A minor milestone

THEY went in with an unrealistic burden of expectation.

People didn’t so much expect them to win as expected them to win pulling up. That’s what a twenty-two point win in an All Ireland semi-final will do for you. For Peter Keane and his management team it was just another thing to shield his players from.

He knew what the more gung-ho of the Kerry supporters didn’t – that this would be a serious battle, that Galway weren’t coming to Croke Park simply to make up the numbers, that they’d make it very hard for Kerry to play the way Kerry want to play the game.

Indeed, why would they or should they sit back and admire Kerry? In the first half Galway played cautiously, dropping men behind the ball, playing with just a two man inside forward line.

It made for a claustrophobic affair where scores were very much at a premium. The first half delivered just six scores, four of those for Kerry. Thankfully two of those four scores were goals and that gave the Kingdom a six point advantage at half-time – 2-2 to 0-2. The first of the two goals had a touch of luck about it. A long range effort for a point by Seán O’Shea was palmed into the back of the net by Diarmuid O’Connor. For the second goal Dara Moynihan and David Clifford combined to set up David Shaw for an expertly taken goal. To stand a chance of overhauling that Kerry advantage at the break Galway needed to switch things up. They needed to be more aggressive in their approach and so they were. Galway also neded Kerry to make a few mistakes and in the mist Kerry did make one or two. Nothing hugely significant, just enough to give Galway a glimmer of hope. With a little under ten minutes to go – and despite Kerry’s continuing strength when it came to primary possession – the Tribesmen had closed the advantage to just two points.

Kerry efforts for points were blocked down, the west was on the march. Kerry desperately needed something a little bit special to change it up, the break Galway’s resistance and, so, up stepped David Clifford.

The Fossa man took possession of the ball on the Cusack Stand side of the ground and took off, burning his man Adam Quirke, before striking off his right and burying the ball to the back of the net.

It was a remarkable piece of audacious play, the type for which he built up something of a reputation for over the course of the championship. It had the effect of ending the game as a contest, allowing Kerry a relatively comfortable seven point margin at the finish – 3-9 to 0-7.

That, however, doesn’t do justice to just how well Galway played or just how hard it was for this Kerry team and that’s what make it all the sweeter. A third All Ireland title in succession for the Kingdom, history made and a battle to make it happen.

It doesn’t get much sweeter than this.