‘Cocky’ Kingdom amazed ex-Dubs
In an RTÉ Two documentary to be televised on St Stephen’s Day, the St Vincent’s man recalls being taken aback by their over-confidence at the Listowel Races the week before their defeat to Pat Gilroy’s side.
“In all my years going to Kerry, I never saw the Kerry public — they normally hide their confidence — but they were saying it was only a matter of going up and picking up the Sam Maguire Cup. They were so cocky, they really were, which amazed me.”
In contrast, Keaveney’s former teammate and Dublin manager Paddy Cullen remembers there being an air of optimism in the capital.
“What really added to the build-up was that people were beginning to believe that Dublin could win the All-Ireland, irrespective of it being Kerry, because they believed Kerry had a few chinks in their armour that didn’t show for a long time. People just felt that this was our year, that things were happening for us in other matches like those ones we got through we wouldn’t have got through a year or two ago.
“I just felt there was a real anticipation that we could actually win it and I think it infiltrated into the players’ belief and everyone’s belief in Dublin and it was wonderful.”
In Cullen’s mind, Gilroy managed to silence some of his critics who had questioned his habit earlier in the season of rotating players.
“One of the key things about Gilroy and his backroom team was they started putting in so many players and people were saying, ‘Why is he doing this? Why haven’t we got a settled team?’ But in fact what he was moulding was very much in the rugby style, that it’s a panel thing. The game has got so fast that you just have to have replacements, run fellas so hard and bring on a few more. You could pick All Stars from the bench.”
Keaveney, concurring with Cullen, takes up his point in relation to Kevin McMenamin, who scored the vital goal and won the free which Stephen Cluxton kicked over to win the game in injury-time.
“Young McMenamin was only a sub in the team and he was there the odd day but they brought him on in the All-Ireland semi-final [against Donegal] and he changed the game for us.
“They brought him on in the All-Ireland final and he won the game for us.”
Keaveney, an expert dead-ball kicker himself, was in no doubt Cluxton was going to convert the winning free.
“Stephen Cluxton is as cool as you can get and I had no doubt in the world that day that he was going to kick it over the bar. The pressure is on you. I remember I got a penalty in an All-Ireland final against Kerry and I said to somebody if you score you score if you don’t you don’t. I wasn’t saying, ‘This is the end of the world if I don’t get this penalty’.
“Stephen might have had that, if it did go wide, well they were still in the All-Ireland final’, it was a drawn game. That was what he would have been comfortable with but I was convinced it was going over the bar.”
Cullen gives particular praise to footballer of the year Alan Brogan who he believes filled a particular role Dublin had been attempting to fill in vain for a number of years.
“This year he became the playmaker. We needed someone like that. We were always saying, ‘We’ve no playmaker, we’ve no playmaker’. They shoved him out and kind of gave him a free role and I think he was a great asset to the team.”
The programme also features a first meeting between midfield rivals Jack O’Shea and Brian Mullins since their playing days.
O’Shea admits to Mullins he made a vow to himself to bulk up after being hit by the Dublin player going for a high ball in the 1977 All-Ireland semi-final, O’Shea’s first championship tie in Croker.
“I remember in the second half there was a kick-out from the Canal End. Paudie O’Mahony was in goal, he kicked the ball out and I was going for the ball. As a midfielder, you eye up the ball and say ‘I want my hands to this ball’.
“There I go and I jump up, ready to put my hands up to the ball and [smacks a fist with his hand] bang. All I remember was looking up and seeing this blondie fella taking off with the ball.
“I remember looking at you and saying, ‘I have to beef up for this man next year’.”
Mullins reveals the 1975 final defeat to Kerry was what propelled Dublin on to beating the Kingdom in the 1976 decider and 77 semi-final.
“The only way I can explain what Kerry brought to that [1975 final] was attitude. We leveraged off that, we springboarded off that attitude to come back in 76 and 77.”
nDublin v Kerry — The Myth And The Magic will be televised on RTÉ Two at 7.30pm, St Stephen’s Day
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