Kilkenny technique will be the difference

HERESY it may be on the weekend of the All-Ireland hurling final, but we turn to last Sunday’s Dublin-Kerry football semi-final for purposes of illustration.

Late in the first half, Dublin’s Bernard Brogan did well to make ground up the left wing, eventually eking out enough room near the Kerry goal to get a shot away. It was a tricky chance: Brogan had to stand and punt, almost like an American football player, and it tailed away at the near post in front of the Hill.

A minute beforehand Kerry’s Declan O’Sullivan had swung over a casual point from a narrower angle at the Canal End; his fluent kicking style crystallised the difference between the two sides.

Technique. You can’t beat it.

Thus to the hurling final tomorrow. Ignore the effluent you’ll be offered over the next 48 hours about tradition and culture and the spirit of the black and amber. Kilkenny’s favourit-ism comes down to one advantage that’s easily quantified: good technique.

More than any other game, if the players on a hurling team have good basics, the knock-on effect can be insurmountable for the opposition. First-time control gives a player that fraction of a second more than a less talented opponent and helps him to dictate the game: there’s a chance to look, to pick out a team-mate. Good strikers of the ball get more length in their clearances and are more accurate from 60 to 80 yards as forwards.

Hence the bookies’ fondness for Kilkenny. Players like Cha Fitzpatrick, Richie Power and Martin Comerford combine both of the above skills: slick wrists to control the ball and buy that nanosecond, mixed with accurate, clean striking.

Limerick may bridle somewhat at being compared to Dublin but in truth it’s more a compliment based on comparable honesty of on-field effort.

That comparison can’t be sustained beyond the white lines. Limerick’s sideline has been better this year than Pillar Caffrey’s well-staffed backroom team; the green and white selectors have come up with particular plans for specific games this year and — more importantly — the players have seen those plans through. Take the second replay against Tipperary and the switch of Kevin Tobin from the forward line to midfield, or the clogging of the defensive channels for Waterford’s attack in the All-Ireland semi-final.

It’s not as if Kilkenny are invulnerable. For reasons that have nothing to do with hurling, there is uncertainty about the Cats’ netminder. JJ Delaney’s problems against the speedy Alan Kerins in the Galway game, which led to his substitution, were surely noted on Shannonside. Aidan Fogarty hasn’t reproduced his man-of-the-match form from last year’s final.

Most crucially, Noel Hickey’s hamstring is suspect. The Kilkenny full-back has always provided a barbed presence at the edge of the square, and the Cats are visibly weaker when he doesn’t play.

Against that, Kilkenny have nifty sideline strategists themselves in Brian Cody and Martin Fogarty (as an example, consider their latest innovation: the quick sideline ball taken around midfield — often by Cha Fitzpatrick — to the loose man behind the play, and the handpass forward to the sideline taker, who rattles over a shot for a cheap point).

And they have Henry. Earlier this year, in the All-Ireland club final, we saw the twofold threat that Shefflin now poses: Henry and the rumour of Henry. Keep an eye tomorrow on Limerick defenders not just keeping track of Shefflin when he has the ball, but swivelling to keep tabs on him when another forward is in possession. He’s big enough for the dirty ball. He’s fast enough for the loose ball. He’s accurate with every ball. What else do you need?

One particular piseog may come against Limerick tomorrow, the old saying that you have to lose one to win one. It was valid in Kilkenny’s case, after all. People don’t remember now, but the Cats’ recent phase of dominance came after not one, but two All-Ireland final defeats, in 1998 and 1999. Pay attention during a Kilkenny press night and inevitably the point is made: despite the silverware, they can still remember the taste of defeat.

It’s different for Limerick. All-Ireland finalists always say the ramping up of interest, hype and expectation between August and September is exponential. Limerick have handled themselves well so far, but this week will have dragged, and other novelties will intrude tomorrow.

Kilkenny are accustomed to meeting the President before the game; no matter how well Limerick have prepared, chances are they couldn’t get Mary McAleese herself for their run-through during the week. Based on the available evidence, they probably won’t be the first team to meet Nicky Brennan after the final whistle tomorrow either.