Silverware dulled by poor contests

Through no fault of Kerry’s, all but the staunchest of Kerry supporters will have felt short-changed by Sunday’s one-sided Munster finals writes Paul Brennan

IF it wasn’t for that bloody squeaking door in the press box we might have nodded off. Twice. The Minor final, through absolutely no fault of Kerry’s, turned into an interminable bore after about eight minutes, and the Senior final lasted about half that time as a contest. By the time you realised you’d have been better off at the beach or in the beer garden it was too late, unless you had the foresight to cut your losses around half time in the minor final.

We’re not exactly sure what juicy worm the early birds in the eventual 31,836 crowd expected to catch, but they hardly arrived before noon expecting an engaging or close minor final. Those who left their expectations at the turnstile weren’t disappointed. The likely reason for their early enthusiasm was the prospect of seeing David Clifford in action for the now five-in-a-row Munster minor champions. Imagine their surprise then when the Fossa teenager was somewhat upstaged by his half-forward comrade Donal O’Sullivan. Clifford kicked six first half points from play and bagged the official man of the match gong. O’Sullivan bagged two goals and seven points, 2-4 from play, although the two goals were scored in garbage time, though that could cover all of the preceding 60 minutes. Kerry manager Peter Keane tried dutifully to convince us all, himself included, that he and his team still have plenty to work on, which, of course, they have. The biggest job of work for Keane will be to dampen down expectations that a fourth consecutive All-Ireland minor title is on its way to the Kingdom in September.

Eamonn Fitzmaurice won’t be quite as busy in that particular department, but Sunday’s result in the main event proved - if further proof was needed - that the All-Ireland looks a simple two-horse race. Even in the context of how awful Cork were, there’s no denying how good Kerry were in executing all the basics of the game that are essential, while throwing in the icing that is also necessary.

Though we’ve always advocated letting players play - and that means always releasing them for club duty - there is a strong case to be made for vacuum-packing

James O’Donoghue and Paul Geaney straight away and only opening the bag the morning of Kerry’s All-Ireland quarter-final. O’Donoghue has, since his inter-county arrival, been seen as somewhat of the heir to Colm Cooper, and in the summer that the Gooch stepped off the stage it’s fitting and timely the O’Donoghue looks back to his absolute best after a couple of indifferent seasons curtailed by injury.

Geaney, too, with his injury woes well behind him, is consistently delivering on all his early promise, and where Kerry had the Twin Towers of Donaghy and Walsh almost a decade ago, they now have the Twin Terrors of Geaney and JOD.

We could gush at length about Kerry’s attitude and execution last Sunday, just as we could about Cork’s lack of both. It’s the small details that separate the good from the bad, and the great from the good. We’ve illustrated the point elsewhere on these pages but it’s worth making here.

Just before half time Cork wing back Tomas Clancy kicked a great point off the left side. The sort of score to lift a player, a team and a crowd. Moments later Cork got the out to Luke Connolly, just after the stadium announcer called two minutes of additional time. As is always the case, almost a minute of the two had elapsed when the word came through. Connolly took a pot shot at the posts, the type of Hail Mary from almost 55 metres out that if it goes over the bar, brilliant, but if not it’s a wasted possession. From the kickout Kerry patiently worked the ball upfield, picking nine passes and choosing their moment until they got the ball to Paul Geaney who converted a simple enough chance from about 30 metres.

Cork were three points behind when Connolly would up his hero kick. Be patient, work the ball to a player in a better position and convert, and Cork go to the break two point down after being well outplayed in the first half. Kerry are scratching their heads at half time. At worst, kill the ball on the whistle and go in three down. Instead, Connolly’s inexperience gifted Kerry a four-point lead at the interval, a better reflection of their early dominance.

Like the best basketball teams, Kerry get the ball to their best shooters in the best positions. Kevin McCarthy, we guess, knows he has limitations in terms of kicking points, but the Kilcummin man played a smart game on Sunday. He won his ball, broke his tackle and found the guy better placed and able to take the score.

In the end Kerry players all the way back to Shane Enright were kicking scores for fun, but when the game is in the mixer it’s the snipers who do the shooting.

There was an awful lot wrong with Cork last Sunday and an awful lot right about Kerry’s performance. But it’s all about the next game now. Cork could conceivably run into Mayo or Donegal next, and it’s hard to see them beat either of two based on their current form.

Kerry, funny enough, could also meet either of those two counties, and that would present the type of All-Ireland quarter-final test they haven’t experienced since 2012. Donegal beat them in that fixture.

A Mayo team with the momentum of a Qualifier run would be a dangerous prospect, but we keep hearing that they are the games players train for and want to play in.

If Munster totally underwhelmed us, at least the fireworks mightn’t be too far way.