Quill’s frustrations show where Kerry are setting their standards
FOUR games won out of four and a tricky home game against a decent Tyrone side negotiated successfully. Joint Kerry manager Declan Quill would have to be happy you would think, but there was a distinct level of frustration in his voice after the game as he reflected on the win.
“We started very well. We had 1-6 on the board, played some very good football, which was our plan. Tyrone had to make the long journey down, we were at home, and we had to make use of that. We fell asleep before half time and we let them back into the game. We weren’t clinical enough in front of goal and you know Tyrone are a very good team and when you leave a team back into it, it’s going to be a hard day’s work. We weren’t at our best today but we ground it out and, like I said to the girls, there are days when you have to win ugly and that’s what we did today.”
Tyrone came to within four points of Kerry after Grainne Rafferty slotted a penalty home for them in the 54th minute. Quill felt that the substitutes that they brought on helped stem the tide though, and he wasn’t unduly worried that Kerry were in danger of losing the game.
“It was worrying but I didn’t think that we were in danger of losing the game either. We had girls to bring on and the girls that we did bring on played very well. The fresh legs made a big difference. Like I said last week after the Armagh game we are learning all the time and today we learned that the girls are able to dig in and eke out a win when it’s required.”
Kerry’s Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh contributed 1-10 to her side’s cause last Sunday and had a brilliant game overall. Joint manager Darragh Long said that he wasn’t worried about the low spread of scorers in the forward line though, and that it didn’t matter where the scores came from.
“I know that Louise scored nine points from frees but she was probably fouled for seven of them. She took her girl on every time that she got the ball. We had looked at a video of Tyrone during the week and we had identified a few bits and that’s what we asked them to do.
“If they won their primary ball today, which they did, I mean Andrea (Murphy) won some horrible ball in there. We asked them to take them on and as a pair of management here, whether it’s a free or from play we’ll take it once the scoreboard is ticking over. It would be more a worry for us if we weren’t in the positions to either be fouled or to get a score from play.”
At times on Sunday Kerry played football right out of the top drawer, full of pace and verve. Long reflected that whilst their performance on Sunday wasn’t perfect, there was signs of improvement that they will carry with them into the next round (Monaghan at home on March 8).
“Would we have taken 12 points out of 12 when we came into the job? We would have bitten your hand off for it. What’s most pleasing is that the girls have gone up a level every week. We are never going to be perfect but every week we have identified something by looking at the video and the girls have taken our messages on board and then gone on and performed like we have asked them to. It’s hugely encouraging.”