Not so super Kerry left on back foot after dismal display against Galway

THERE were shades of the 2008 All-Ireland quarter-final meeting when the deluge fell and the floodlights had to come on, but this Super 8 game was as far removed from that classic encounter a decade ago as it could be. Ten years ago Kerry emerged winners over Galway after a brilliant game of football in a downpour but last Sunday the result was reversed handing the Connacht county a first Championship win over the Kingdom since 1965 – leaving Kevin Walsh and his players men singing in the rain while Eamonn Fitzmaurice and the Kerry team left Croke Park clinging to a life-raft with their Championship lives in danger of going under.

The structure of the new Super 8s format means Kerry are not gone from the Championship after losing a All-Ireland quarter-final – just the county’s third such loss since 2001 – as they would have been in previous years, and a win next Sunday against Monaghan in Clones will get the Munster champions back on track, but the devil is in the detail and it isn’t kind to Kerry.

A three-point loss to a decent and improved Galway team doesn’t appear the worst result ever, but consider that David Clifford filched a late, late goal to half a six-point margin on the brink of full-time, and consider how truly awful Kerry performed throughout this game and the vista ahead of Clones remains as dark and ominous as the sky over Croke Park last Sunday evening.

Kerry have nearly always had a knack of successfully negotiating these All-Ireland quarter-finals, even when arriving under-cooked from the Munster Championship, but this time there was no saving them. Five years ago Fitzmaurice levelled the charge of a “complete malfunction” against his team as they stuttered to an unimpressive six-point win over Cavan in the All-Ireland quarter-final, and this performance was that and more. Only David Clifford, and to a lesser extent Jason Foley, David Moran and Paul Geaney, emerged with any sort of credit for their performances and that sort of return is never going to win a game of this magnitude. It’s also perhaps further damning of Kerry that it couldn’t be said of Galway that they played a brilliant game either – difficult conditions aside. But Galway were the better team in all of the key areas: kickouts, winning primary possession, tackle count, turnovers, breaking ball and, of course, on the scoreboard at the end.

With possibly less than half of the 30,740 official attendance actually in the venue for this game the atmosphere at the start and throughout was funereal, not helped by the woeful standard meted out by both teams. Galway were bad and Kerry were worse, but there was never more than a point between the teams until the 57th minute when Galway edged two in front.

It didn’t look that it would be Galway’s day when they lost midfielder Paul Conroy to a double leg break in the 20th minute after an accidental collision with Seán O’Shea, but his replacement, Peter Cooke thundered into the game alongside Thomas Flynn, who enjoyed the better of the exchanges over Moran and Jack Barry.

Conroy’s is a major loss Walsh’s team will have to absorb ahead of their trip to Newbridge to play Kildare next Sunday, but they will head there full of momentum and confidence off the back of this win, which was sealed with Patrick Sweeney’s goal in second half additional time to make sure of the victory. It meant Clifford’s even later goal was merely a consolation score, and a small one at that for a well beaten Kerry.

They first quarter was terrible with Conroy’s 17th minute point making it 0-3 to 0-2 in Galway’s favour before he suffered his injury, which led to a six-minute stoppage. Clifford levelled the score in the 31st minute, goalkeeper Shane Murphy converted a ‘45’ to put Kerry ahead, before Damien Comer and Geaney traded points to make it 0-5 to 0-4 to Kerry. Shane Walsh converted a Galway free and then Ian Burke’s point gave Galway a 0-6 to 0-5 a half time lead.

Geaney restored parity soon after the restart, but Kerry could never get the lead – or discover any rhythm, cohesion, menace or energy in a performance that was the antithesis of what they had produced in the Munster Championship. Whether they underestimated Galway – which they shouldn’t given Galway League record and their path through Connacht – or simply and collectively miss-fired in a way Fitzmaurice couldn’t explain afterwards, or not, the Tribesmen were always equal to, and often better to whatever Kerry could throw at them, which wasn’t much by way of good movement, slick passing or anything to really question and test Walsh’s game plan and his team’s structure or resolve.

Indeed, but for a raft of poor shooting and missed scoring opportunities Galway would have been out of sight long before the endgame arrived. It was eight points apiece after 50 minute before Walsh and then Declan Kyne put Galway those two points ahead.

Kerry’s task was made a whole lot harder after Killian Young was shown a red card in the 60th minute for a punch on his marker, after the Renard club man was a late starting replacement for the injured Tadhg Morley.

Clifford – who else? – halved the deficit but Galway substitute Adrian Varley conjured two great points and then Shane Walsh’s free put Galway 0-13 to 0-9 ahead after 70 minutes. Galway lost Eoghan Kerin to a second yellow card but it was his team that utilised the extra space when they counter-attacked brilliantly to create Sweeney’s goal, and a late Clifford goal and point did little except to make the scoreboard a little kinder to Kerry.

Those few scores might be significant if matters in Group 1 come down to scoring difference but for that to happen Kerry almost have to beat Monaghan next Sunday, and will definitely have to if Galway have beaten Kildare earlier in the day. A not so super Super 8 debut is set to get a whole more interesting.

KERRY: Shane Murphy (0-1 ‘45), Jason Foley, Peter Crowley, Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Paul Murphy, Killian Young, Gavin White, David Moran, Jack Barry, Kevin McCarthy (0-1), Seán O’Shea, Stephen O’Brien (0-1), David Clifford (1-5, 1f), Paul Geaney (0-2), James O’Donoghue Subs: Tom O’Sullivan for B Ó Beaglaoich, half-time, Anthony Maher for J Barry, 46, Micheál Burns for J O’Donoghue, 51, Mark Griffin for J Foley (inj), 64, Barry John Keane for K McCarthy, 64, Donnchadh Walsh for S O’Shea, 64

GALWAY: Ruairí Lavelle, Declan Kyne (01), Seán Andy Ó Ceallaigh, Eoghan Kerin, Cathal Sweeney, Gareth Bradshaw, Johnny Heaney, Paul Conroy (0-1), Thomas Flynn, Éamonn Brannigan, Michael Daly, Seán Kelly (0-1), Ian Burke (0-2), Damien Comer (0-1), Shane Walsh (0-5, 4f) Subs: Peter Cooke for P Conroy (inj), 22, Adrian Varley (0-2) for M Daly, 54, Gary O’Donnell for G Bradshaw, 63, Patrick Sweeney (1-0) for D Comer, 64, Frankie Burke for I Burke, 75 Black Card: Johnny Duane for T Flynn, 73

REFEREE: Barry Cassidy (Derry)