Jack O'Connor says Kerry forewarned by what happened to Cork's half-time lead

Kerry manager Jack O'Connor reacts to a late goal. Pic: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Kerry went in seven up at the break, their advantage and momentum swollen by a seismic score right on the stroke of half-time. A week earlier, they had seen their red neighbours enjoy a six-point half-time lead, Cork’s advantage and momentum swollen by a seismic score right on the stroke of half-time.

Kerry vowed to themselves at half-time that they would not go the way of the Cork hurlers. And they didn’t. They went the complete opposite road to the neighbours.

“Our mantra at half-time was we weren't going to collapse like we saw with the Cork hurlers maybe last week. We were going to go out and try and win the second half,” said Jack O’Connor post-match.

Mark O’Shea broke the restart. Gavin White thundered onto the break. Joe O’Connor moved possession on further. Seán O’Shea pointed. The whole sequence took 19 seconds, their lead shoved out to eight.

Kerry had made an earlier vow when trooping onto the team bus to spin from the Burlington to Croke Park.

“We were very determined leaving the hotel this morning. I had a few words with them before we got on the bus that we were going to take the game to Donegal, we weren't going to sit back and just see what they had to offer, we were really going to go after them. We were going after Patton's kickouts, we were going to drive on.

“There were a pivotal few moments. David's two-pointer on half-time was a big, big score, gave us a cushion going in at half-time, gave the lads a lot of belief.

“Donegal didn't wave any white flag out there in the second-half. They brought it back from nine points to four and they were still highly dangerous. A massive effort. Big contribution from an awful lot of players. Just thrilled for them because we had a rough old year and it was nice to see it coming together in the end.” 

As Jack mentioned, Kerry targeted Patton’s restarts. They went much further than that. They decommissioned Patton’s restarts. They spoiled seven of his first-half 17. They mined 0-5 from the spoiled seven.

The mining was collective. Joe O’Connor, twice, Seán O’Brien, Dylan Casey, Gavin White, Brian Ó Beaglaoich, and Mike Breen all got themselves under the restart or first to the breaking ball.

“There is so much footage and analysis on teams that unless you can pull a rabbit out of the hat, there is very little we hadn't prepared for there, and we had prepared for that,” Jack remarked of Patton’s missiles.

“It is some weapon to have, he has a massive kickout, but we got a massive contribution from fellas jumping and breaking ball and picking up breaks, we were really good on the breaks today. So that was a big weapon for them, and we managed to nullify it by and large. Gavin White was sensational in the first quarter of an hour. Real captain's example.” 

The forward’s turn for praise and recognition. Never mind their scoring, they performed an equally important job in preoccupying Donegal defenders who wanted but weren’t allowed to terrorise on the break.

“Paudie is just coming back to himself after a long old injury. He handled some amount of ball out there, he just calmed things down. Playing Donegal, get value out of your attacks and don't turn it over. Meath found that out when they didn't work the Donegal defence, they just took pot shots from outside the arc looking for two-pointers.

“Now you take the two-pointers when they are on, but you don't force them, and you work their defenders. I thought we worked the Donegal defenders and that in turn took away a bit of their legs for going the other way. I thought that was a big factor. I don't think McHugh and Roarty and Mogan had a big influence on that game attacking-wise. I think that had a lot to do with the patience we showed in attack and keeping them occupied.” 

All-Ireland No.5. Outright third for Jack in the managerial roll of honour. Only Micko and Jim Gavin ahead of him. This the sweetest?

“They are all hard-earned. This one, in particular, was hard-earned because we had the world of setbacks all year,” he explained.

“Delighted for the people that were with me as much as myself, obviously delighted for myself because I found it a tough old year.

“I was in here a month ago and there was a lot of steam coming out my ears. It wasn't faked or put on, it was authentic because I felt we were getting a lot of unfair stick and we were trying our butts off, and have been from the start of the year, so for us to finally get the reward is great.”