The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Lack of firepower costs Kilmoyley dearly
Despite sterling performances in a lot of positions, Kilmoyley, outside of Daniel Collins, lacked the firepower they needed, writes Damian Stack
WHEN it had worked so effectively before you can easily imagine why there was a certain reluctance to change it.
In the semi-final in the Gaelic Grounds it proved to be the foundational tactic of a famous victory. Aidan McCabe’s puckouts down the wing towards the waiting Seán Maunsell were claimed with a fair degree of regularity.
The big number twelve won two clean catches from puckouts against Moanleen, but those figures alone don’t quite do his influence on that game justice. Against Monaleen he broke ball to colleagues, he created panic nearly every time the ball was launched in his direction.
At the weekend Lismore had it covered. Paudie Prendergast was stationed on Maunsell from the off and negated the Kilmoyley man’s influence. Prendergast claimed three clean catches on Kilmoyley puck-outs (two in the first half, one in the second) to vividly demonstrate Lismore’s aerial dominance.
Maunsell, to give him his dues, battled hard. The ploy just didn’t deliver for Kilmoyley in any meaningful way. As a tactic it was a busted flush long before the Kilmoyley management team sought to change it up.
The struggles on the puckout in the first half – Kilmoyley claimed just 27% of their own – were indicative of a wider and altogether more worrying trend for Kilmoyley. The Kerry champions just couldn’t hold up the ball in the final third of the pitch, outside of Daniel Collins that is.
Collins won four puck-outs and proved an effective outlet for his team all the way through. Collins – the game’s top performer bar none – needed some help, however. He needed his colleagues in the full-forward line to claim and to hold possession.
As it was Lismore’s full-back line of Sean Reaney, David Prendergast and Pat Hennessy gave a dominant performance, leaving the Kilmoyley inside forwards gasping for breath and struggling for time and space.
Under those circumstances Kilmoyley were always likely to be fighting an uphill battle. Even so they hurled quite magnificently at times. The defence fronted up in a major way.
Colman Savage had the measure of Dan Shanahan, Seánie Murnane gave one of his best performances of the year and Tom Murnane did a really super job on Maurice Shanahan. That Shanahan managed only two scores from play in the game – a goal and a point – is testament to Murnane’s resilience and skill.
In the engine room Paudie O’Connor and James Godley, in particular, battled hard and effectively throughout. When the half-time break rolled around and the scores were level at seven points apiece it was, just about, an accurate reflection of the game.
Of course there were warning signs then – the puck-outs, the way Jack Prendergast set up Dan Shanahan early in the game for a goal-scoring opportunity – it was a hugely encouraging thirty minutes nevertheless.
Kilmoyley looked at home at this level. Daniel Collins, meanwhile, was lording it. When he’s good this guy is very, very good. In the first half he scored all seven of Kilmoyley’s total – five from placed balls – but that too should have been a warning sign.
To win a Munster final, to win a county final or any final, you need a greater spread of scorers than just one player, no matter how good he may be. That’s what Lismore had. Even with Maurice Shanahan kept in check (to an extent), they still had another six players to step up to the mark.
Kilmoyley never did find somebody to step up to the plate to assist Collins. Younger players like Maurice O’Connor and Robert Collins were out-muscled. Luke Fitzell didn’t look 100% recovered from his injury.
All of which makes it a little strange to note that Jordan Brick had to wait until the final ten minutes of the game – by which time the jig was up being brutally honest – to get a chance to make an impact upon proceedings.
It’s important to note that Brick still has a bit to prove at senior level, it’s important to note that he can be up and down in his level of performance, but still when it was clear it wasn’t really working for the likes of Maurice O’Connor and Adrian Royle it didn’t make a whole pile of sense to leave him on the bench clicking his heels.
For every day when it doesn’t quite work for Brick – as it didn’t in the semi-final against Monaleen – there’s another day when he makes a positive contribution – he was key to the turnaround in Kilmoyley fortunes in the county championship semi-final victory over St Brendans.
There were signs he could have made an impact had he been introduced sooner – he won a puck out, only the third Kilmoyley forward outside of Collins and Adrian Royle to do so – but that’s all it was, a sign, nothing definitive.
And that’s something we should remember about this Kilmoyley team, they’re young, they’ve got players who could yet mature into the forward players their team needs them to become.
If they don’t or can’t then a breakthrough at this level has to be considered somewhat unlikely for Kilmoyley. Without firepower equal to the task, a team like Lismore is always going to prove a bridge too far for a team like Kilmoyley.
It’s all well and good saying they were a little unlucky to come up against a team of Lismore’s quality, but that’s the nature of this competition. There will always be a team who has been or could be or should be competing at a higher level. Neither Effin or Silvermines were exactly a soft touch for Ballyduff in their two visits to Munster finals.
All that said we have to give these players huge credit for the year they’ve just had. County titles in league and championship, a historic first victory in Munster competition. They’ve done themselves and their county proud. They’ll be back.
Kilmoyley looked at home at this level. Daniel Collins was lording it. When this guy is good he’s very good