The eleven-year waiting game is finally over
The Kerryman’s chief sports reporter in Croke Park that unforgettable September Sunday in 1997 was EAMON HORAN. This is the full report he filed for the following edition of the newspaper
Anew era has dawned for Kerry football following the Kingdom’s memorable triumph over Mayo in Sunday’s tremendously exciting, if not classic, Bank of Ireland senior football championship final at Croke Park.
It was a wonderful triumph for the team as a whole, but when all is said and done it will be remembered as the day when a marvel named Maurice Fitzgerald tuned in the performance of a lifetime and, in doing so, shattered Mayo’s buoyant hopes of success.
For if any one player turned the screws on John Maughan’s men it was the dynamic Cahersiveen man who demonstrated his silken skills in full view of an attendance of 65,601 and watched by a huge audience on television around the world.
The long months of assiduous preparations and planning by team manager Páidí Ó Sé and his fellow mentors paid rich dividends on the day when the Ventry man settled an outstanding score with his opposite number, John Maughan. And, in so doing, Ó Sé and his stout-hearted team of warriors heralded the beginning of what promises to be another glorious chapter in Kerry’s football story.
In hindsight, may thing will be said about this clash of two finely-tuned teams. They’ll tell you that Kerry won a game of football that will no be remember among the great games. They’ll tell you also that Mayo were largely the authors of their own downfall, with countless missed scoring chances by the men of the West.
But, when all the post mortems and the stories of what might have been are consigned to the limbo of lost causes, the salient fact remains that Kerry are back as All Ireland champions after a lapse of 11 years and that they are very worthy champions.
The scenes of unbridled joy and jubilation which marked the after-match celebrations, as the new Sam Maguire Cup was presented to team captain Liam Hassett, will live long in the memory. A new generation of Kerry supporters was there to exult in this magnificent triumph and they cheered their heroes to the high heavens.
The game was all about power, passion and self-belief and, when the dust had settled on the field of battle, Kerry had left no doubt in anyone’s mind that they possessed these attributes in abundance.
They took control from the very outset and after just ten minutes they led by 0-3 to nil. The fierce sense of commitment that Páidí Ó Sé had been instilling in his men all across the long summer surfaced in every sector of the field as the men in the green and gold jerseys foraged and fought for every ball as if their very lives depended on it.
Mayo, by comparison, were tentative and uncertain of themselves and this showed itself in their abysmal finish to some very promising movements all through the opening half.
Once Fitzgerald kicked his first point from a free after ten minutes, the free-striding South Kerry man swung into top gear and his unerring boot was to wreak havoc on the hapless Mayo side.
The first signs of uncertainty in the Mayo camp were revealed very early in the game when left corner-back Dermot Flanagan limped off with a hamstring injury and the Connacht champions were forced to restructure their team format with, as it transpired, rather disastrous consequences.
They moved Fergal Costello from right wing-back to the left corner, David Heaney from midfield to right half-back, Colm McMenamon from the 40 to midfield, with James Horan being brought to the 40.
The fact that Mayo didn’t have an automatic direct replacement for Flanagan is surely an indictment of the Westerners management. Such inter-changing of positions can hardly have benefited the team as a whole.
Against Offaly in the semi-final, Mayo had been guilty of some terrible finishing – they had 17 wides against the Leinster title holders – and the malaise continued to afflict them on Sunday.
The losers shot seven sides in the opening 35 minutes and most of them were from very scoreable positions indeed. David Nestor had an early wide, John Casey and Ciarán McDonald followed with others and then came a dreadful wide from a close-in free by the wayward McDonald in the 13th minute.
Mayo had 13 wides in all to Kerry’s total of nine, even of these coming in the second half.
The fact that the pony-tailed McDonald assumed his free-taking duties from Maurice Sheridan seemed to indicate some indecision in the Mayo camp. The pressure had obviously got to Mayo from early on in the game and it was their third All Ireland final appearance in two years.
There was a maturity and assurance about the Kerry men’ play which suggested that they were in the least bit over-awed by the occasion.
Kerry suffered a severe blow in the 17th minute when Billy O’Shea was seriously injured in an accidental collision with Fitzgerald; the Laune Rangers man was stretchered from the field with what transpired to be a fractured leg.
John Crowley came in to the attack in stead of O’Shea.
All through the first half, Kerry kept carrying the game to their opponents. Darragh Ó Sé was masterly at midfield and was very ably supported by William Kirby. Added to this, there was a powerful back-up from the half-back line of Seamus Moynihan, Liam Flaherty and Denis O’Dwyer.
It was this line which acted as a rampart in defence while also serving as the springboard for numerous incisive attacks. Moynihan was once again the essence of coolness and assurance as he cut off threatening forays by the Mayo men.
Substitute James Horan was moved to the 40 and the Ballintubber man was to play a major part in Mayo’s tremendous second half recover.
Twenty-two minutes into the first half, Fitzgerald stepped up to take a left-footed free on the
right touchline and he steered the ball straight between the posts for one of the finest scores ever seen in an All Ireland final. It was a touch of the master, the kind of brilliance that real genius is born of and the Kerr supporters sang their approval.
Mayo eventually got off the ground when Sheridan pointed a long-range free (0-4 to 0-1) after 23 minutes. By half-time, Mayo had added two further points to their tally, but Kerry were moving well within themselves and led by 0-8 to 0-3 at the interval.
