How Kerry found themselves in the All-Ireland SFC final against Donegal

Irish Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Under siege Kerry "battened down the hatches" to keep at bay the storm that raged after their group phase defeat to Meath. One month later they are on the cusp of glory - just one victory away from a 39th All-Ireland SFC title.
That nine-point loss to the Royals, the Kingdom's biggest in the championship since Meath's 15-point thrashing in 2001, had former Kerry stars declaring the end of the season was nigh for their team.
But Jack O'Connor's side roared back to cast aside reigning champions Armagh in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, then dismissed Tyrone's bid in Saturday's semi-final to set up the Sam Maguire Cup decider against Donegal.
It wasn't the same shock and awe second half performance that delivered 14 unanswered second half points in 15 minutes against Armagh, but after a slow start Kerry came to life when their talisman David Clifford did.
The master from Fossa scored his first point in the 18th minute, banked 1-5 by half-time and finished with 1-9. The men in green and gold scored eight unanswered second half points after Tyrone had clawed their way back to one point behind as the Red Hands' challenge collapsed as they converted only three of their last 15 shots.
"Yeah, I suppose after the Meath game we were all very disappointed in our performance," said Kerry captain Gavin White afterwards. "We knew that wasn't us. We got a bit of slack for it but we tried to keep all that out of the camp. We knew the quality that we had inside in training and we believed in what we were capable of.
"So we just batted down the hatches, I suppose, went into the Cavan game and went back to basics and built from there. Obviously the Armagh game was a huge game for us, considering what happened last year. So we wanted to rectify that and thankfully we're able to bring that into this game as well."
O'Connor was rightly pleased with many aspects of his side's performance and, while they did leave a string of goal chances behind apart from Clifford's superbly-taken 29th minute effort, he was content that they were making those opportunities.
However Kerry will spend the build-up to the final in two Sundays' time working on their kick-out strategy after being forced to fix it on the fly against Tyrone.
Conn Kilpatrick ruled the skies in the opening period on Saturday and it took time for the Kingdom to prevail there, although Joe O'Connor impressively grew into the contest to eventually dominate and, in the third quarter, Kerry effectively squeezed the life out of their rivals' challenge.
In fact, Kerry didn't concede a point off their own restart after the break. It's an aspect of their game that Kerry know they must address ahead of a final that pits them against opponents that are highly effective in that area. They won't want a similarly sluggish start against Jim McGuinness' side.
"The big thing from my point of view is that kick-outs have become an even more important part of the game, breaking ball...it's very physical in and around the middle, especially coming up against a big physical team like Tyrone," said White, one of Kerry's top performers in wrestling back control of the midfield battle.
"But you have to put your body on the line and thankfully a lot of the lads were able to do that today, especially in the second half when we needed it. As Jack alluded to, we found the kick-outs in the first half were giving us a bit of a bother and we were able to rectify that at half-time and produce a performance in the second half.
"When you have a big Kerry support behind you there, when you win a big break like that, you certainly get a lot of energy from it. On the flip side if Tyrone win the break you hear the Tyrone crowd and you hear the momentum shifting back and forth.
"So we talked about big plays coming into this game, not particularly huge scores - with breaking ball obviously being a huge one. And unfortunately for us in the first half we failed in that regard so we were able to rectify that at half-time."
The hot conditions made it tough for the players, especially given the non-stop nature of the new FRC rules established this year. All the more reason for O'Connor to be satisfied, given how his team got on top the longer the game progressed.
White said that the humidity that Kerry experienced in the Armagh game stood to them against Tyrone. "Certainly it was difficult conditions to play in," he added. "So we were looking to try and keep the ball as much as we could and conserve energy.
"But Tyrone are a serious team so there were obviously times where we had to run the ball as well. The new rules have changed the game completely. I think we'd all agree that it's for the better. It's certainly a lot more taxing on the body. I said at the start of the year that there would be a lot more injuries from it and unfortunately for us we picked up an awful lot from them.
"But it's definitely a lot more of a spectacle, a lot more enjoyable to play in and, look, I'm just over the moon that we're able to play as well as we are at the business end of the year and look forward to an All-Ireland final in two weeks' time."
TEAMS AND RATINGS
KERRY
Shane RYAN 7
Paul MURPHY 6
Jason FOLEY 7
Dylan CASEY 7
Brian Ó BEAGLAOICH 8
Gavin WHITE 8
Mike BREEN 8
Séan O'BRIEN 6
Joe O'CONNOR 0-2 8
Mark O'SHEA 6
Seán O'SHEA 0-3 (2fs) 7
Graham O'SULLIVAN 0-1 7
David CLIFFORD 1-9, (4fs, 1 2ptr) 9
Paudie CLIFFORD 0-2 7
Dylan GEANEY 0-1 6
Subs: Killian Spillane (0-2) for Dylan Geaney 48mins, Evan Looney for Casey 59mins, Tadhg Morley for Breen 62mins, Tony Brosnan for P Clifford 65mins.
TYRONE
Niall MORGAN 7
Cormac QUINN 6
Padraig HAMPSEY 5
Niall DEVLIN 7
Peter TEAGUE 7
Ben MCDONNELL 6
Kieran MCGEARY 0-1 7
Brian KENNEDY 6
Conn KILPATRICK 8
Mattie DONNELLY 0-2 7
Séanie O'DONNELL 0-2 7
Ciarán DALY 0-2 7
Eoin MCELHOLM 0-1 6
Darren MCCURRY 5
Darragh CANAVAN 0-7 (2fs, 1 2ptr) 8
Subs: Michael McKernan for Bradley 48mins, Mark Bradley (0-1) for McCurry 48mins, Peter Harte for Daly 52mins, Ruairí Canavan (0-2, 1 2ptr) for McElholm 56mins, Michael O'Neill for O'Donnell 67mins.
REFEREE: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)
QUOTE ME ON THAT
"It used to be three or four weeks to an All-Ireland final in the old days, but it'll be a great two weeks. There is always a great buzz around the county. Really looking forward to it now." Kerry manager Jack O'Connor.
STAR MAN
David Clifford (Kerry)
Stood up when his team needed him most. Kerry struggled in the first half but when he ignited so did the Kingdom. Pole position for another Footballer of the Year gong.
AN OTHER
"There's been a lot of positives but a game like that shows the level you have to get to if you want to be challenging for the top honours and that's what we'll learn from today." Tyrone boss Malachy O'Rourke.
UP NEXT
Kerry are in the All-Ireland SFC final on Sunday, July 27; Tyrone are out of the championship.