Championship

Forget Limerick, Cork will be the True Test

June 6th, 2011
by Weeshie Fogarty

ALL the talk before last Saturday's game against Limerick was the non availability of their great midfielder John Galvin and the huge gap left by his absence in his county's starting fifteen. And of course he was a huge loss; however, there is no way in the earthly world his presence would have made any great difference to the final result. Limerick have gone back a ton since last year.

This was a ruthless, highly disciplined and determined display by Kerry. There will be bags of time to mull over the mouth watering July 3 battle with Cork in Killarney, and, boy, is that something to look forward to. Scoring 1-26 last Saturday is great stuff in any man's language and the scoreboard could very easily have registered at least another five goals to the winners.

We saw Colm Cooper in the best form of his life and now at the peak it seems of his wonderfully gifted talents. He was hauled down in the square, no penalty, and also in my opinion his club mate Kieran O'Leary had a perfectly legitimate goal disallowed when the Limerick goalkeeper dropped the ball following an attempted high catch. Then we saw a succession of Kerry forwards careering through the non-existent home defence to finish with blistering shots over the bar. We could have seen a Milltown Malbay like massacre (Remeber Kerry 9-21, Clare 1-9 in 1979).

Not alone are the Kerry forwards in scintillating form, they kicked fifteen points in the second half and just one wide, a truly remarkable statistic, but their work rate all over the field as they tracked back time and again is relentless. The half forward line in particular is going to play a massive part in the Cork game. The ball carrying abilities and pin-point distribution of Darran and Declan O'Sullivan and the wonderful Cromane lad Donnchadh Walsh has reached near perfect levels.

Of course, conceding 39 is a big worry, giving Jack O'Connor and his sideline generals plenty of food for viewing on the now mandatory DVD of the game. In many ways it may well be a blessing in disguise because it will make each and every defender look at their own display and question if some failing in their part contributed to the scores conceded. They will discover that the goals, as far as I could see, came from explosive bursts of speed from the Limerick men who in turn had a colleague at his shoulder poised to take the hand pass. Goals resulted from speed off the mark, fast reactions and bullet like shots to Brendan Kealy's net.

I was surprised that Limerick were so naive in their approach to their defensive set up all through the match. They literally gave the Kerry forwards the freedom of the park. No crowding, no swarming and no hunting in packs, now an accepted part of the modern game, which meant that Kerry were in their element and it really was a joy to watch them in action. So comfortable on the ball, pinpoint passing, magnificent fielding by Donaghy. His man gave him, as they say, literally acres of room.

So the scene is set, and it will be a whole new ball game when the All Ireland and National League champions race on to the green sward of Fitzgerald Stadium where they have failed to beat Kerry in championship football since 1995. Jack O'Connor is on a mission with this squad, more so than any time in the past. The team that will beat this Kerry side in Croke Park will win the All-Ireland. July 3rd will tell us if Colm Cooper will pass Jimmy O'Brien's pub in College St, Killarney with the cup come September. The Munster final will feature the two best teams in the county, I rate Dublin third and Tyrone fourth.

Fogra: I have just been given a copy of a magnificent GAA history which was launched in London last week.

Gaelic Hearts a History of London GAA 1896-1996 is one of the best, most comprehensive and accurately researched books I have read for many a long day. The author of this superb production is Pat Griffin, who emigrated to London from Lispole in the late fifties and has devoted 30 years researching and assimilating his material.

This book will be of huge assistance to students researching the origins of the games in England and the names of all those Kerry men who have been involved as players and officers over the decads crop up all over this wonderful 550 page book. A few simple lines from page 220 sums up for me the importance of remembering the dead:

"The Dave Larkin Cup is called after a man who lost his life in the war. Dave was a member of the Tara club, and a member of a great footballing family from Duagh. He was a member of the London football team that won the 1938 All Ireland Junior title. He had been assistant secretary of the North Kerry Football Board before emigrating".

Little gems such as this abound throughout this masterpiece.



Sections

Search Articles



 
Radio Kerry - The Voice of the Kingdom