Ford happy with Galway progress
It was Cork who actually won through, and they flopped against Kerry after a fighting display in the quarter-final against Galway, who had rocked them with two rapid goals from Micheal Meehan early in the game.
Kerry now meet Galway in tomorrow’s Allianz League final in the Gaelic Grounds (3.30pm).
Reflecting on that game with Cork, Galway manager Peter Ford feels it would have been “a major achievement” if they had won.
“We were super in the first-half, I think we were seven points up at one stage. But we took our foot off the pedal coming up to half time and it gave them a lifeline. There was a lack of workrate and a lapse of concentration on our part, but we still had chances at the end to win it.”
Pointing out that Galway haven’t won a game in Croke Park since the 2001 All-Ireland final, he worries that there may be “a little bit of a mental block there.” And for that reason he’s disappointed they are not playing Kerry in headquarters.
“I know obviously we mightn’t win it, but Galway need to a win a match in Croke Park soon to get them back into thinking of All-Irelands.”
Ford came to the Galway job via Sligo and accepts that he will be compared to John O’Mahony and that he will be “a hard act to follow”. However, while acknowledging the success of his fellow countyman, he points out that a lot of the players he worked with have since left - the likes of Gary Fahey, Tomas Mannion, Kevin Walsh, Sean O Domhnaill, Ja Fallon and Sean Og de Paor.
“It’s a new team, basically. While we have five or six of the experienced players, I don’t look back, I don’t feel under pressure. I just want to do as well as I can.”
The process of reshaping the side has seen Paul Clancy operate at midfield, Declan Meehan settle in at corner-back and a reinvigorated Derek Savage playing at centre-forward. Ford explains that rather than some of the moves ‘being inspired’ by him, things were forced on him.
“We had to re-position players to get ourselves out of tricky situations,” he explained. “Good players can play anywhere. Paul Clancy was outstanding for us at centre-back last year and he’s outstanding at midfield now. Savo can play anywhere. They are lads that if you give them a job to do, they’ll do it for the team.”
It goes without saying that he’s delighted to have Michael Donnellan back after his exploits in the club championship.
“It’s not as if we are rolling with talent. We’d have seven or eight of the so-called ‘star quality’ players, but we can’t afford to lose anybody, not like Kerry or Tyrone or whoever. It’s good to have Michael back, but we need to be lucky in the months ahead that we don’t have any injuries.”
The addition of the better players from their All-Ireland-winning Under-21 side has further aided the development of the team, with Ford saying that they have all settled in well.
The partnership between Micheal Meehan and Sean Armstrong with the U21’s has had people comparing them to the famed Purcell/Stockwell duo of the fifties. However, Ford cautions that expectations should not be too high, even though Meehan is already well established in the adult grade.
“It’s a big step up to senior and while each of them has done well on different days, they wouldn’t have clicked together they way they did at under-21. It might take another year for that to happen,” he says.
Irrespective of the result tomorrow, Ford takes comfort from the fact that his team is more settled, that he now has “a fair idea” of what his championship side will look like.
“This time last year I wouldn’t have had a clue. The Connacht final was the first time we put ‘that team’ together. It worked for us on the day and we played more or less the same team against Cork.
“The League for me last year was about looking at new players, moving things around. Obviously we didn’t get it right, but I would be confident that things are well advanced now.”
He’s also pleased with the brand of football they are playing, rejecting Mayo criticism of their style and criticising their “whinging” after going under in last Sunday’s semi-final.
“Galway’s style isn’t defensive,” he emphasises. “We set out to play as good a football as we can, but sometimes teams will dictate how you play. We had no choice against Mayo.”
However, that’s not to say they won’t do (almost) everything in their power to limit the threat from Colm Cooper, accepting that while Kerry are no one-man team, the Gooch is a potential match-winner nearly every day he puts on the green-and-gold.
“Not many teams, if any, have been able to stop him over the years,” says Ford. “He’s a brilliant player. I don’t think any team is going to nullify his involvement in a game. He is going to score - as long as he doesn’t get something like 2-5 or 1-7 - and he’s capable of doing that to any opponent!”
*Having seen both teams in action, I have no doubt that Kerry are the superior side. Both full-back lines look like being severely tested, but I expect Cooper and company to do the most damage. The Kingdom to win.
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