Kerry master McGrath test

THE Kerry management are confident of having their goal-keeping position resolved before the end of the Allianz NFL, with coach Jack O’Connor indicating after yesterday’s game in Fitzgerald Stadium that they are unlikely to “spread the net” beyond the three players who have filled the position so far in the McGrath Cup following Diarmuid Murphy’s retirement.

Kilcummin’s Brendan Kealy was the one who stood in yesterday, having relatively little to do apart from making a confident high catch at the start of each half before having the ball kicked under his legs for the only goal of this semi-final.

That came from hard-working midfielder George Hannigan five minutes from the end of normal time and it put Tipperary briefly in front until substitutes James O’Donoghue and Barry John Keane combined to produce an equalising score three minutes later.

After that, Cromane’s Donncha Walsh kicked the winning score at the start of three minutes of injury time but it was inexperience – when two late frees from around midfield were kicked into Kerry hands – that cost the visitors the opportunity to take the game to extra-time.

On the broader front, the Kerry boss expects to have most if not all of his regulars back in the panel by the third round of the league (on March 7).

“We’ll experiment a bit during the league. We rotated the goalies last year, because we wanted to give Ger Reidy a bit of experience,’’ explained O’Connor.

“Sooner or later we’re going to have to settle fellows down and give them a bit of confidence. You can’t keep chopping and changing all the time.’’

However, O’Connor is pleased with the way they have started the new season. “We are able to train away during the week and having a game at the weekend to look forward to is good,’’ he commented. “We have put in a couple of good weeks training and this was a step up today.”

Former Laune Rangers manager John Evans, in charge of Tipperary for the third season (and recently appointed director of football in the county) accepted that the game was “slow” in the first half and that after his team “upped it considerably” in the second half, Kerry responded.

Interestingly, both Kerrymen endorsed the ‘mark’ experiment and concurred that the ‘handpass’ change is virtually a waste of time.

Jack O’Connor wasn’t happy with some of Michael Collins’ decision-making, saying that while the referee didn’t penalise players for hand-passing, “he did pull a few other things”.

While Tipperary got the opening score, from Declan Hahessy in the fifth minute, we waited until the 20th before Seamus Scanlon kicked the first point from play. Tipp were quicker to settle and worked the ball well out of defence – where the returning Niall Curran had a successful outing against a largely out-of-touch Kieran Donaghy – but they lacked real scoring power.

Likewise, a Kerry side featuring only four of the players who started in the All-Ireland final, wasn’t very forceful in attack, apart from Declan O’Sullivan and Donncha Walsh also prominent at stages. Principally because they controlled midfield through Micheal Quirke (who made seven marks), Kerry impressed more when they began to get their game together, and led 0-7 to 0-3 at the break.

The third quarter was much more competitive, with Tipp substitute Seamus Grogan making an immediate impression at full-forward, but the more steady Kerry remained in front, with Paul O’Connor’s free-taking decisive.

However, two Conor Sweeney frees brought Tipp to within a point by the 53rd minute, before Hannigan got the goal. But, they didn’t have the strength to hold out for a win.

Expressing ‘delight’ with the way his team is improving, Evans says that Tipperary’s principal objective is to retain their Division Two status.

Scorers for Kerry: P. O’Connor 0-4 (0-3 frees); D. O’Sullivan, D. Walsh and S. Scanlon 0-2 each; K. O’Leary (free), M. Corridan and B.J. Keane 0-1 each.

Tipperary: C. Sweeney 0-4 frees; G. Hannigan 1-0; S. Grogan 0-2; D. Hahessy (free), B. Grogan and A. Rockett 0-1 each.

KERRY: B. Kealy; P. Reidy, T. Griffin, A. O’Connell; M. Corridan, A. O’Mahony, K. Young (capt.); S. Scanlon, M. Quirke; D. Walsh, Declan O’Sullivan, B. Looney; K. O’Leary, K. Donaghy, P. O’Connor.

Subs: P. Galvin for Looney (second half); B. J. Keane for O’Sullivan and J. O’Donoghue for O’Leary (50); Alan O’Sullivan for Scanlon (58).

TIPPERARY: P. Fitzgerald; C. Morrissey, N. Curran (capt.), A. Morrissey; C. McGrath, R. Costigan, C. Aylward; G. Hannigan, C. Dillon; S. Carey, S. Hahessy, P. Acheson; C. Sweeney, B. Coen, B. Grogan.

Subs: A. Rockett for Dillon (28th minute); S. Grogan for Hahessy (second half); J. Cagney for Carey (39); H. Coghlan for McGrath (50); E. Kearney for Acheson (59).

Referee: Michael Collins (Cork).