Scoreline flattered Kerry
Expert analysis from All-Ireland winner Sean O’Sullivan
IT might seem very simplistic to say after a twelve-point defeat, but once more it proves that if you make mistakes, lack concentration and retreat back against this Dublin side then they will punish you time and time again.
Mistakes will happen in every game – more so when you play a team who are so on top of their game right now it’s frightening – but it’s how you react to those errors that’s important.
On Sunday Kerry didn’t react and it was a tough lesson that Dublin dished out. Our younger players will have left the Croke Park turf in no doubt that this is what senior inter-county football is all about and that’s no bad thing.
The more experienced guys will have that all too familiar feeling of another defeat to Jim Gavin’s men. The management will be wondering how do they try to close the gap between now and the summer.
Dublin are simply ruthless and are experts in targeting particular periods of the game where they really turn up the heat on their opposition. The second and third quarters are where they consistently seem to be able to move up through the gears and open up unmatchable leads.
They did so again on Sunday and even though Kerry were within touching distance at halftime it was ominous the way in which Dublin had finished the half.
Indeed, Kerry brought great intent from the word go which was great to see. They attacked the Dublin rearguard and our inside line looked dangerous. Early points from David Clifford, Paul Geaney and Kevin McCarthy gave us a good foothold in the game, which is what I’m sure the management had focused on all week.
Dublin never panic though, and through the excellent Ciarán Kilkenny, who gave Paul Murphy torrid time all afternoon, they kept the scoreboard ticking over as they began to find their feet.
A critical moment came through Paul Geaney’s goal effort hitting the post. It would have been a huge score for us and at the time given Kerry a four-point lead. Against Dublin those are the chances that have to be taken.
They don’t come around too often and just can’t go a begging. What happened next? Dublin run the full length of the pitch and Niall Scully palms the ball to our net. All of a sudden without having dominated they are ahead and they thrive on the shift in momentum.
They never let the lead go and after half-time it was game over. Kerry can point to losing Geaney and Seán O’Shea through injury at the break and there is no doubt they were badly missed. But we just never got going on the resumption and conceded 1-2 early, which was really disappointing.
It was vital to try and contain Dublin in that third quarter. Stay in the game as long as possible, but we found it hard to match them during that period and the fact that we nearly went 30 minutes without a score is alarming.
It was a tough day out for a lot of our younger players, but they will learn from it without a doubt. Most of them are used to winning at Croke Park, but they got a huge reality check this time round. All the players will lick their wounds this week and be ready for two must win games coming up.
Let’s be honest the score line ended up flattering Kerry. Dublin all too often hit us for goal chances and on another day the margin could and probably should have been a lot more.
Kerry are still, of course, missing players who are due to return over the next few weeks but then again so are Dublin. The simple fact of the matter is, and Eamonn alluded to this in his post-match comments, we are a long way from getting anywhere near Dublin right now. But what team is? Mayo? Possibly but after that it’s slim pickings.
The negative vibes will start bouncing around the county now as they do when Kerry suffer a humbling defeat like Sunday, but we have to take off our green and gold-tinted glasses and take stock.
Right now we are playing catch up. The problem is we are trying to catch one of the greatest football teams this country has ever produced. How we close the gap is a difficult question to answer but our more immediate concern is not Dublin or their continued dominance but can we get the wins to keep us in the top tier?
It’s only by playing teams like Dublin and Mayo, season in, season out that will help us get to where we want to be. Going down to Division 2 would not be ideal.
To stop that happening we need to bounce back on Saturday evening in Tralee against Kildare. It will be interesting to see if the management decide to spring some of the more experienced players to pick up two valuable points.
There will be concerns over the injuries we picked up against Dublin, especially with a six-day turnaround. It’s vital that we go with as close to our strongest fifteen available and if we can up our performance levels then we should have too much for a Kildare side that is all but relegated.
That Dublin game for now has to be parked and staying in Division 1 is the priority.
Right now we are playing catch up. The problem is we are trying to catch one of the greatest football teams this country has ever produced.