Options abound but Kerry 'not pulling up any trees', insists Jack O'Connor
LEADER: Kerry's Sean O’Shea is challenged by Monaghan's Michael McCarville and Dessie Ward in Sunday's facile win for the All-Ireland champions in Killarney. Pic: Ben Brady, Inpho
THE bulletins from League Sunday training sessions in Currans are awaited with the same relish in Kerry as the Kingdom’s matchday team announcements. This just in: Kerry’s All-Ireland final halfback line of Brian O’Beaglaoich, Mike Breen and Gavin White were among those cranking it up for March and beyond at the Centre of Excellence on Sunday.
Add in Shane Ryan, Paul Geaney, Tomas Kennedy, Sean O’Brien and Dara Moynihan, and the sense of the All-Ireland champions group tipping along with the top down and the music blaring is easy to conjure.
“I wouldn’t say we are pulling up trees now,” cautioned Jack O’Connor after as routine a Division One win as Division One gets against doomed Monaghan on a pig of an afternoon.
In Jack’s world, the first priority every spring is not to have a relegation to Division 2 on his cv. They say it doesn’t actually matter, but no Kerry manager fancies having that bit of lead around their necks. With seven League points now and Mayo to come under lights in Tralee in a fortnight, a Division One final is certainly in Kerry’s wheelhouse.
“Well after five rounds last year we only had four points, we are three ahead of that, we ended up fighting for our lives in the last two games. In these ones, a lot depends on who’s available, I’m not fully sure if seven points keeps us up this year – it didn’t for Tyrone last season. I thought for a lot of this game we were lethargic enough, but we are doing ok.”
Marginally more than that, perhaps. To tune into the spring narrative, Kerry are presumptive champions again, free-wheeling their way through the league, going down the gears - not up - to pick up another tyro or two en route to July. Of course, back to back All-Irelands have been a bothersome puzzle for the Kingdom since they annexed their last hat-trick in 1986 – only once since in 40 years have they followed a title with a Sam Maguire sequel – 2006 and 07.
But what 20-odd years at the wheel has given Jack O’Connor – over and above encyclopaedic knowledge of his trade – is that finessed sense on the push and pull and the temporal rhythms of the spring-summer axis. When to give Eddie Healy a start, when to reintroduce Dylan Geaney. He doesn’t get that wrong often.
Tony Brosnan tweaked a muscle on gluepot training pitches during the week and O’Connor wasn’t going to have the same happen to David Clifford on Sunday so the great one was kept in reserve. He was given a run out after 55 minutes, with Kerry leading 0-10 to 0-6. He proceeded to help himself to 1-3 with a GAA hat-trick (goal, two-pointer and point), plus a pair of assists. For the goal he gave a returning Rory Beggan the eyes and just sat him down. Clifford walked through the media room as Monaghan manager Bannigan was picking the bones of their 14-point defeat. “The best player I’ve seen play the game of football,” Gabriel reckoned.
There’s no capital in lingering too long on the action, such as it was. A Monaghan now in transition went with the howling storm in the first period but their scoring threats were negligible, especially from outside the arc. Kerry weren’t bothered with the aesthetes; they played slowly and killed the clock and it said plenty that they were the ones going to the dressing room a point in front, 0-5 to 0-4.
Maybe strange then to pick out two defenders but since getting tattooed by Roscommon’s Daire Cregg first day out, full back Jason Foley has been back to his imperious best. “He’s a tough man to shake off,” O’Connor agreed.
Ditto Tadhg Morley who is hungry for work on the most competitive line in the Kerry team at half back. His auditions have been consistently good and he galloped forward for a nice point to boot.
Mark O’Shea was notably good in midfield, and Sean O’Shea is so fundamental to all that is good about the work ethic of this group that it must remain one of the manager’s chief conundrums – keep playing him or rest the man O’Connor calls ‘the spiritual leader’. O’Shea helped himself to four second half points.
For Monaghan and their manager, Cavan in seven weeks in the Ulster Championship is where it’s at. “The biggest thing, to take out of it would have been the spirited performance,” Bannigan reflected. “We're very much in transition. We had seven players in that starting 15 for whom it's their first year playing in the National League – plus Aaron Carey who didn't play any of the league games in Division 2 last year up to the final. The only sub with any experience we had in the 11 today was Jack McCarron. So, those numbers are staggering. We've got hit fierce badly with injuries on top of the three retirements and a couple of boys going travelling.”
Maybe they will look back at the takeaways from a tough afternoon in Killarney and use it as a reference point for their summer. “I knew it was going to be a step up, but coming down to places like Kerry with that type of turnover, that type of transition, is probably not the way you want to be coming. (But) those new fellas, they're getting experience, invaluable experience. This is some stadium and some pitch to be coming to play football in. Second only to Croke Park I would say in the country. So it's a privilege to come down here with a Monaghan team to play Kerry.”
D Clifford (1-3, 1 free), S O’Shea (0-4, 3 frees), P Clifford (0-4), J O’Connor (0-2), D Geaney, T Morley, K Evans, D O’Sullivan, A Heinrich (0-1 each).
: C Dowd, D Ward, K Gallagher, McGorman, Woods, R Hanratty, R O’Toole (0-1 each).
S Murphy; P Murphy, J Foley, D Casey; E Healy, T Morley, A Heinrich; J O’Connor, M O’Shea; C Trant, S O’Shea, G O’Sullivan; K Evans, P Clifford, D Geaney.
T. O’Sullivan for Trant (half time), M Burns for P Clifford (46), D O’Sullivan for Healy (53), D Clifford for G O’Sullivan (55), L Smith for D Geaney (62), D Lyne for O’Shea (blood, 67).
: R Beggan; D McElearney, R O’Toole, R Wylie; C Dowd, D Ward, A Carey; M McCarville, S Hanratty; K Gallagher, M Bannigan, F Carolan; O McGorman, A Woods, L McDonald.
J McCarron for Carolan (half time), E Walsh for McGorman, R Hanratty for McDonald (both 48), D Treanor for Ward (64), R Mohan for S Hanratty (66).
: N Mooney (Cavan).
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