‘Is the gap bridgeable? Sure of course it is’

The Burlington Hotel lobby had the feel of base camp in a time of war yesterday morning.

Just back from the front-lines, and defeated, Kerry players stood around chatting, trying to make sense of it all while others, the Galway ladies as it happened, were preparing to go over the top themselves hours later.

The Irish and Dutch cricket teams were also staying at the south-Dublin hotel and mingling, all of which made for a curious confluence of mindsets and emotions.

In the middle of it all sat Peter Keane, Kerry’s general, for whom the morning after the night before brought little respite.

“I’m disappointed we lost an All-Ireland,” Keane deadpanned when asked how he was feeling. Fair enough. Silly question.

When it was suggested that Eoin Murchan’s goal, just after half-time, and Kerry’s wasteful play in front of goals in the second-half had had been the decisive factors in Kerry’s defeat, he nodded.

“Sure look, of course, it is (pivotal), at the end of the day you have to score to win,” he said. “What did we have, five from 15 shots or something in the second-half, was it something like that? You could say there was pressure on those kicks as well but at the same time you have to score to win. You’re not going to win an All-Ireland scoring five points in the second-half.”

Few commentators argued that Dublin didn’t deserve to win though some did query whether Murchan was guilty of over-carrying for his goal.

“I haven’t seen it, I didn’t watch the replay,” said Keane.

“It’s 10 o’clock the morning after the game, I haven’t seen it. I’ve heard it said but sure what can I do about that?”

Surprised

Jim Gavin said in his post-match press conference that he was surprised Murchan was able ‘to get that space from the opening play’.

“Well sure look, he went off on a run and it opened up in front of him and then inside the net is bulging,” shrugged Keane.

It was put to the former Kerry minor manager that it’s a young Kerry group that will surely return and win at least one All-Ireland.

“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” he responded flatly. “Look, the team is young, there’s no question about that.

But at the same time, we had a hard job to get to where we got to this year. We’ll just have to go and start again.

“If you look at it, we had Dublin, who we got a draw from in the Championship, you had Tyrone who we beat, you had Mayo who we beat in the Championship, you had Cork who we beat in the Championship and we drew with Donegal.

“Them, including ourselves, are the top six teams in the country. There’s probably no team ever has had such a hard route in getting there.”

So that’s a positive to grab hold of?

“Look, it isn’t a positive or a negative this morning. We’re after losing an All-Ireland and you’re asking me questions about it and I’m answering them as best I can.”

The amount of teams - Kerry, Galway’s ladies and the international cricketers - all booked into the same hotel summed up just how a replay can throw a county into flux. Keane said the second date was challenging for all concerned in the camp.

“I suppose you come back here this night two weeks ago and in your head you’re probably expecting to be finished that night, nearly like a fella doing the Leaving Cert and he’s nearly burning the books and suddenly he maybe has to go back at it the following September,” said the Kerry boss.

“In your own mind, you have things planned and it’s a bit like there’s things before Christmas and after Christmas that you put on the long finger until this is over.

“Then you’ve got to go and start again and tune into it. But look, it’s an All-Ireland final and that’s what fellas want to be playing in. All these fellas got an opportunity to play inside in a full house on a beautiful day in Croke Park.”

It’s seems almost certain that this Kerry group will be back at this stage. But can they beat Dublin? Is the gap bridgeable?

“In any game every team has a chance, no matter what way you go about it,” said Keane. “Is the gap bridgeable? Sure of course it is.

“Otherwise we’d all pack up and there’d be no-one playing. You have to have some bit of belief that you can do something.”