Defence key for the Kingdom

Kerry’s water-tight defence provided a key platform in Sunday’s All-Ireland semi final win over Cork. But the ultimate challenge lies ahead. Tony Leen reports.

IT'S official. Gaelic football is changing when Kerry devise a game-plan that relies heavily on smother defence.

Not that anyone in the Kingdom is complaining.

"There's a great buzz around Tralee today, because everyone really wanted an All-Ireland final against either

Armagh or Tyrone," said Kerry selector Ger O'Keeffe.

"And now they have it."

The management will be hard pressed to convince anyone that the "healthy respect" for Cork was anything but an elaborate confidence trick, but that does a disservice to the preparation Jack O'Connor and his selectors put into shutting down Billy Morgan's danger men.

"We tried to identify Cork's strengths, and the ability of key players to work possession and set up attacks," revealed O'Keeffe, who won four All-Ireland medals with Kerry in defence.

"We stood off them too much in the Munster final, but this time we went man to man on their creative players. We had an idea of how Cork would play, but our strategy depended on midfield and picking up breaks around that area. Our half-forward line didn't just succeed in limiting the scope of Cork's half-back line they also

contributed 1-6 to our total."

However, O'Keeffe believes there is a bright future for this Cork squad.

"I said to Billy after the Munster final that they would have a say in Croke Park this year. There's a lot of real potential there. Our lads felt under pressure going into the game, and knew they had to put Cork on the back foot straight away. If you give a young side a sniff, their confidence will grow very quickly.

"So the intensity of Kerry's performance was a lot higher than anything that has gone before this year. They moved up a gear from the Mayo game, and they know they'll have to find another one for the final."

Footballer of the Year Tomás Ó Sé part of a defence yet to concede a goal in this year's Championship said that Kerry's 'asphyxiation' policy worked a treat because the player stuck rigidly to a set game-plan.

"We knew their half-backs were good attacking players, and we didn't want to allow them up the field at all. Every one of our players forwards, midfield and defence worked like dogs for each other, there was a lot of talk between us. But I felt we had prepared very well for this game."

The isolation of Colm Cooper in the full-forward line paid handsome dividends, but only because the quality of ball into Cooper from midfield was consistent throughout.

"Cork were on a hiding to nothing at midfield, because everyone was talking about them before the game. That suited Darragh (Ó Sé) and William (Kirby) down to the ground. (Paul) Galvin also worked like a hound, back to his old self, so it will make for a good four weeks of training, because there is healthy competition for places."

While Ó Sé agreed that Kerry are relishing the opportunity to "put the wrongs of 2002 and 2003 to right", he said it would be a mistake to make a "big revenge story" out of the final build-up.

"You play what's in front of you. The talk will be of redemption, but we'll treat it like any other game we'll dissect it, plan it and prepare accordingly."

Especially heartening for the Kerry selectors was the energetic displays of the team's thirty-somethings, Liam Hassett, Darragh Ó Sé and Seamus Moynihan. The latter also admitted to a healthy regard for Morgan's Cork, but felt the Kingdom's patchy display against Mayo in the quarter-final worked to their advantage.

"It gave Jack and the selectors a chance to get stuck into us in training and the key was 15 players performed on Sunday, it wasn't two or three. Then you have the subs all coming in and contributing. It means training will be very interesting."

Whether the All-Ireland final will be Moynihan's last bow for in a Kerry jersey is a debatable point, but he wrote off last year through injury, even though he finished it with an All-Ireland medal.

"I'm as much up for this as I was in 1997, this is a massive one for myself and Darragh. The competition is so intense, you can't afford to drop off. But you have to enjoy Pat Flanagan's training and the attitude of the younger fellas."

Moynihan also revealed that Kerry haven't seen live or recorded evidence of Tyrone's impressive march to the

semi-final on Saturday.

"It was of no consequence to us until we defeated Cork and were in a final. Now we can zoom in on the other two teams, but 2002 and 2003 are somewhat irrelevant. The next four weeks is about the 2005 final."

Whoever provides the opposition on September 25, Moynihan said Kerry must come up with a variation of their game-plan to ease the pressure on their stellar corner-forward.

"Gooch is a gem, but there's going to be a lot of heat on him in the All-Ireland final. It's up to everyone to chip in and take the pressure off him. He's coming up trumps, but in order to win an All-Ireland everyone will have to play their bit."