We were predictable, confesses O’Brien

REGRETS, he has a few, but Eamon O’Brien was making no apologies for doing it his way.

The popular theory after yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final was that Kerry would have won this one no matter what Meath attempted, but the quietly-spoken boss still had to face some searching questions about his input from the line.

Anthony Moyles has been one of the county’s most dependable servants this last decade but the versatile veteran endured an awful day at the office and was culpable for Kerry’s two goals.

It was his slip and tug on Colm Cooper that allowed Darran O’Sullivan score the first from the spot and he was well beaten in the air by Tommy Walsh for the second shortly after the half-time breather.

Moyles had been listed as doubtful earlier in the week but O’Brien left the full-back stay put all afternoon, as he did Cormac McGuinness who suffered similarly at Tadhg Kennelly’s hands at centre-back.

O’Brien’s answer when asked if he considered moving Moyles was a clipped ‘no’ but his thought process was revealed when he fielded another question on his decision to call Seamus Kenny ashore in the second-half.

“We make decisions on the line,” O’Brien explained. “We were whatever we were behind, six or seven points, and we needed to get fresh legs on the pitch. We used our five subs for that purpose.

“It wasn’t because we were worried about how people were playing or not playing. It was to try and revitalise the team and get fresh legs, get at Kerry in that middle third of the team so we could get more ball in towards our forwards.”

In fairness, Meath were second best right down the centre of the pitch. Tommy Griffin and Mike McCarthy offered Kerry a rock solid defensive spine and the winners just about edged the breakdown at midfield as well.

Still, Meath didn’t help themselves with their slavish devotion to long, angled balls into their forwards which skidded off the glassy surface and over the end line time after time.

Their other default setting was to launch high balls in on their forwards who were invariably outnumbered and unable to secure possession and O’Brien conceded that the supply line was inherently flawed.

“Right through the game I thought we were too predictable. We wanted direct ball but we said at half-time that Kerry were dropping their half-backs back so we needed to play it through hands a little bit more.

“After the second goal we knew that we needed a goal ourselves to get back into the game and maybe that goal that we got with two minutes to go, if that had come with ten minutes to go we might have had a different finish.”

There were other ifs and buts. Stephen Bray’s early loss to a shoulder injury certainly didn’t help and O’Brien’s first impression of the penalty was that it was awarded in error but he wasn’t making excuses.

“We had to claw our way back into the game and we ended up two points down at half-time. That took a lot of energy out of us. Then, after half-time we were on the attack and could have had another score but didn’t and then they got another goal from the kick-out so those two scores were critical.

“Having said that, I am looking at it with Meath eyes. Kerry were the better team on the day.”

And as for Kerry? “They might not have played some of the fluid football that they can there today but I would hope that some of that was down to us rather than Kerry just having an off day. They showed their battling qualities today.”