absolutely flying. They have a head of steam up, the momentum is thee and they are jumping out of their skin. Right now I would say they are ready to take on the world.”
“I mean how often do you get a fellow scoring six goals in the championship. They are flying and fair play to them. At least when they beat us they went on and proved that they were a very good team.
“I think an All-Ireland final betweenKerry and Dublin would be a great spectacle. OK it would be hard for us to watch but it would be great for the GAA and great for the country. Just look at the crowds that are going to the games.
“Having said that, we are already looking forward to next year. Hopefully we can regroup and give it a lash again. A lot of us met recently and while we did not talk football at all it was nice to be together and I would like to think that we will be back there next year.”
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