Former Kerry star believes Armagh clash is 'perfect scenario' for Kingdom

Irish Daily Mirror

4 hours ago

In both 2006 and 2009, Kerry were in various states of apparent disarray heading into All-Ireland football quarter-finals that they weren't expected to win.
The form of the team wasn't good, there were issues within the camp and county, and they were drawn against a side that seemed to be in much better shape. Sound familiar?
Sean O'Sullivan was in the Kingdom side at the time and, as he will be on Sunday at 4pm, Jack O'Connor was patrolling the Croke Park sidelines as Kerry boss.
'In 2006, we were obviously hurting from the previous year after losing the All-Ireland to Tyrone, but we thought we were going in the right direction,' said O'Sullivan.
'It just wasn't happening for us though and, particularly up front, we weren't scoring a lot. The Kerry faithful weren't happy with us and the defeat up in Páirc Uí Chaoimh was a tough one to take.'
Losing by six points, 1-12 to 0-9, in that Munster final replay, on a day where captain Declan O'Sullivan received boos from a section of the Kerry support, there was a real sense of crisis.
However, a qualifier win over Longford, the switch of a certain Kieran Donaghy to full-forward, the buzz of a last-eight tie against Armagh and everything changed.
'Things started to turn and we drew Longford in the qualifiers in Killarney. Jack either had the brainwave, or wasit the last throw of the dice, to peg Donaghy in at the edge of the square,' he added.
'Eoin Brosnan got a hat-trick that day and I'm nearly certain Donaghy had a hand in two of those goals, if not all three of them. It was the spark that ignited the season.
'I only watched the Armagh game back recently enough and we were in serious trouble in the first half at times.
'We stayed in the game up until half-time, I think we were 1-7 to 1-5 down, and we levelled it up fairly quickly in the second half. Then there was broken play around the middle, I just made a run and it might have been Tommy Griffin who played it to me, and I don't know if I was going for a point or was going for a pass, but I'll take that to the grave.
'I put it into the danger zone, let's put it like that, and the big man from Austin Stacks did the rest. It really turned the game, we were in control from then, and it turned our season. We went on to win the All-Ireland.'
That famous goal from Donaghy, and the subsequent celebration in front of Armagh goalkeeper Paul Hearty, became an iconic Championship moment.
Kerry won by eight points, 3-15 to 1-13, and lifted Sam after beating Cork and Mayo. Three years later, Kerry weren't in a good place either. Beaten by Cork in a Munster replay, 1-17 to 0-12, they didn't play well against Longford, Sligo or Antrim in the qualifiers either.
Indeed, the Sligo game in Tralee saw Diarmuid Murphy make a stunning penalty stop to save Kingdom bacon.
Tomás Ó Sé and Colm Cooper were dropped, in the aftermath, for a disciplinary issue.
'We were on the road together a lot, we had had a great run, we were getting to final after final, and maybe we were a little sick of each other. Jack was cranky with us and we were cranky with each other,' remembered O'Sullivan.
'Then you had the Gooch and Tomás going offside a little bit, so it was just one of those seasons. We were doing the right things in training, we were working hard, but we were forcing things in games.
'Then we got the draw of Dublin up in Croke Park, on the August Bank Holiday Monday. We were coming down from Tullamore after playing Antrim and you could already feel the change in the mood on the train.'
With Cooper and Ó Sé back in the side, and Mike McCarthy coaxed out of retirement to anchor the centre-half-back spot, Kerry went out and eviscerated Dublin by a 17-point margin, 1-24 to 1-17.
The Kingdom were back on track. Meath and Cork were then dispatched, and the 'canister' was returning to what the Kerry natives consider its rightful home. All was well again.
On Sunday, Kerry are underdogs once more. The Royals stunned them by nine points, they are ravaged with injuries and seemingly ready to be put out of their misery. Or are they?
O'Sullivan added: 'Forget what's gone before, forget the favourites' tag that's hanging over Armagh, and just really go for it, with the intention that if we lose today, we're gone, and our year is over.
'I feel that can get a real performance out of Kerry. If we get a performance, we're more than a match for Armagh. We're more than a match for anyone left in the Championship
'It's just getting that performance out of us on the big day. If we can do that, I feel we'll win. I genuinely believe that this is the perfect scenario for us.
'We're either good enough, and we'll win, and be through to an All-Ireland semi-final with a great scalp under our belts, or we're just not good enough, and we're beaten, and we're on the way home.
'Jack is a really good man-manager and he thrives on these types of situations. He's got good guys around him as well. At the same time, it has to be a two-way street. Jack will back them to the hilt, he'll take all the criticism on his chin and he'll protect the players, but the players need to give something back now.
'They need to step up, starting on Sunday – and I certainly believe they will.'