Kerry-Armagh player ratings: David Clifford or Dylan Geaney - take pick on sharpest point of Kingdom spear
Dylan Geaney leaves Cian McConville for dead. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Now things get really interesting. Shane Ryan was back on the bench for Kerry, but Shane Murphy was largely flawless off the tee and made two key saves in the second period. The Dr Crokes man will probably keep the No 1 jersey.
Remarkable that the Rathmore man could play 60 minutes at this level having not been seen (injuries) since March in Armagh. And he did really well to boot on both sides of the ball.
When the Ballydonoghue man went down late in the game, there was an almost audible oh, oh from the Kerry faithful on the open terrace, and little wonder. He is Kerry’s key three, and proved it once again. Plus he fisted a point for good measure.
Quietly, efficiently, no fuss at the back. Won a key ball out around the middle that led indirectly to a Kerry goal. Tom O’Sullivan will target the No 4 jersey when he returns but Casey proved again he’s not ready to give it up.
Picked up Oisin Conaty from the get go, but most Kerry defenders had a spell on the Armagh flyer. Easy forget that the Gaeltacht man is still finding his sea legs after a long absence. Got 50-odd mins in.
The stats may prove otherwise, but probably handled more possession than any other Kerry player on the pitch. His manager knows him well and has tracked him all the way from their days with the county minors over a decade ago. No wasting of possession either, developing into a fixture at 6.
Scored a point and was diligence personified in his defensive duties. Again an interesting call for the quarter final, with Gavin White ready for a start.
Ended up being helped off the field after taking a bang, but should be fine for a week’s time. Such was the nature of the game (outside restarts) that he wasn’t as prominent as recent games but as well as ability to win primary possession, offers his team the key currency – honesty.
Good stuff again from O’Brien, in the air, and in the press alongside the O’Connors, Joe and Diarmuid and his midfield partner O’Shea. Like Diarmuid O’Connor, won a pair of restarts for Kerry that kept them in that flow state.
Won some key restarts on the stand and terrace sidelines – aren’t they all key nowadays? – and ensured that Dylan Geaney’s disguised pass had the appropriate finish as he roofed Kerry’s third goal.
Didn’t score and had a couple of early wides, but neither is the significant stat a week out from Croke Park. Kerry’s playmaker played the full 70-and-change minutes, a first this term. That is crucial.
Pulled down at least one thin-air fetch from Shane Murphy’s lovely restarts and given the stop-start nature of his season, it’s important that he started and finished the game.
One goal and ten points, maybe it’s time everyone stopped judging David Clifford by a higher standard and wallowed in the phenom that he is – and a physical freak to boot, as Kieran McGeeney noted afterwards. The first goal was so important, Armagh were three up and had their tails up at the time.
This child-man is another of the physical freaks and was central to the game’s seminal moment – rolling in the goal on the stroke of half time that blew this Round 3 clash wide open. Looked in great nick.
If David Clifford hasn’t a lock on MOTM awards, then let’s share this one with Geaney. Five points, including an important two pointer, plus playmaking moments to make any neutral drool. Jack O’Connor knows this fella’s only getting better.
Gavin White is getting closer to a starting claim, though he may be held back from the start next weekend (6), but how great was it for all to see Sean O’Shea back in a Kerry jersey after such a long absence with bone bruising (6).
Keith Evans provided the most impudent moment with his dinked goal (7.5) while Dr Crokes duo Evan Looney and Tony Brosnan kept their eye in with late cameos. Ditto Armin Heinrich.
He came into this contest under immense pressure after that costly error against Louth and the infamous second half spell in their All-Ireland quarter-final meeting last year. He was let down by his team-mates for that late goal before half-time. The handpass to Joe McElroy was too low and he had to race back to his net in desperation. Kicked one long-range two-point free. Too far off his line for the final goal from Keith Evans.
He went to Dylan Geaney, who kicked five points in the end. Showed hard on short kickouts.
He was handed the unenviable task of marking David Clifford. The number three impressed when he won a ball out in front in the first half but was soon washed away in a green and gold flood. Clifford finished with 1-7 from play with three misses. As Armagh constantly switch, he ended up on Joe O’Connor for the third goal and did not apply sufficient pressure.
Battled hard with Paul Geaney. He tried hard to chase Kerry down when they were fighting a losing battle in the second half.
The margins are so fine at this level. Armagh were 0-4 to 0-1 up early on when Gareth Murphy came down with a kickout. He fumbled it momentarily and it bobbled over the sideline. From there, Kerry kicked twice and punished that drop ruthlessly.
A physical presence, especially on breaks. Almost set the perfect tone when he won the throw-in early on and Joe McElroy raced in on goal, but his effort was tame.
The fault was not his for the drop that led to a lovely Graham O’Sullivan dink, a Jason Foley floater and a decisive goal. Nevertheless, he was unable to break even around the middle on kickouts and replaced early on by Tomas McCormack.
They sorely needed him back after he missed last weekend’s game against Louth but Mark O’Shea and Sean O’Brien still conquered centre-field. One clever two pointer when they were chasing at the end.
There is no getting away from it, the ball for the turnover before that second Paul Geaney goal was a poor one. He fisted one shot wide, was fouled for a free and taken off with over 20 minutes left.
Scored one free and kicked one wide. Struggled to impact the game outside of that, taken off for Callum O’Neill.
It was curious to watch the centre-forward drop back and track Paudie Clifford on several occasions. That did dull his attacking output, yet he did a selfless job impressively.
Carried the fight. Scored three points including two early on when they seemed to be humming. Ethan Rafferty joined the attack and sent him away for his second, a fisted point. It was the kind of pass they could have done with just before half-time.
Struggled to impact the game. Kieran McGeeney was particularly frustrated with their finishing post-match. The number 13 tried a rash two-pointer that drew ironic jeers from the crowd.
His early battle with Jason Foley was entertaining. Linked up with Oisin Conaty for an early score and finished a terrific team move soon after. They withdrew him out the field as soon as they started to lose the battle around the middle.
The All-Ireland champions opted not to send a man-marker after him. He could have been so much better with a little composure. Scored four points, but blasted two goal chances right at Shane Murphy as he broke off his line. For the second one, the correct decision was to square the ball to the back post.
Rory Grugan looked a class apart when he came on in the final ten minutes with one gorgeous kick inside, yet the game was cooked at that stage.
Oisin O’Neill missed two two-point efforts. Callum O’Neill had a goal chance he punched right at the goalkeeper. Greg McCabe came on for the final five minutes and had the perfect view of Keith Evans’ audacious chip.
At that stage, everyone else had already started to look ahead to Croke Park.
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