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Sunday was pretty depressing for fans of Kerry football, but it’s not all doom and gloom according to Gavin O’Connor. Here’s four reasons to keep the heads up (plus see action shots from the game yesterday)…
1. There is still talent to return
One of things not been mentioned enough is the amount of regulars Kerry were without yesterday.
The 2014 Player of the Year, James O’Donoghue along with All-Star from last year, Anthony Maher. Throw Paul Geaney and Johnny Buckley into the mix and you have the genesis of more attacks and scores, a problem that was all too apparent yesterday.
If O’Donoghue can recapture the form of 2014 it would certainly give the Dubs plenty to think about. Kerry would also be afforded more options off the bench also.
Dublin’s Paul Mannion in possession followed by Shane Enright, Aidan O’Mahony and Mark Griffin. Photo by Dermot Crean
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2. Kerry will in all likelihood meet Dublin when they have been most vulnerable
In the last two seasons Dublin have had issues in the All-Ireland semi-final. Famously in 2014, Donegal ambushed the Blues beating them by six.
Despite being forewarned, Mayo were a whisker away from doing the same in the drawn semi-final.
All the signposts indicate Dublin will cruise to the semi-final while Kerry will in all likelihood get a bigger test against Cork who will be focussing in on the Munster Final as their big game of the championship, provided of course both teams get there.
Marc O’Se gets in a tangle with James McCarthy. Photo by Dermot Crean
3. Time to build a plan
A few things were exposed yesterday.
Aidan O’Mahony and Marc Ó Sé are great players but now with a combined age of 71, it appears they do not have the legs to stay with Dublin and both had better days at headquarters than on Sunday.
A more coherent plan must be made with kick outs. You see the speed in which Cluxton resets, the ball is flying over the bar or wide and he’s already half way to the tee. Obviously Cluxton is a bit of a freak, but Kerry must try and least match it. That goes for Kealy or Kelly and the defenders giving them options.
Eamonn Fitzmaurice has a lot to look at now. No one likes a beating, but maybe this is what Kerry needed to see how much ground they had to make up.
Fitzmaurice also has a decision to make whether Paul Murphy’s talents are better served in the back line which could have done with his ability to snuff out trouble more often.
Kerry’s Kieran Donaghy and Dublin’s Cian O’Sullivan in close quarters. Photo by Dermot Crean
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4. Kerry can still beat Dublin but it seems they would need a lot of things to go right
The mood is not good in the Kingdom today, how could it be after getting an 11 point shellacking against your greatest rivals in front of 80,000 people.
Many fans will have already thrown in the towel, but this is sport and anything can happen. It’s not great we’ve been reduced to this thinking, but you only have to go back two years to when Kerry were apparently finished but came back from the dead.
There will perhaps be some revisionism on 2014 now, but that’s what almost everyone was saying after losing to Cork in April of that year by 10 points, yet Sam was at home the following September.
Maybe it’s dreaming, but what’s the point of being a supporter if you can’t dream? (More action photos from the game below…)
Kerry huddle before the throw in of the National League Final against Dublin in Croke Park on Sunday. Photo by Dermot Crean
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Stephen O’Brien bears down on the Dublin goal in the first half. Photo by Dermot Crean.
Dublin’s John Small comes away with the ball followed by Bryan Sheehan. Photo by Dermot Crean.
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Dublin’s Diarmuid Connolly on the ball followed by Peter Crowley. Photo by Dermot Crean.
Dean Rock points his first score for Dublin. Photo by Dermot Crean.
Darren O’Sullivan shoots for the posts. Photo by Dermot Crean.
Aidan O’Mahony chllanges Dublin James McCarthy. Photo by Dermot Crean
