The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
It’s now or never for Kenmare District as Rathmore present a clear danger
BOTH these teams have had plenty to contemplate over the past twelve months.
Both of them will have felt – with a fair degree of justification – that they let a place in last year’s county final slip. Kenmare District were but a long-range Bryan Sheehan point away and, with about fifteen minutes to go in their semi-final, Rathmore seemed to have the measure of Legion.
A brilliant point by Aidan O’Mahony looked to have broken Legion’s resistance. Paul Murphy, meanwhile, had the measure of James O’Donoghue. It was a classic contest between those two inter-county colleagues.
Overall, no question, Murphy won it. The trouble was with a player like O’Donoghue you have to be on your guard all the time and he just has to get lucky once. Just once in the game did O’Donoghue really break free of Murphy’s shackles and then, in concert with Billy McGuire, he set up Conor Keane for a brilliant goal.
Games and championships are decided on such moments. Earlier in the game Eoin Lawlor had a goal-chance saved (expertly by Brian Kelly) that would have swung the tie decisively in Rathmore’s direction.
All of which is to say that Rathmore – and Kenmare District – have proven credentials and points to prove. They’re both worthy of a place in the showpiece, they’re both worthy of real consideration as potential county champions.
That’s what makes this such a fascinating contest. Everybody loves a breakthrough, everybody loves it when a new team coheres and bubbles up and challenges the status quo. On Sunday we’ll have two of those teams going head-to-head.
Kenmare District are probably a lot of people’s favourites for both this game and, even as outside fancies, the title at this juncture. It’s easy to see why. They’ve got such a vast array of exciting footballers are their disposal and, no, we don’t just mean marquee forwards, although of course they do have those.
Tadhg Morley leads a defence bristling with potential. Adrian Spillane leads the line around the middle. There’s more depth to this Kenmare team than people might immediately think.
There’s a natural bias towards thinking about the quality of attacker a team can field, but for every Seán O’Shea Kenmare have a Gavin Crowley, for every Paul O’Connor they have a Dara Crowley.
The only real worry people had about Kenmare District ahead of their game with Austin Stacks was the potential impact the intermediate semi-finals – and forthcoming final – would have on them and their preparations.
Now that they’ve won that game and escaped the fate of all other divisional teams they’re in a seriously good place to challenge for the title. They’re only going to get better week on week.
The question becomes whether Rathmore have football enough to measure up. Our suspicion would be that on the basis of pure football and outright talent Kenmare District have the edge.
That, of course, is not to say that Rathmore lack for talent. Denis Moynihan’s men are accomplished in all areas of the field. If they weren’t they wouldn’t have been able to strike back at Mid Kerry in the manner in which they did.
Defensively Rathmore are probably better placed to handle Kenmare District than Austin Stacks were. Paul Murphy, Aidan O’Mahony, James O’Sullivan. The issue for them becomes one of resource allocation.
Last year Rathmore were a better team in attack when Paul Murphy played up front. Against Legion, however, they had no choice but to employ him defensively. With the array of talent Kenmare possess Moynihan and co will probably be forced into making a similar compromise.
That said Rathmore aren’t short of options up front. Shane Ryan came in at half-time last weekend and scored a decisive 1-2. He won’t start on the bench this Sunday we’d imagine.
Rathmore have this unbelievable spirit as they showed on the weekend and that could be enough to push them over the line this time around. On the other hand Kenmare District have what Dr Martin Luther King called the fierce urgency of now.
This time next year Kenmare District will not be in a position to challenge for a county title as they are guaranteed to lose one of their two most important clubs to the senior championship – Kenmare and Templenoe face off in the intermediate final the week after the senior final.
Really it’s a case of now or never for John Galvin and co. That’s a powerful motivation for any team.
Verdict: Kenmare District