Mike Quirke: South Kerry's win crafted more from steel than silk

If South Kerry were a boxer, you’d have thrown the towel onto the pitch in Fitzgerald Stadium when they went seven points down in yesterday’s replayed county final.

They looked like they had taken enough punishment.

Broken, they were limping and staggering around the place blindly.

You wouldn’t like to see any team struggle in pain after the way they missed out on victory the first day out. That would be cruel. And Legion were twisting the knife.

But this South Kerry side refused to wilt, and earned a victory over 80 minutes that was crafted more from steel than silk. It was beautiful none-the-less, because it came from those age-old cliched intangibles; leadership, heart and determination. Such attributes were displayed best by their trinity of galacticos — Bryan Sheehan, Killian Young and Declan Sullivan — who all share a special bond that only winning gives you.

Last weekend, my own club Kerins O’Rahilly’s played their final county league game of the year, and that game brought the curtain down on the career of one of best footballers to ever lace boots up for the club; Declan Quill, or ‘hardy Deco’ as he was affectionately known during his playing days, (mostly because of his complete lack of hardness).

He and I played in three county finals together, as well as with Kerry, and he was as gifted a kicker off his left peg as you could find anywhere in the country. A few of us former players met up in the clubhouse to help send him off and it soon turned into an unofficial reunion. There was a group of us there, all bonded together by winning a county title in 2002 and Declan was the last remaining link from that championship-winning side to the current crop. People were able to recall that final with great clarity. Minute by minute recollections of the game itself, the celebrations, the holiday and the fun we had. Some of it would have been better off remaining forgotten.

Thirteen years have elapsed since we won that county title, but the memories and the connection with those players are no less vivid today than it was back then, as it will be for this young South Kerry team in years to come. Achieving something special with your own people gives you that bond. And this time of year is all about winning with your own community.

Bryan Sheehan was obviously the best player on the field yesterday. His kicking was other-worldly. And the way he backed himself to take his game-changing goal in the second half was leadership in its purest form. That strike breathed life and energy into his team and even after his black card dismissal early in extra time, they never relented until the very last blast of referee Paul Hayes’ whistle.

Sheehan was as good as he has ever been yesterday. A masterclass.

Or how about Killian Young, who had the unenviable task of putting the clampers on James O’Donoghue? Not withstanding that he had plenty of defensive duties, he was exceptional throughout. When Sheehan was sent to the line, Killian showed even greater urgency to carry the fight forward. Bursting up the field to get on the end of a move that ended with him stroking a beautiful curler from in front of the stand.

Best of all for me was the character shown by a near one-legged, half hobbled Declan O’Sullivan. He had more scrapping on his leg than a mummy and to even get through 80 minutes looked like an achievement. The wheels no longer allow him to do what his brain wants to, but his experience and poise in extra time helped fashion a most famous and unexpected victory. When the game was teetering in the balance and South Kerry had lost their leader in the middle, up popped Declan to steer the ship. Nothing flashy. Just solid. Safe and secure. Twice it looked to everybody in Fitzgerald Stadium that he was after doing significant damage to his knee but twice he bounced off the ground and stumbled on. He was stuck in every break, he took ever free kick and he brought a calmness to his team mates that got saw them over the line.

You need your big players to perform on the big days, and South Kerry could ask no more of their glorious galacticos.