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Nobody expected it so why are Kerry champions again. Gavin O’Connor tries to make sense of it…
Paul Murphy lines out for Kerry on Sunday. Photo by Dermot Crean
New blood
With Tomas O’Sé, Paul Galvin and Eoin Brosnan exiting the camp, one of the main reasons Kerry were written off at the start of championship was the generally accepted belief that the talent coming through was not good enough to replace them.
With very little underage success over the last 10 years, it was all too easy to jump the gun and say Kerry would be entering into the wilderness years part two.
It was unfair because the barometer for quality should be the white heat of championship action and a lot of these players had not been tested yet.
The man who pulled on Tomas O’Se’s hallowed number five jersey, Paul Murphy, never played minor for Kerry, but ended up winning the man of the match award in his first All-Ireland final.
His point, just after Donegal took the lead for the first time in the match showed leadership beyond his years and was reminiscent of his predecessor in the number 5 shirt.
Continued below…
Tense moments in the closing stages of the game on Sunday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Meanness
If Kerry were going to win an All-Ireland this year they had to get tough. Looking at the class of 2014, mentally, I can’t remember a tougher bunch.
A lot of Kerry supporters may have been disappointed to see Barry John Walsh kick the ball off Paul Durkin’s tee for the last kick out of the match, but that was an offshoot of that meanness.
Too often in the past we’ve claimed the moral high ground only to lose out to opposition that were willing to do anything, no matter what, to win an All-Ireland.
Kieran Donaghy salutes the crowd after scoring his goal on Sunday. Photo by Dermot Crean
A bit of luck
When Donegal cut the gap to just one point after 15 minutes gone, Donegal’s Darach O’Connor had a goal chance that crept through Brian Kelly’s legs and squeezed outside the post.
This was at a point in the match when Donegal were in the ascendancy, when McGuinness football was in lock down mode. If that had went in it could have been a different game.
With Kerry three points up and no added time left on the clock Colm McFadden got his fist onto a blocked shot and hit the post. If it had gone in the game level and Donegal with the upper hand for the replay. If, if , if.
We took our two major goal chances, they didn’t, this is how matches are won. Remembering back to the 2008 final against Tyrone, Declan O’Sullivan, narrowly missed a goal chance t0 put Kerry four points ahead.
It’s worth noting that the footballing Gods often have their say as well.
David Moran lines up a free on Sunday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Flexibility
One of the hallmarks of Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s tenure so far has been his ability to keep everyone guessing.
Both Donegal and Dublin have wildly contrasting styles, but what they share is a predictability in their approach. In last year’s semi-final against Cavan, Kerry experimented with the ultra defensive blanket against a side that also adopted that system and have tweaked it slightly since then.
The two Jim’s, McGuinness and Gavin could be forgiven for sticking with a winning formula until they were out-thought, a far from unusual occurrence in sport.
If Kerry had a winning formula this year, it was our flexibility to change our game plan to what team we faced. In the age where the system is king, it will be up to Eamonn to keep them guessing.
The Kerry players celebrate their 37th All-Ireland title in front of the Hill on Sunday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Hunger
Colm O’Rourke once famously remarked “you can be certain of two things in life, taxes and Kerry winning All-Irelands”.
Multiple winners, Marc O’Se, Aidan O’Mahony and Kieran Donaghy have claimed 2014 as their most cherished, owing it to how much the team was written off this year, but I think it goes a little deeper than that.
In the last decade our record against Tyrone and Armagh in All-Ireland finals was used as a stick to beat us with despite winning more championships than both of them.
With those two sides well and truly out of the spotlight, other counties come and go, but Kerry still remain.
How this year’s final was won may not satisfy the purists, but a key to Kerry’s success down the years has been how adaptable we have been to the constant changing face of football.
Above all, Sunday’s win showed there is a belief in every Kerry unit that no matter what happens we will keep adapting and keep coming back.
