Championship

Jack's lads may be down but they are not out yet

July 18th, 2006
by Weeshie Fogarty

IT was always going to be difficult for Kerry in last Sunday's Munster final following the Killarney draw and the big question was who would show the most improvement in the intervening seven days. Well, Billy Morgan's men answered the question emphatically and at the end of Sunday's encounter the home side were literally coasting and the Kerry heads, with a few exceptions, were dropping all over Pairc Uí Chaoimh. At the end of the day, in my opinion, Cork deserved their win and over the two games they, and when I say they, I mean all the Cork players, showed more hunger, sharpness and, most importantly, freshness.

We said here in this column last week that there was a lingering doubts whether we could match the opposition for all those qualities mentioned and to win we needed to do just this. Cork improved on this aspect of the play Kerry did not. In the drawn game Donncha O'Connor hit the butt of the Kerry post with a bullet of a shot at a crucial stage of the first half when Cork were on top. If that goal had gone in I believe there was no way back for Kerry. Now last Sunday at approximately the same stage of the first half James Masters got the same opportunity and he made no mistake from close in. Cork had got the goal that settled them and stretched the lead. Kerry was playing catch up after this. This goal was the catalyst, which propelled the Rebels to victory. It gave them the belief that they were well capable of winning the cup with no name.

Nevertheless it must be stressed that despite not winning the lion's share of breaking ball and the high fielding around the middle of the field, Kerry ran up the massive total of 15 wides. It's very easy in hindsight to use that great word - if. However let's speculate a little. It was always going to boil down at the end of the hour to a shoot out between our own Colm Cooper and the new kid on the block James Masters. Two superb corner men and while Masters was on the ball, kicking 1-6, Colm was off his shooting. Now if Colm had even raised four white flags out of his seven shots on goal then Kerry would have been well in contention entering the closing ten minutes. He got into scoring positions that you would literally put your house on him to slot over the bar.

And let's not forget that Colm won more ball off the outstanding Graham Canty than many expected he would. The Kerry tactic was very evident following the throw in. Get the ball into Cooper at all costs. He was well isolated inside with only one more forward near the Cork goal and the tactic half worked. Colm got lots of possession, beating Canty for the race in to the open spaces and making room for himself to get his shot for the point. On his better days he would have ran up a string of points.

However while coming back into form the final attempt at goal either veered wide or as one did come back off the post. Masters did for Cork in both matches what Colm has so often done for Kerry in the past. But I am confident the Killarney ace is just a game away from destroying some defence. The loss of Kieran Donaghy and the late availability of Anthony Lynch for Cork also had a bearing on the final result. Donaghy had been having a very good year and while he still has a lot to learn in relation to inter county mid field play he was a great help to Darragh O'Sé. Donaghy's great height and spring off the ground helped to field and break the ball in the vital area and in fairness to the Austin Stacks man he is a tireless worker. And he has the youth.

This was why he was brought in, to add freshness to the side. Darragh together with the peerless Seamus Moynihan can hold their heads up high and Tom O'Sullivan and Darren O'Sullivan also matched the opposition. Talking about Darren O'Sullivan, his scintillating solo runs up the wings are a joy to behold. He has the required ability to run at his marker, round him and run away for him or invite the free. That is the job of a forward - penetrate the opposing defence and draw the man. His lighting speed probably shows the selectors just how lacking we are for penetration in other areas of the attack.

Billy Morgan will be a very happy manager following the defeat of the old enemy from across the bounds. He plotted and planned the downfall of the Kingdom over two games. And he more than any other manager, with the exception on Mick O'Dwyer, knows what it takes to down the green and gold. Morgan took a calculated risk in introducing six new faces for the drawn game, a gamble that I have never seen taken before, and it worked a treat for him. I even met some great Cork supporters in Killarney on the morning of the draw and I was astonished to be told that some of them had never even seen a few of the new Cork players in action. The Cork junior side that won recent All-Irelands had provided vital experience for these new men. Remember Kerry are in this year's junior final.

So it's Longford next for Jack O'Connor's men - the venue unknown at the time of writing will be vital here. Lose the toss and you travel to Longford. Win the toss and you are at home and I would be confident of a victory here in Fitzgerald Stadium despite the recent worrying form. However travelling to Longford with their fanatical supporters to roar them on would be a different kettle of fish completely.

Kerry will regroup. That is the tradition of this county and lots will have learned from the two Cork games. Fresh minds are needed in the forward division and we should see at least three of four new faces from the bench starting the next day. The new men introduced last Sunday in the closing stages at least added a bit of sparkle to the set up. Sean O'Sullivan, Tommy Griffin, Mike Frank Russell all ran at the Cork defence and indeed got into great scoring positions. And it's not too late to throw the handle after the hatchet and introduce Michael Quirke and possible Declan Quill to the mix. Quirke would give a completely different option around the Longford square.

If my memory serves me right the last time we played Longford in a championship game was in the 1968 semi-final and Kerry won 2-13 to 2-11. The present Kerry selector, my own Legion club mate Johnny Culloty, made a dramatic comeback from retirement for that clash. Teddy Bowler had been in goal for a great Munster final win but the late Jackie Lyne and Tadge Crowley visited Johnny in his home in O'Sullivan's Place Killarney and persuaded him to return between the sticks. And this was the Monday night before the game as the selectors met in the now demolished Park Place Hotel in High Street, Killarney. The rest is history for another day. Those selectors took a calculated risk and it paid off handsomely.

This present Kerry team is far from finished. While Dublin and Armagh are the popular favourites to win out Kerry will be there at the final stages. Too much effort from all involved has gone into the past three years to bow out so tamely.
 



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