County Championship

County Championship Drama - Kerins O'Rahillys Vs South Kerry

November 4th, 2008
by Weeshie Fogarty

 The recent Kerry County Championship semi-final between Kerins o Rahillys and South Kerry which included a drawn game, extra-time and re-play was the talk of the county and rightly so. Supporters of both sides might not have enjoyed the two dramatic matches due to the tension which prevailed but for the neutrals in the attendance it was thrilling stuff indeed.  In my experience of watching championships in this county for over fifty years these two games were as good as any I have seen in all that time. Impossible to say which was the best ever because time and age dims the memory and all the years seem to merge into one complete haze of great scores, great names and great contests. Nevertheless the two recent games were special for many reasons. Epic clashes such as what we have just witnessed do not occur just by chance and you may well ask why we don't have games such as this on a more permanent basis. I believe many would agree when I say that we have seen some very poor and sub standard matches in recent years and especially since the system was introduced which made provisions for the first round losers to come back into contention.

So Kerins o Rahillys and South Kerry was special and a number of factors for both teams merged together to provide the magnificent spectacle we witnessed. The games literally flowed from end to end and here the men in charge of the coaching must take a bow. It was very evident that the mantra of swarming, crowding, fouling and "stop you opponent from playing" was completely absent. We have seen this sickening horrible type of play very evident in recent years since Tyrone introduced it some years ago. It was literally strangling the game and suffocating the class player who was prevented by fair or foul methods of displaying the great skills of the game. And while Tyrone in my opinion were instrumental in perfecting the swarming game many other counties including Kerry followed suit as the adage "if you can't beat them join them" was followed.  So it was like a breath of fresh to see football being played at its very best in Fitzgerald Stadium on those two recent weekends. With James o Sullivan, Maurice Fitzgerald and Darby Clifford in the South Kerry dug out and Jack o Conner, Alan o Sullivan, Sean Walsh, Michael Keane and Paul Hayes guiding "The Narries" you had men weighted down with years of inter county and club experience.

O Rahillys probably learned best from the drawn game and the fact that they did not concede one point from a free during the course of the re-play must constitute some sort of a record in itself. This to me was the one abiding factor which decided this epic contest. The Dr. Eamonn o Sullivan (late Kerry trainer) gospel of the three c's "close continuous coverage" without fouling was very much in evident and Jack o Conner had his men drilled to the limit in this highly disciplined and beautiful aspect of the game. South Kerry had excelled in this area in the drawn game but O Rahillys had it absolutely perfected for the re-play. The players of course contributed hugely to the drama and we had on view some of the best club and inter county men in the country. The level of skill, fitness, sportsmanship and never say die attitude by one and all was superb. All of this must be credited to those people who have coached and trained these players from under age in their club right up to this championship standard. It was Kerry football at its very best. Glorious stuff that warmed the cockles of the heart and which must surly is the envy of the other thirty one counties. And what ever about winning All Irelands the Kerry followers should be entitled to see more of these great championship games.    

Then you had some very sensible refereeing by Scartaglin's Donal Casey. The word sensible is for me the apt description in this instance. I have often wrote here that Gaelic football is the hardest field game in the world to handle and if you don't have a referee who is not sensible enough to know when to whistle and when to allow the advantage then you can throw you hat at expecting a classic game. I should add of course that there is no rule in the book which says you can allow advantage. So the sensible referee will know when to allow play to develop. I continuously watch some men in the middle who treat the game as if it was a basketball match and continuously blow for the slightest bodily contact with the result that the flow of the game is continuously halted to the frustration of players and supporters alike.  Then of course we were also blessed that the games were played on two beautiful November days and the fact that you did not have a howling wind and rain helped copper fasten the occasion. And finally you had the wide open spaces of Fitzgerald Stadium with its beautiful surface. As the fellow said to me once, "if you can't play good football in the stadium then pack it up".  Can you imagine seeing the top championship sides in this county playing continuously during the long summer evenings? That is provided we ever get a summer again? Surly now the aim of those people responsible for fixtures is to provide top class football for all our players during the football season and not waiting until the long winter days descend on us. Is this too mush to ask?  Well done to both sides. Wonderful displays by all players but for me Micheal Quirk of O Rahillys was the dominant figure over the one hundred forty minutes of play.  All were a credit to the county and let's hope we have a repeat of the same in the final. Mid Kerry are well capable of matching "The Narries" in all the afore mentioned skills of the game.

Tom Moriarty

Tom Moriarty helped Kerins o Rahillys to win the 1953 Kerry County Championship. Their first since 1939. He immigrated to New York in 1955 where he was one of the star players in great New York teams of the fifties. He played against all the top Irish teams that visited the city that never sleeps and on one memorable occasion lined out against his heroes from Kerry who were touring as All Ireland champions.  Kerry exile Mickey Moynihan is the owner of the Aqueduct bar Catona Avenue in the Bronx. It's here that all the Kerry exiles gather to hear the Radio Kerry matches broadcasts. Three weeks ago Tom was in the bar and when the full time whistle went and a draw was the result he made a vow. "I'm going home for the re-play" he declared to one and all. "I might never again see my beloved "Narries" playing". Now he awaits the final with great anticipation before he returns to America. A wonderful conversationalist and a walking Kerry GAA historian I met up with Tom recently and had a long chat regarding his life and times. 

Tom Moriarty was born a stones throw from the Kerins O rahillys football field in Strand Road in 1935. His mother died at the age of thirty nine leaving seven children for his father to bring up. Tom was raised in St Josephs Industrial School where he resided for ten years. He has two brothers still living in Tralee, Peter "Abbo" Moriarty and Michael whose daughter Mary married to Billy Dennehy is the mother of those two great soccer players, Billy and Darren. (An ounce of breeding is worth a ton of feeding).   Playing with the Kerry minors in 1953 in Cork Tom was at the end of what he described some very bad referring decision and despite being seven points ahead with ten minutes remaining Cork triumphed 2-9 to 3=5. Believe it or not he informed me a Kerryman refereed that match.  He captained the Kerry juniors in 1955 and another loss to Cork 2-7 to 2-5 was his lot. Tom Moriarty exemplifies all that is good and great in a Kerry follower. Make him off if you can at the county final and have a few words with him and I guarantee that you will come away greatly enriched in the passion, knowledge and traditions of Kerry and its footballers. 

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