A stroll in the Park for minors against Banner
Kerry 0-14 Clare 0-3
NOT a contest to write home about.
If we’re being brutally honest here it wasn’t much of a contest at all. Clare were poor, very poor. Kerry were better, much better. Enough to give you confidence about their prospects in this year’s championship?
Not particularly. If only because the challenge Clare posed was hardly worth the name. The Kerry defence, led by the excellent Jason Foley at full-back, did well in those rare moments of pressure applied by the Banner. That was encouraging for sure, there just wasn’t nearly enough evidence to tell you anything for certain.
That was the trouble with this game and that is the trouble with trying to analyse it. When they were good Kerry were very good. When they were good they looked a real team with real prospects.
That’s how it appeared in the first half when they hammered the visitors to Austin Stack Park ten points to one. Mark O’Connor and, in particular, John Mark Foley did well around the middle of the park.
Brian Ó Seanacháin and Bryan Sweeney won some great breaking ball and, in the inside line, all three had some fine moments. Conor Geaney demonstrated some real potential, while last year’s panellist Stephen O’Sullivan showed guile and an instinct to be in the right place at the right time.
All good, all encouraging, all with the health warning attached that this was achieved against a rather poor Clare side. That’s what makes what happened in the second half so difficult to comprehend or accept.
Kerry came out for the start of the second half and immediately seemed to be a little off their game as compared to the first half. They were a touch lackadaisical in their approach, kicking a number of wides before finally getting off the mark in the second half ten minutes into proceedings through wing-back Gavin White.
“Ah sure we mixed the good and the bad I suppose,” was Jack O’Connor’s impression of his side’s performance.
“We were decent in the first half, we had a good lead at half-time, ten points to one I think it was. In the second half we were playing against a tricky wind and a tricky sun, so we wouldn’t be overly happy with the second half now, but we still won the second half four two so, look, it was a big night for a lot of lads.
“It was the first time ten or twelve of them wore the Kerry jersey so they were bound to be a bit nervous and hopefully now they’ll settle a bit more and pick a few easier scores now the next night.”
The Dromid man was, nevertheless, impressed with how his defence played.
“We feel we’ve a very honest bunch. They’re very hard-working and I was delighted with the backs, they got good protection from the lads out the field and we put a lot of pressure on the ball going in.
“You can’t fault the fact we only conceded three points, but obviously more work to do up front, because we’re facing Cork and Cork certainly have a lot of ammunition up front. They have something like four or five of the forwards that we played in Pairc Uí Chaoimh last year and they gave us bother up there.
“I just said that to the lads, we don’t want this season to end. I think this team can improve a lot if we can keep playing into July and August, but unfortunately the way the draw has panned out it’s a poisoned chalice in a way because Cork are always decent at this level and I know for a fact they’ve serious fire-power up front.”
The second half performance suggests there’s work to be done up there alright. The strong performance of the opening thirty minutes, however, suggests Kerry have a good base-line to build on.
“We’ve a decent structure. Bryan Sweeney gives us a great outlet on the forty, he’s a big athletic young fella and he’s a great ball winner and it starts from there. If we can get ball to him he’ll try and feed the boys inside. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
KERRY: Billy Courtney (0-1f) (Dr Crokes), Darren Brosnan (Gneeveguilla), Jason Foley (Ballydonoghue), Tom O’Sullivan (Dingle), Gavin White (0-1) (Dr Crokes), Mike Breen (Beaufort), Daniel O’Brien (Glenflesk), Mark O’Connor (0-1) (Dingle), John Mark Foley, Brian Ó Seanacháin (Ballydonoghue), Bryan Sweeney (0-1) (Listowel Emmets), Seán O’Shea (Kenmare), Stephen O’Sullivan (0-2) (Templenoe), Cormac Linnane (0-2, 1f) (Beale), Conor Geaney (0-4) (Dingle) Subs: Evan Cronin (0-1) (Spa) for C Linnane, 43, Dara O’Shea (Kenmare) for G White, 51, Graham O’Sullivan (Dromid Pearses) for T O’Sullivan, 51, Brandon Barrett (Ardfert) for S O’Shea, 53, Michael Foley (0-1) (Spa) for S O’Sullivan, 53, Ronan Buckley (Listry) for JM Foley, 56
CLARE: Killian Roche (0-1), Kieran Kileen, Niall McCarthy, Colm Pyne, Colin Hehir, Conor Downes, Pearse Lillis, Killian Burke, Sean O’Donoghue, Paraic McNamara, Cormac Murray, Conor O’Halloran, Kealan Sexton (0-2f), Alan Sweeney, Eoghan Tubridy Subs: Cillian Brennan for K Burke, half-time, Nigel Murray for P McNamara, half-time, Jack Morrissey for E Tubridy, 42, David Foran for C Pyne, 53, Rory McMahon for A Sweeney, 53
REFEREE: John Ryan (Cork)