Kerry had won the toss and Liam Hassett opted to play against the breeze. Some folk might have questioned the decision, but, as events proved, the Laune Rangers man chose the correct option as the wind rose in the second half.
Another player to produce a top-drawer performance on the day was Pa Laide. The Austin Stacks man caused Noel Connelly, the Mayo captain, many anxious moments as he weaved and jinked his way goal-ward.
Laided showed what an opportunist he can be when he took a return pass from Hassett near the end of the first half, ghosted his way past an opponent and then coolly punched the ball over the bar.
The losers were boosted by a point from a free by McDonald two minutes into the second half. But Kerry were soon back on the offensive as they tried to penetrate the heart of the Mayo defence.
There were a few occasions when it seemed as if they would do just that, but goalkeeper Peter Burke made some magnificent saves and Mayo were allowed stay in the game.
On one occasion, Laide found Denis O’Dwyer with a lovely ball, but the goalkeeper got there to foil the Waterville man of a possible goal. Kerry led 0-8 to 0-4 at that stage.
Then, after Kerry had stretched their lead to six points (0-10 to 0-4), they launched another offensive eight minutes into the second half: Kirby laid on a great ball for substitute John Crowley, but his rasping drive was superbly saved by Burke and Mayo were still hanging in there.
Then, in the final quarter, with Kerry leading by 0-12 to 0-7, Laide again found Dwyer, but once again Burke effected a great save to stop the Kerry men in their tracks. When Kirby put Crowley through for a point after 44 minutes, Kerry led by 0-11 to 0-4 and it looked then as if Mayo’s cause was a pretty hopeless one.
But, in less than a seven-minute spell, the game took a dramatic turning as Mayo suddenly shook off the lethargy which had been enveloping them all afternoon and got stuck into the game in earnest.
Liam McHale – now moved outfield from full-forward – and James Horan combined to put McMenamon through for a point in the 45th minute and that marked the start of a great Mayo revival.
Suddenly the Westerners warmed to their task and with men like James Nallen, Pat Fallow, James Horan, Colm McMenamon and Liam McHale turning on the style, Mayo laid siege to their opponents’ goal, to the incessant cheering of their vibrant supporters.
Then, in the 50th minute, referee sent shock-waves through the Kerry fans when he deemed full-back Barry O’Shea had fouled substitute Diarmuid Byrne on the fringe of the parallelogram and awarded Mayo a penalty.
McDonald atoned for his earlier lapses by cracking a great left-footed shot into the right corner of the net and the stadium was awash with green and red favours. Mayo were now playing like men inspired and a brace of points by Horan saw Kerry’s lead cut to a solitary point as the game neared the end of the third quarter.
The final quarter was contested in an atmosphere of electrifying excitement and high drama as both teams battled for the game’s biggest prize. Kerry tried to hit back, but Dara Ó Cinnéide, Fitzgerald and Liam Hassett were wide in turn from scoreable positions. Fitzgerald eased the pressure somewhat when he pointed a free in the 59th minute, after he had been fouled by Pat Holmes. But the air was still fraught with danger as Mayo went looking for the goal that would open the door to long sought-after success.
Dwyer got in on a Fitzgerald pass, but kicked the ball wide, while at the other end Nall plied Horan with a great through ball, but the substitute sent the ball wide on the right. Michael Francis Russell replaced a blow form Dara Ó Cinnéide.
With the game in the 64th minute, Flaherty fouled McMenamon; McDonald stepped up to take the close-in free, but, to the astonishment of everybody, he sent the ball in low and it was saved by Stephen Stack.
Mayo came hunted yet again and, in a goalmouth melee, Byrne’s low shot went narrowly wide. In another attack, substitute PJ Loftus sent the ball wide from in front of the posts. The pressure was still on, however, and when Fallon was fouled Mayo had a chance but McDonald sent the close-in free hopelessly wide.
Fittingly, it was left to the impeccable Fitzgerald to put the finishing touch to this, Kerry’s 31st All Ireland title triumph: he took a free from his hands in front of the New Stand and, from over 60 yards out, he sent the ball sailing between the posts for another score that will be recalled whenever All Ireland finals are being talked about in the future.
Kerry were back as All-Ireland champions, pride in the county has been restored and Páidí Ó Sé had joined an illustrious band of winning All Ireland trainers.
Kerry’s full-back line of Killian Burns, Barry O’Shea and Stephen Stack contributed handsomely to this historic success and answered their critics in no uncertain manner. They stuck to their opponents like limpets and never allowed them the latitude they would have wished for.
Goalkeeper Declan O’Keeffe was always in control of the situation and could not to be faulted for the blistering penalty shot which beat him. Pa Laide and Denis O’Dwyer played like trojans in attack, even if Liam Hassett’s and Dara Ó Cinnéide’s respective performances fell below expectations on the day.
John Crowley did his part when he came on, while Michael Francis Russell was not on long enough to make a really serious impact. Apart from those already mentioned, Mayo had other notable performers in Kenneth Mortimer, Pat Holmes, Noel Connelly and David Heaney.
Kerry were back as All-Ireland champions, pride in the county had been restored and Páidí Ó Sé had joined an illustrious band of winning All Ireland trainers