Cooper cuts loose as Dubs fall apart

IF football matches had titles this one would be labelled ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’.

Or maybe 40. Once Colm Cooper found the Dublin net inside the first minute the realisation dawned that our expectations were about to be shattered.

It was supposed to be the day that we paid our last respects to a great but aging Kerry side, a day when the Dubs ended a 32-year wait for a win over the Kingdom and took the scalp of a ‘top’ side for the first time since 1995.

How wrong can so many people be? Sales of humble pie must have rocketed.

Kerry won by the same margin as in that famous All-Ireland final in 1978 but at least they had the consolation of having led before John Egan’s goal kick-started an incredible comeback back then.

If Cooper’s goal was a statement of intent, then so too was his celebration, as were those of Declan and Darran O’Sullivan when they followed that opening score up with a pair of points just minutes later.

There was a fire in Kerry that could be felt from the stands.

We waited for Dublin’s response, for their trademark run of scores that can generate a noise like no other in Croke Park. Then we waited some more. It never came. They were a beaten docket all over the pitch. For 70 minutes.

It took the Leinster champions five minutes just to get a move going, eight to win a free and 36 to actually score a point from a placed ball. They lost the kickout count 20 to six in the first-half.

It was the proverbial dyke and finger syndrome. Pat Gilroy began making changes after just 15 minutes but, as he intimated afterwards, he could have closed his eyes and picked out anyone in a blue jersey.

Picking out a man of the match must have been a logistical nightmare. Colm Cooper scored 1-7 – 1-3 of it from play – and he wasn’t within an ass’s roar of claiming the piece of crystal, or whatever it is they give out these days.

There simply isn’t the time or the space to run through all the CVs. Just listing them is exhausting. Tom O’Sullivan, Tomás O Sé, Darragh O Sé, Paul Galvin, Declan O’Sullivan, Darran O’Sullivan and Tadhg Kennelly could all make a strong case.

See? Exhausting.

It’s like an Oscar speech. If anyone has been left out, apologies.

The one Kerry player not to play well was Tommy Walsh who was replaced by Kennelly four minutes prior to half-time but Jack O’Connor’s decision to start the big youngster on the ‘40’ was, ironically enough, a success.

Starting with Walsh at half-forward and Declan O’Sullivan on the edge of the square seemed to throw Dublin’s defensive plans, especially with Darran O’Sullivan being handed a licence to come and go as he pleased.

The ease with which Kerry picked off points was frightening and Tommy Walsh, Declan O’Sullivan and Paul O’Connor were all denied seemingly certain goals by either a defender or Stephen Cluxton’s agility.

The pity of it all, from a neutral’s point of view, was that it killed the game as a contest. Kerry were seven points ahead after 15 minutes, 14 by half-time and … well … you get the picture. It ended at 17 but could have been worse.

That Dublin were in serious trouble was apparent after six minutes when Alan Brogan opted to go for goal when a point was there for the taking and was denied by a brilliant Diarmuid Murphy save.

Spectacular though it all was, Dublin were scoreless at the time and badly in need of a settler and Brogan should be old enough and experienced enough to have known the value of a white flag at that stage.

Diarmuid Connolly followed suit 18 minutes in. When his shot pinged back off the crossbar it was obvious that Dublin were in for a long afternoon, a fact emphasised in the 70th minute when Bernard Brogan hit the post.

Conal Keaney finally found the net for the Dubs after 57 minutes but Kerry were 16 points to the good at the time and it was a rare high point for a forward line that, Alan Brogan apart, completely misfired.

If there was any doubt about this not being Dublin’s day it must have been dispelled when they re-emerged after half-time. On the two giant screens Owen Mulligan was slaloming through their defence in 2005 over and over again.

That had to hurt.

Scorers for Kerry: C Cooper, 1-7 (4f), Declan O’Sullivan, Darran O’Sullivan, 0-3 each, P Galvin, T Kennelly, T O Se, P O’Connor (1f), 0-2 each; T O’Sullivan, D Walsh, S Scanlon, 0-1 each.

Scorers for Dublin: A Brogan, B Brogan (2f), 0-3 each; C Keaney, 1-0, B Cahill, 0-1.

Subs for Kerry: T Kennelly for T Walsh (31), P O’Connor for D Walsh (49), S O’Sullivan for Darran O’Sullivan (60), M Quirke for Darragh O Sé (61), A O’Mahony for Young (61).

Subs for Dublin: C Whelan for Magee (15), P Burke for Sherlock (24), C O’Sullivan for Cullen (28), A Hubbard for Henry (40), S Ryan for Connolly (63).

Referee: Pat McEnaney (Monaghan).