O’Shea shines brighter in his second season

IN any other year Seán O’Shea’s name is the one that would be on everybody’s lips.

Instead David Clifford has stolen his thunder just a little bit. Not that the Kenmare man is too pushed about that. Winning, not plaudits, is what matters to him. Still it’s worth noting just how good this guy has been this year. Not for him the difficult second album.

Of course that’s something of a cliché in and of itself, but as ever there’s a kernel of truth to it. There are times when players struggle to replicate or even match what they did before during their second year at minor level.

O’Shea not alone matched it, he exceeded it. He works seriously hard. He challenges for and wins primary possession. He picks out colleagues in space. He kicks scores with almost as much regularity as Clifford. From placed ball he’d give a Dean Rock a run for his money.

Nobody deserved more to amble up the steps of the Hogan Stand on Sunday afternoon than he.

“It’s just unbelievable,” he enthused shortly after.

“Any day you win an All Ireland the feeling is just unbelievable. The atmosphere in there [the dressing room] is just unbelievable.

“We’ve worked so hard all year, it’s what we’ve been looking forward to since we started back at the start of the year and to finally get over the line we are just delighted with it.

“I wouldn’t say it’s better than last year. I suppose this year we probably had to work a bit more for the final today and maybe in a way it’s probably a bit sweeter, but any day you win an All Ireland is a great day. They don’t top each other.”

Kerry knew they were in a battle right from the off in this game. “Definitely,” O’Shea agreed. “The first half there was tough, but we knew what was coming down the line with Galway. We knew that they would set up defensively because the scores we’ve been putting over lately they weren’t going to roll over like that. It was a very tough day at the office, the first half I’d say it was 2-2.

“I don’t know the last time we had two points kicked in thirty minutes so thanks be to God we got the goals in the first half and that kind of drove us on at half-time and we knew then we could get the head down in the second half and more scores would come.”

The hype in Kerry ever since this team’s twenty two point demolition of Kildare was overblown. At times it felt as thought it might overwhelm everything to do with this final. The players, however, saw clearer than most. Their assessment was much more clear-eyed.

“We knew that around Kerry that people were saying the minors would walk away with this, but that was not in our head at all,” O’Shea commented.

“We knew that Galway would be our toughest challenge of the year and we’re inside in training in our own bubble, what goes on outside it we don’t really care to be honest, once the thirty lads in training are fully focussed that’s all that matters to us.

“We had worked on it in training, we knew from playing Av B with men back behind the ball, so we were expecting it, but we’re used to it and I suppose that’s a good thing coming up and we knew there was no need to panic.”