A timely stock-take for Kerry

A SNAPSHOT four minutes from the end of last Sunday’s defeat by Mayo in Tralee tells an awful lot about the current state between mind and body of the Kerry team.

Enda Varley, the diminutive young Mayo corner-forward who had kicked all his side’s first-half tally of four points appeared to have run himself to a standstill and went down with what appeared to be a cramp in the leg. At that stage the game was up for Kerry and Varley’s substitution barely registered with those watching from the terrace. Around that time, however, some curious eyes were cast around the pitch scanning for anyone on the Kerry team who appeared to have emptied the tank to the extent that Varley had. Of those still left on the pitch, only Declan O’Sullivan seemed to have been in any way tired due to the same relentless effort, but there were a number of his colleagues who might have been struggling because, well, this is March and it might just be a tad early for an experienced team to be going through the gears.

While it is quite understandable that Anthony Maher and Bryan Sheehan would struggle to adjust to the pace of the game, having just recently returned from mid to long-term injury, and that the two Davids in the half forward line, Moran and O’Callaghan, would struggle to read the game played at this pace given their relative inexperience, Sunday’s performance still threw up some interesting material for Jack O’Connor and his management team to digest as they head north to Omagh tonight.

O’Connor expressed surprise at Kerry’s sluggishness throughout the game and this lethargy manifested itself with countless turnovers of possession around the middle and a strange hesitation from frees and sideline balls in the same area. If Declan O’Sullivan didn’t present himself as an outlet for ball in the half-forward line the last day, the person in possession invariably didn’t have the faith to release it to anyone else who did, and this led to all sorts of uncertainty between numbers 5 and 12.

It surely is an impoverished notion that only Declan O’Sullivan is capable of winning his own ball when the heat is on, but that is certainly the way it seemed last week. This has to be a worry for Kerry tonight facing what used to be the best team in Ireland at pressing high up the field. It must, of course, be noted that decent ball winners in this sector such as Tomás Ó Sé, Paul Galvin, Killian Young and Donnchadh Walsh were not on the field last week and both Young and Walsh should add something more than just half-hearted showing for the ball this time out.

The second half performance against Mayo was not helped by a tricky crossfield breeze that made it quite hard to hit the full-forward line early, but an experienced and confident team like Kerry should have been a lot more comfortable playing the ball at pace through their key playmakers.

The complete lack of presence and sound decision-making in both half back and forward lines is perhaps why, the much debated foreign training camp on the Algarve next week is of such importance to the short term development of the Kerry squad. With the need to reconstitute themselves as a team still a priority as they head into the last two games before championship there were plenty of supporters leaving Austin Stack Park last Sunday still guessing at Kerry’s best combination in seven weeks’ time and asking the same questions many Tyrone supporters are asking of their outfit: whether proven performers have it in them to get up to the pace of the game in such a short space of time once again?

Three sessions a day in a hothouse environment should fast-forward the recovery of the likes of Sheehan and Maher. It should also allow the more experienced players tap into the wellspring of accumulated stamina, but, maybe most crucially of all, it should give other players more exposure to patterns of play and to what’s expected of them within those patterns. Maybe then, Pádraig Reidy will bring more than just strict man-marking to the table, David O’Callaghan will know instinctively where to run, David Moran will know when to release the ball and Adrian O’Connell will turn out of tackles as opposed to running into them.

With the unfortunate exceptions of Daniel Bohane and Aidan O’Shea, who are both injured, very few of the fringe players can complain about lack of game-time since early February. There is however a growing sense that some of those offered starting positions are once again squandering the opportunities and it would indeed be frustrating for supporters and management alike if Kerry were to reach the start of championship without a genuine scrap for at least three jerseys. Still, Kieran O’Leary of Dr Crokes appears to be playing with a lot more purpose than during his previous stint on the panel, his clubmate Johnny Buckley is making positive waves at U21 level and some of his colleagues can build on early season momentum when their U21campaign ends.

Regarding tonight’s game between the Coca Cola and Pepsi of Gaelic football’s last decade, it surely must be a priority for Kerry to exploit the absence of Justin McMahon on the edge of the Tyrone square. His brother Joe offers a good deal of resistance to Kieran Donaghy’s aerial ability but if Kerry avoid the predictability of raining every attack down on Donaghy’s head, there is enough talent in the Kerry forward line to inflict damage on the Tyrone backline.

Both centre-forwards, Declan O’Sullivan and Seán Cavanagh, have the beating of their immediate opponents but grizzled veterans like Conor Gormley and Aidan O’Mahony often find ways and means of levelling the playing field at this time of year. It might just come down to how the more naive defenders on either side such as Cathal McCarron and Pádraig Reidy cope with the talents of Colm Cooper and Owen Mulligan.

It has been suggested their lowly status might be a reflection of how the two great superpowers are treating the league this year, but I have no doubt neither Mickey Harte nor Jack O Connor are in the business of losing matches, of denting confidence and of allowing basic errors germinate into something more serious later this year.

The fact that Kerry’s defeats have been marginal and extremely flattering to them may afford them more breathing space coming towards the end of the league. Their +6 points difference makes Kerry less vulnerable than the two other teams on four points and negative scoring differences. Mayo’s desire to secure a final place against Monaghan tomorrow could leave Kerry with a home game against Monaghan in a fortnight’s time to secure their Division 1 status.

For Tyrone, the battle for oxygen is more urgent and a win surely represents their best chance of survival. For that reason alone (and certainly not because they have more quality on the field in Omagh) I expect a Tyrone win.