Keane the happier as both managers rue missed chances

WITH Galway holding a three-point lead entering the five minutes of injury time at the end of Saturday night’s rip-roaring Allianz League (Division One) game at Austin Stack Park, it appeared that Padraic Joyce would be the happiest of the two managers leaving Tralee.

Yet, by the time referee Anthony Nolan blew the final whistle, and Kerry had pulled off a somewhat miraculous escape with Paul Geaney’s goal and Killian Spillane’s winning point, it was Peter Keane who was left with the smile of satisfaction for a job that was, eventually, well done.

The Kingdom bainisteoir made no effort to hide the fact that, with the Tribesmen only converting two of their six goal chances in the contest, and having that late cushion, this was a real ‘smash and grab’ from his charges.

“Yeah, you could say that. You could say that at the end. That said, we had lots of chances and we just didn’t take them. Now they had plenty of chances and they didn’t take them either,” he said.

“We were getting there but just not finishing. We had difficulty tonight because I think we were going sideways and backwards at times. But, at the end of the day, what you’re looking to do is trying to win your home games and, thankfully, we got that tonight.”

As you would expect, Joyce cut a disconsolate figure discussing his side’s late collapse as they failed to put a second successive victory together under his developing leadership. The former Galway star was very honest about where the blame should lie for the one-point defeat.

“We’re hugely disappointed. We were the better team all night but we just didn’t finish, we didn’t take our chances and we were punished in the end for it. That’s what happens when you’re playing the top teams,” he said.

“The missed goal chances were the winning of the game.

I said coming down that we’d want 20 points to beat Kerry and we got 17. I wouldn’t be happy with the performance overall. Up front, we just weren’t clinical enough. We left too much behind us. That’s probably down to some of the players not being sharp enough yet. But we definitely left, I thought, a minimum of 2-6 behind us.”

Both managers also admitted that the needless black card received by Galway wingback Cillian McDaid in the 63rd minute had a huge bearing on the eventual outcome as it left the leaders with a numerical disadvantage going down the finishing straight.

“I think the black card probably had a big bearing on it, and the timing of the black card. I suppose the five minutes extra didn’t go astray either on top of the 35,” stressed Keane.

Joyce: “A black card is always huge in the current climate. You’re playing top class players and you can’t afford to go down to fourteen men. It was a clear black card. We’re telling lads ‘if you lose the ball, get back, don’t rugby tackle a fella to the ground.’ It’s the easiest one to give.

“It has a huge effect and it’s only right. If a fella does a deliberate pull down, you have to be punished for it. That’s Cillian’s third one this year, his first in the National League, but he got two previously in the FBD League. He needs to smarten up quick on that,” warned the Galway boss.

While Kerry completed the match with an extra man on the pitch, Keane was adamant that the massive crowd of 11,117 that thronged the stadium was also a factor in the late fightback, and that there is a growing bond between team and supporters.

“I’m not only getting that from tonight. It’s something that I have noticed since we came in last year and the team got going. They have captured the minds of the county and the fanbase of the county.

“The public have come in really big behind this team. They’re a young team, they make mistakes, last year we made mistakes, this year we’ll make mistakes, and I think they’re willing us and wishing us on.”

The Kerry manager stated that the again impressive James O’Donoghue was fine after his half-time substitution, and that he wasn’t injured, while Sean O’Shea ‘had a bit of a bug’ and Tadhg Morley was omitted for precautionary reasons with ‘a touch of an injury.’ They should all be available for the weekend trip to Omagh, but Adrian Spillane and Brian O Beaglaoich will be out of action for another few weeks.

Keane praised the heroics of match-winner Killian Spillane who, despite missing an earlier opportunity, kept his nerve to slot over the final point of an absorbing and exhilarating collision. “Not a whole pile happened for him in Croke Park last weekend but we have confidence in him. There’s a lot players vying for positions up front, so it’s hard to crack in there, but he’s taking his opportunities when they come.” of