Clifford and O'Sullivan back as Kerry options deepen

After another iffy finish by Kerry, Jack O'Connor suggested the trend may be linked to their late return to inter-county training.

UP FOR GRABS: Dublin's Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne and Joe O'Connor of Kerry compete for the kickout at Croke Park on Saturday. Pic: Nick Elliott, Inpho

Allianz FL Division 1: Dublin 1-10 (1-2-6) Kerry 1-16 (1-3-10)

Except to call for a review, Jack O’Connor has been careful in his choice of words around Kerry’s extensive club fixtures programme.

All politics are local, and there is nothing as local as the divisional championships that wrap up the calendar year. When some players chose not to play the divisional championships at the end of 2024, it was made clear by the manager that he had nothing to do with it (the Gaelic Players’ Association has raised the number of competitions with the Kerry County Board).

However, O’Connor is showing frustration with what is being asked of his players. After another iffy finish by Kerry, he suggested the trend may be linked to their late return to inter-county training.

Last year’s All-Ireland-winning captain, Gavin White, wasn’t mentioned, but he is sidelined due to an ankle injury sustained lining out for Dr Crokes in an O’Donoghue Cup semi-final against Spa in November.

Instead, O’Connor’s point was general, as Kerry weathered a third fadeout in four games. Like the Roscommon game, when they led by seven, they won here, but should have done so more convincingly. Eight points up with less than 10 minutes to go, they were hauled back to three. But scores from the returning Tom O’Sullivan and Seán O’Shea’s second two-pointer settled matters.

“There’s a lot of our players not back training until the first week of January,” O’Connor said. “You know what I mean? So, they’re still finding their feet and trying to get miles on the clock. The vast majority of other teams were back earlier than us, because of the nature of the club scene in Kerry. There was a local divisional championship going on until the end of November.

“Now, we have to give them December off and then they’re back in January and that’s late. That gives you three weeks to start the league.

“So that’s where we’re at. I think that accounts for the fact that maybe we’re not finishing games as strong as we should. It was great to have a bit of experience coming off the bench.”

The contributions of substitutes O’Sullivan, who kicked two points, and Paudie Clifford were meaningful.

“We needed them,” said O’Connor. “Paudie carried some great ball. I’m delighted for him now. He’s had a frustrating time with injury.

“Great to see Tom back, going well again with his trademark point there from under the Hogan [Stand]. So, we’ll need all that, going forward, because there’ll be injuries.”

In keeping with too many inter-county football games of late in Croke Park, this was a drab affair. Dublin’s win over Monaghan the week before was humdrum, too, and on this occasion Ger Brennan admitted that his own team’s tactics may have contributed, “in terms of just trying to take the sting out of Kerry to the best of our ability.

“But the evidence might suggest, certainly that last quarter when we were chasing it and we pushed up a bit more, that seemed to suit us.”

Kerry led 0-9 to 0-6 at half time, and Tony Brosnan’s 56th-minute goal, which originated from a kickout turnover, should have put the game to bed. Brosnan had earlier skewed a goal chance wide, but his finish, after being teed up by David Clifford, was measured.

Save for their own restart woes in the first half, the visitors were by far the better side. O’Connor singled out Armin Heinrich for another solid display, and Keith Evans did plenty of good things too.

However, Kerry’s work almost came undone when Peadar Ó Cofaigh-Byrne blasted a goal minutes after Paddy Small sent over a two-pointer. O’Sullivan’s and O’Shea’s scores put a fairer reflection on the scoreboard as Kerry won their first league game over Dublin in Croke Park in nine years, also bridging a 14-year gap to their last round victory over them here.

Brennan bemoaned Dublin’s inefficiency — they converted just two of nine two-point attempts. Con O’Callaghan’s hamstring woes forced him off at half time, and he is now a doubt for the trip to high-flying Roscommon next weekend.

Brennan was just as frank about what didn’t work for his team, such as Ciarán Kilkenny’s initial posting at full-forward. “We abandoned that, because it didn’t work, bar the free we got.”

If Seán Bugler’s staggering/sliding fall as he attempted a square hand-pass close to goal in the 59th minute didn’t sum up their evening, then the 34th-minute booking of Seán MacMahon did. MacMahon, who proved a sticky marker for David Clifford in the second half, was yellow-carded for dunting the Footballer of the Year, having just replaced Nathan Doran, whose exit was likely precipitated by his own booking.

Clifford had earlier been shown a yellow for colliding with Eoin Murchan. As Neilan prepared to penalise MacMahon, his captain, O’Callaghan, came from the Kerry half of the field to remonstrate.

“Well, look, to be fair to the referees, we got caught out,” said Brennan. “We got caught with a bit of Kerry cuteness. But, fair play to them, we have to look at what the top teams do, as Kerry are, and learn from it. But David, he’s a cute, talented footballer.”

Scorers for Dublin: C O’Callaghan (0-3, 2 frees, 1 45); P Small (0-3, 1 tp); P Ó Cofaigh-Byrne (1-0); C Kilkenny (0-2, 1 tp); R McGarry, N Scully (0-1 each).

Scorers for Kerry: T Brosnan (1-2); D Clifford (1 2p, 1 free), S O’Shea (2 tps) (0-4 each); T O’Sullivan (0-2); T Morley, G O’Sulllivan, C Trant, P Clifford (0-1 each).

DUBLIN: E Comerford; D Byrne, N Doran, E Murchan; N Scully, B Howard, A Gavin; P Ó Cofaigh-Byrne, C McMorrow; S Bugler, C O’Callaghan (c), R McGarry; P Small, C Kilkenny, L O’Dell.

Subs for Dublin: S MacMahon for N Doran (34); J Quigley for C O’Callaghan (h-t to f-t); L Breathnach for L O’Dell (43); K McGinnis for R McGarry (45); C Tyrrell for A Gavin (62).

KERRY: S Murphy; E Looney, J Foley, D Casey; G O’Sullivan, T Morley, A Heinrich; J O’Connor, M O’Shea; C Trant, S O’Shea (c), M Burns; K Evans, D Clifford, T Brosnan.

Subs for Kerry: P Murphy for Looney (inj), P Clifford for Burns (both h-t); T O’Sullivan for G O’Sullivan, D O’Sullivan for Trant (both 54); L Smith for M O’Shea (63).

Referee: P Neilan (Roscommon).