BRILLIANT SPORTS PULLOUT
COUNTDOWN TO THE BIG DUBLIN V KERRY SHOWDOWN
THEY have left their mark on Gaelic football as the two greatest forwards in modern times and today in Croke Park it is quite likely that we will see them together, centre stage, for the very last time.
At 32 years of age and still at the sharpest end of the Dublin forward division, Bernard Brogan does not seem to be harbouring any thoughts of imminent retirement – but, 12 months older, and burdened by freakish injuries of late, Colm Cooper must be reckoning that his race is almost run.
If defeated by Dublin again in the All-Ireland semi-final, Cooper will have little reason to play on. A fourth Championship loss to Kerry’s greatest of enemies would make for a cruel exit but any future management in The Kingdom will surely wish to build a fresh and hungry side if such an historic defeat is suffered.
For football supporters throughout the country, therefore, this afternoon’s meeting of the reigning All-Ireland champions and Kerry, the aristocrats of the game, is a date to additionally savour.
We may never see their likes on the same football field again. We may never see Bernard Brogan and Colm Cooper shoot it out, toe to toe, ever again.
THIS afternoon has been eagerly-anticipated since the Championship draw was made last October. It’s the game we have waited for all summer.
It’s a significant afternoon for both sides. Jim Gavin’s Dublin want to complete the two-in-arow and earn a place in the history books alongside Heffo’s Heroes. It will be remarkable if they manage that feat without Rory O’Carroll and Jack McCaffrey – and having to cope without James McCarthy for a large part of the summer.
The stakes are even higher for their opponents. Lose today and they will be the only Kerry team to lose four successive Championship games in a row to Dublin. Given the 11-point mauling they received in April’s National League final, defeat is both unthinkable and unbearable from the Kingdom perspective.
On the evidence of the last couple of seasons, there will only be one outcome. Dublin have the best forward lines in the country and Kerry have defensive frailties. Experienced players such as Aidan O’Mahony and Marc Ó Sé have lost their pace and while Tadhg Morley and Brian Begley have plenty of pace, they don’t have the cuteness or physicality of the two veterans.
Paul Murphy has been moved up to the half-forward line, where he’s been very effective. But I can see him drifting back to the half-back line today. His primary role should be defensive duty. One thing that Kerry must avoid at all costs is a repeat of last September, when Colm Cooper was seen following Philly McMahon up the field.
Their forwards – the likes of Cooper, James O’Donoghue and Paul Geaney – must concentrate on what they do best, and that is scoring. So, I imagine Murphy will play a lot deeper and I wouldn’t rule out Fitzmaurice using either Ó Sé or O’Mahony, although he won’t use both.
Key to turning the tables on Dublin will be Kerry’s ability to neutralise Cian O’Sullivan. The Dublin sweeper has shown that he is human this summer and has made a couple of mistakes. He may have slipped a bit, but that’s only down from the exceptional standard he has set.
Kerry need to distract O’Sullivan, keep him busy and take him out of his comfort zone. Darran O’Sullivan is tailormade for that, given his pace and movement. But the thing is that he also possesses a threat in front of goal, so if he succeeds in dragging Cian O’Sullivan out of position, things may open up for Darran.
Kerry will also need to push up on Stephen Cluxton’s kick-outs and that will help them dominate the middle third. But they need to win the midfield battle without Kieran Donaghy being there. I think Donaghy will be much more suited to a role in the full-forward line. We saw with Andy Moran last week how a whole team can feed off a focal point in attack. Donaghy can do that for Kerry.
If he can give the attack focus, and Geaney and O’Donoghue feed off him, Kerry will have a better chance of exposing the Dublin full-back line’s weakness.
Perhaps, the main reason the stakes are so high for Kerry is that it may be the last time that we see many Kingdom legends. The likes of Gooch, Donaghy, Ó Sé and O’Mahony may all bow out if they taste defeat here today. Fitzmaurice will probably walk away, too, if Kerry lose, but he has done a remarkable job of managing the transition in the Kingdom. His greatest achievement was extending the playing careers of a number of legendary players and winning an All-Ireland in the process. If they manage to claim Sam this year, it will be an even greater achievement than 2014.
A prediction is difficult, because neither team has been rigorously tested. Dublin have played a Division 1 team in Donegal and were under pressure for periods of that second half. Ciarán Kilkenny’s outstanding performance after he was withdrawn to the half-back line swung that game and if I was Gavin, I would keep him there today, simply because they have so many options up front.
McCarthy is supposed to have played a club match last week but it would be strange to throw him into such an intense game for 70 minutes. Kilkenny is heading for Footballer of the Year in my opinion, and he can direct things from the half-back line, so leave him there. Bernard Brogan and Paddy Andrews had quiet games against Donegal and will need to be buzzing today while Diarmuid Connolly needs to keep his cool.
Weighing up this game, I can’t escape the conclusion that there has to be a serious kick left in Kerry. If the game is flowing for them, they have the top-class forwards who can turn the screw and Gavin’s decision to bring Kilkenny into defence the last day underlines that he doesn’t have the same array of options at the back as in attack.
Kerry have the talent to put pressure on this Dublin defence and that might have caused Gavin the odd waking hour of late. But there will still have to be a malfunction in the Dublin machine for The Kingdom to emerge and since Donegal ambused them in the 2014 semifinal, that has not happened on Gavin’s watch.