Tralee reminds us even the greatest are fallible

IT IS a truism of the National Leagues that a match can finish with victory for one county and defeat for another, and both leave feeling happy. One wonders how content Dublin can be with what happened in Tralee. Their loss to Kerry came with most of their big names returned, but Jim Gavin continues to maintain that they are in the early weeks of their preparations for the new season. They certainly mustered a finish against Kerry that they could not manage when losing in Clones, but the way the home team stress-tested their defence was another reminder of the fallibility of even great teams. Peter Keane (below) had greater cause for happiness on Saturday night. His team did concede 2-14, and a developing defence was vulnerable to the direct intervention of a talent like Con O’Callaghan. But their tackling is showing the influence of Donie Buckley, and that is vital if they want to defeat Dublin in the championship. Buckley transformed Mayo’s tackling, which allowed them to go man-for-man against Gavin’s side. And that is crucial to stopping them. The signs are that Keane is developing a serious unit – but 2019 could be a year too soon for them.