Kerry’s special manic Monday
A question to which we’ll return.
What is indisputable is that Kerry’s first-half display yesterday against Dublin in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final skirted with perfection. Jack O’Connor believes the first half of the 2006 final against Mayo would be hard to better, but Kerry were on a higher plateau then.
To annihilate Dublin 1-13 to 0-3 in the first half yesterday was virtually inconceivable on a number of levels, not least of which is the frenetic tempo that the Leinster champions habitually set from the first whistle.
They may tell you otherwise today, but even inside the Kerry dressing room, no-one was quite sure such dynamism and destructive brilliance was still in their locker. The players and management sensed some opposition was going to be hit with a green and gold power-play – it’s just that no-one was sure when.
The chicken supper route through Longford, Tralee and Tullamore tested their stomach for the fight – and there was a significant moment on the journey home from the Antrim victory last Sunday week when word reached the carriage of the quarter-final draw.
“You could see everyone’s focus go up a notch. Game time,” said one player.
After yesterday’s 1-24 to 1-7 victory over Dublin, Jack O’Connor wasn’t for downplaying the role of the underdog in Kerry’s revival.
“A lot of people dismissed the qualifiers and the teams we were playing, but those teams approached those games like All-Ireland finals, and put us to the pin of our collar.
“They did us a big favour.”
The problem with winning their ninth All-Ireland quarter-final in a row is that the agenda moves on quickly now for Kerry. The crisis is over only as long as Mayo or Meath don’t render yesterday’s tour de force irrelevant.
“The motto now is one swallow doesn’t make a summer,” O’Connor agreed. “There is ferocious competition in this squad. I was talking to a few of the subs and told them ‘There’s a month to go for you to make your case, and put your hand up.’ That’s the only way we can keep the team honest and on their toes, because we’re not going to sit back on this, we have too much put into it.
“We want to get back into a final again, have another crack at whoever is there. Mayo or Meath will be a big obstacle in four weeks’ time, but we’ve worked too hard at this to throw it away now.”
The breadth of Kerry’s prowess yesterday is illustrated by the number of MVP performances and critical contributions – don’t forget Diarmuid Murphy brilliantly turned Alan Brogan’s goal bound shot onto the crossbar as early as the fifth minute, one of three Dublin goal efforts to come back off the frame of the goal.
By that moment, Kerry were already 1-2 to the good, Colm Cooper placed by Mike McCarthy for a goal inside 40 seconds. It said everything about the Kingdom’s bold tactics and match-ups – McCarthy was positioned on Paul Flynn and given licence to drive on.
Indeed, Kerry’s game-plan was a doozie; Tom O’Sullivan savoured the challenge of Bernard Brogan, as did Tommy Griffin on Conal Keaney. Killian Young never took a backward step on Alan Brogan and Tomás O Sé led Diarmuid Connolly a merry dance. Marc O Sé saw Jason Sherlock off after less than 25 minutes.
“We probably got the match-ups pretty okay,” said O’Connor afterwards. “We tried to upset Dublin’s marking a bit. We started Tommy Walsh on the 40, and we started Declan inside. We thought starting Declan inside would upset their marking arrangements. Croke Park is a big pitch, you don’t actually need a big man in there. If you have lively, small fellas it’s often just as effective.”
Colm Cooper, Declan O’Sullivan and Darran O’Sullivan won’t ever challenge Kieran Donaghy in the air, but 1-13 between them will reaffirm their self-worth for hurdles ahead. Paul Galvin grabbed a point in each half, but he’s the touchstone for much of Kerry’s renewed zest.
We can only surmise as to his personal turmoil last season and after another suspension last month, but as long as the Finuge man’s focused and on the field, his colleagues will always have a friend in the trenches.
Dublin’s first dip into their bench came as early as the 14th minute, Ciarán Whelan resuming his ruts with Darragh O Sé. The Raheny talisman soared for one ball, but Kerry kept on moving around the chess pieces. Donnacha Walsh pointed before Tomás O Sé added two more. Dublin were dead and the corpse washed as Declan O’Sullivan and Cooper played the spaces.
“Croke Park is a bad place to be trying to clear your head,” mused Jack O’Connor.
The Dublin post mortem wasn’t much better.
“From the off we were off the game, we weren’t our usual self,” sighed Pat Gilroy. “We didn’t look lively at any stage in the first half, we were behind our man. A lot of it looked like fellas were nervous.
“We expected Kerry to be brilliant today. They probably trained through the qualifiers to try and be fit for this weekend so we were expecting them to come at us as they did. But the kind of pressure game we were hoping to put on them at midfield, never happened.”
As we tiptoed through the forensics, one wondered how deep Dublin’s trauma could become. “There’s next season,” said captain Paul Griffin, except it won’t be a new page and a new manager. They’ve tried that one.
The surreal reality is Kerry travelled home last night unsure whether they had blown away Broadway or punched out the lights of another flyweight in blue.
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