O'Connor glad to get over semi-final hurdle

Kerry manager Jack O'Connor was relieved that his side came out on the right side of the result after a tough All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Mayo at Croke Park.

Captain Colm 'Gooch' Cooper led the way for the Kingdom with a final tally of 1-7, including a superbly-taken second half goal.

Speaking after the 1-20 to 1-11 success, O'Connor said: "We are happy enough. The name of the game is getting through a semi-final and it is a great feeling to have the final to look forward to, and four weeks to prepare for it."

Nine points may have separated the sides at the final whistle, but the Kerry boss felt that it was a much closer battle than the scoreboard suggested.

"It certainly didn't feel like it (a nine-point win). There was two in it at half-time. While Gooch's goal gave us a cushion, they came right back into it overall.

"It was hovering around four or five points for a while and they certainly had a couple of goal chances.

"I think our goalie (Brendan Kealy) needed to play well, so we pulled away in the end, but it certainly doesn't feel like nine points - it feels a lot closer than that."

Mayo got off to a strong start and a point from Cillian O'Connor had them 0-5 to 0-3 ahead in the 23rd minute.

Kerry took time to find their rhythm and their manager reckoned that they were 'wasteful with the ball' in the early stages of the game.

"Mayo played a sweeper and I thought we were a bit lucky. We played recklessly at times when we needed to pick our passes better.

"We weren't utilising the extra man we had at the back as well as we should have, either on breaks or support play. We managed to get that going a bit better in the second half."

Corner forward Cooper produced a match-winning display, with his goal coming as an immediate response to a Mayo three-pointer from O'Connor in the 54th minute.

Acknowledging the importance of the skipper's strike, O'Connor said: "What can I say. It was Gooch's goal that gave us a bit of a cushion and the confidence that allowed us to play with a bit of freedom.

"We felt that game was in him. Over the last fortnight he certainly looked very sharp in training. This is his happy hunting ground here.

"This is his theatre here and no better place to come into form. We just hope that he retains that form for the next month."

O'Connor thought it was important that Cooper was brought into the game as much as possible, after the Dr. Crokes clubman had been kept to just three points in the quarter-final win over Limerick.

"We felt that we weren't playing to his strengths and getting him onto the ball enough. The big part of his game is getting him on the ball because he is a genius with the ball and everything that he does.

"That was a huge part of our thing today, getting our fellas to get him on the ball. Maybe we weren't actively doing it for him enough in the games up to now.

"We weren't overly worried about 'Gooch' because we know what he can do."

The Kerry players readily admitted afterwards that that was the physical test that they needed at this stage of the Championship.

The manager agreed that the hard-hitting Connacht champions gave his side their 'most most physical game by far'.

"We needed a game like that, it was more physical than the Cork game. The Cork game may have had more pace in it, but this was very, very physical I have to say.

"That's fine - the two teams left on the other side of the draw, Donegal and Dublin are no shrinking violets. They are going to hit hard.

"It was good that our fellas got that experience out here today and we have to build on it. I didn't think coming into it that we would be tested, and we needed to be tested. There was serious pressure on them all today.

"To be fair to Mayo, they were very intense and they kept it going for 50 to 60 minutes, but thankfully we pulled away in the last five or ten."

And O'Connor praised his Mayo counterpart James Horan for introducing a 'steely edge' to their play in his first season in charge.

"I think this man has brought a tougher edge to Mayo certainly. I never saw a Mayo team tackling like that before in my time. That's fine - that is where the game is at right now. Tactically it is a huge part of the game.

"We have practised a huge amount tactically ourselves this year, so we will be hoping that we can withstand whatever pressure will be on us in the final now," he added.