Kerry make the most of their good fortune against Dublin
HAND OF SEÁN; Seán O'Brien scores his side's second goal. Pic: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Another Kerry victory, another opposing manager crying foul. And on this occasion Jack O’Connor was readily acknowledging fortune was in their favour.
Like Malachy O’Rourke, Ger Brennan bemoaned the officiating with a healthy body of evidence. Kerry aren’t getting away with everything but several of the breaks have been falling their way. That isn’t even a debate.
They go into an All-Ireland final in almost identical fashion to last year when the winning margin over Tyrone was six points and Donegal’s against Meath was 20. Here, it was four and Mayo’s was 17.
If there is a prize for winning All-Ireland semi-final weekend, Mayo would be in receipt but there is not, and Kerry, despite the odd splutter, chug into the last station with a lot of coal to shovel into the firebox.
For the wrong 45 call against Tyrone last month, read the square ball decision that went in Seán O’Brien’s favour in the 43rd minute. Having lost three kick-outs and conceded as many points in the early minutes of the second half, it was a moment of reprieve.
Earlier, Joe O’Connor was lucky to win a free never mind a penalty against Peadar Ó Cofaigh-Byrne. David Clifford’s penalty strike was poor and kept out by Evan Comerford but he had the presence of mind to follow the ricochet and dispatch it to the net.
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Claims that they were denied a goal in the 58th minute when Paul Murphy’s stop from Ross McGarry spun off Mike Breen’s head across the goal-line were inconclusive.
Still, they were two crucial calls and at the same time Kerry managed this game reasonably. No wide until the 32nd minute, another clean sheet, five-point Paudie Clifford coming to the boil at an opportune time and David being David despite his namesake David Byrne faring reasonably against him.
Joe O’Connor and Seán O’Shea are climbing to their peaks and they were needed when Dublin in those early moments of the second half were hammering Shane Murphy’s kick-out and shrank Kerry’s primary ball wins.
“We lost a good share of kick-outs in the second half today. But we had a bit of extra energy garnered over the two weeks and we needed it all to get men back and block up the middle and while Dublin threatened goals, I thought we got our men back and we blocked the middle pretty well. And, now, we had a few narrow escapes, no question about it. But our energy levels today were better than they were two weeks ago.”
Kerry played a patient game in both halves but their ability to stretch Dublin from sideline to sideline and reasonably quick point of attack changes gave them the openings.
Dublin will rue their 13 wides, star men Con O’Callaghan and Niall Scully didn’t catch fire, but they gave Kerry their fill of it on kick-outs, something which will give Andy Moran and Kerry’s former coach Paddy Tally food for thought. Put simply, they didn’t do enough with the wind at their backs in the opening half.
Tied at the break, Dublin’s great efforts on Kerry’s kick-out resulted in three points in succession – Paddy Small, Brian Howard and Colm Basquel. However, it was undone when O’Brien touched in that Geaney point attempt. Geaney had been unerring from scoring efforts this championship and as luck would have it O’Brien’s touch was enough to foil Comerford.
Charlie McMorrow’s point was a fine response by Dublin but then up stepped Paudie Clifford with the next three points, the first of them from outside the arc. Brother David backed it up with his own after Kerry had made the most of a Lee Gannon attempt to keep a kick-out in ball.
O’Shea followed with another two-pointer in the 53rd minute after Cormac Costello registered a white flag and the margin was five. However, Kerry lived on the seat of their pants in the 58th minute when Murphy first kept out Ross McGarry and McGarry’s follow-up palmed effort was kept out by Paul Murphy onto Mike Breen who was on the goal-line. It was tight. Costello was also blocked by Jason Foley.
Costello at least brought his own total to seven points but the next score was Kerry’s, David Clifford’s tally jumping to six after Evan Looney was fortunate not to have been whistled for a free.
Howard’s second made it a four-point game with five minutes remaining but Seán Guiden and Charlie McMorrow wides were costly and Tomás Kennedy restored Kerry’s five-point difference with a fisted score.
Seán Bugler and Niall Scully fired over shots but the penultimate kick-out was won by Kerry and David Clifford slotted over the insurance score. It was left to him to count down the final seconds on the big screen in the corner of the Davin and Hogan Stands and kick the ball to that upper level.
A late replacement for Kerry captain Paul Geaney, O’Shea may have shown signs of rust as a substitute the past couple of games but he looked bright from the outset here and was a useful outlet at kick-outs.
Having won the toss, Dublin elected to take the wind advantage in the first half and there was wind in their sails when Costello landed a two-pointer with less than a minute in.
Within two minutes, it was eclipsed by a David Clifford goal. Bossing the ball, Kerry notched up three of the next four points but a Con O’Callaghan two-pointer in the 13th minute brought Dublin within a score. O’Shea then converted a mark with his left foot having been found by Paudie Clifford.
The elder Clifford sibling was largely left untouched by the Dublin rearguard and was largely responsible for Kerry keeping their noses in front up to the 33rd minute when Charlie McMorrow squared the game.
That came seconds after Kerry had struck their first wide of the game via David Clifford although they had also dropped two short, while Dublin’s misses for the half amounted to six included four two-point attempts.
Costello’s contribution jumped to five in the 34th minute to put Dublin ahead but O’Shea clipped over another with his right just before the hooter sounded and parity was restored at 1-8 to 0-11.
The feeling was Dublin, having accumulated six wides, hadn’t done enough with the wind. And they hadn’t. But luck smiled on Kerry again.
C. Costello (0-7, 1 tp free, 1 45); C. Basquel (0-3); C. O’Callaghan (1 tp), P. Small, C. McMorrow, B. Howard (0-2 each); S. Bugler, N. Scully (0-1 each).
D. Clifford (1-5, 1 tp); P. Clifford (0-5, 1 tp); S. O’Shea (0-4, 1 tp, 1 mark); S. O’Brien (1-0); G. O’Sullivan (0-2); D. Geaney, T. Kennedy (0-1 each).
E. Comerford; L. Gannon, D. Byrne, T. Clancy; E. Kennedy, B. Howard, C. McMorrow; P. Ó Cofaigh-Byrne, A. Gavin; C. Kilkenny, N. Scully, C. Basquel; P. Small, C. O’Callaghan (c), C. Costello.
C. Murphy for A. Gavin (51); R. McGarry for P. Ó Cofaigh-Byrne (55); S. Bugler for E. Kennedy (58); S. Guiden for P. Small (63).
S. Murphy; P. Murphy; J. Foley, D. Casey; G. O’Sullivan, M. Breen, G. White; M. O’Shea, S. O’Brien; J. O’Connor, S. O’Shea, D. O’Connor; P. Clifford, D. Clifford (c), D. Geaney.
B. Ó Beaglaoich for G. O’Sullivan (43); K. Evans for S. O’Brien (47); E. Looney for P. Murphy, A. Heinrich for G. White (both 59); T. Kennedy for D. Geaney (63).
B. Cawley (Kildare).
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