Fitzmaurice remains phlegmatic ahead of season defining endgame in Kerry and Galway

SUNDAY evening, July 14, Eamonn Fitzmaurice wouldn’t have much of a mind for a weekend break in Spiddal or Clifden, but if Galway can do what many expect of them and beat Monaghan, the Connacht county could well become a favourite destination of the Kerry manager. No one is more acutely aware than Fitzmaurice that his Kerry team has painted themselves into a corner with respect to the Super 8s and it’s Galway - not Kerry - who can extricate them without getting paint on their boots.

Control the controllables is a sporting mantra that you figure Fitzmaurice is fond of. He’s always been a pragmatic man and manager and he knows what Saturday holds. Beating Kildare is only part of the predicament he and his players face at the weekend, and the only part they have any control over. Events in Salthill are beyond his control and will play themselves out in a sort of parallel universe on Sky Sports, with technology relaying the happenings in Pearse Stadium back to Fitzgerald Stadium. Doubtless there will be updates related to Kerry management, but to what end no one will be sure until the final whistles at both venues.

“That’s the situation we’ve put ourselves in. I’m delighted that we’re still there and can still fight for an All-Ireland semi-final. The thought of a dead-rubber game in Killarney wouldn’t have been very nice so we’re still fighting for that All-Ireland semi-final spot. To get there we’ve to win in Killarney. Obviously we need things to go our way in Salthill but that’s completely out of our control so we just have to let that play itself out and we’ve to make sure we win our game in Killarney and take it from there,” Fitzmaurice said with neither defiance nor defeatism.

There is the matter of Kerry needing to overturn a five-point worse scoring difference than Monaghan but it’s not something that is occupying the manager’s thoughts this week. The mathematics of the situation will only become apparent as both games draw to a conclusion, with Fitzmaurice admitting that matters in Galway will, if necessary, dictate what Kerry might or might not have to do in the endgame in Killarney viz-áviz looking for an extra score or two to make up the difference.

“[Chasing the score difference] doesn’t change the dynamic. If you start thinking about things like that you take your eye off the ball. We’ve to make sure we win the game. Of course if you’re in the position where you can win by a few points you want to push on and do that. We were in a similar position last year facing into our last League game against Tyrone and outside of the group there didn’t seem to be any awareness really that there was a massive chance that we could get into the League Final. We knew within the group ourselves that if we won and other results that were probably going to go a certain way we could get into the League Final. And again it was going to come down to scoring difference and we did need to win by x amount of points, but we didn’t think about that. Our thing was go out, play well and win and see where that takes us. We had a good win in the game in Killarney and it got us into the League Final after.

“If some says we need a goal or whatever...I think we’ll have someone keeping an eye on [Galway game] but I think for myself and the players in particular it’s about going out and win the game, and if a situation like that materialises late on then you can get in the word. We’ve enough to be doing to get back to the way we were before the Munster Final and play with that kind of work-rate and accuracy.”

If that’s an admission that the work-rate and accuracy have been missing since the Munster Final the obvious question is why?

“That’s the million dollar question really. We haven’t just quite clicked,” he says. “We’re not far away. I think we came (on) a good bit above in Clones, still didn’t play as well as we can play. I would hope that we’d play better again in Killarney on Saturday.

“It’s hard to explain to be honest. I don’t have the answer to why we didn’t show up for the All-Ireland quarter-final game against Galway. I think we reacted well last week for Monaghan and especially bearing in mind that we came off such a poor performance it can be hard to go from that to playing the way we played, let’s say, in the Munster Final.

“Everyone really is doing everything that’s been asked of them, everyone is working very hard, and I do think we’re very close so we just have to keep going. In sport you’re going to get these situations and you just have to be resilient, you have to dig in, you have to trust your ability, as an individual you have to trust your ability and keep trying to do the simple things well.

“From our point of view in the management we trust the lads as well, and we got a big reaction (against Monaghan) in terms of the spirit and fight in particular that was shown at the end when it didn’t look like it was going to be our day. You just have to keep going and eventually you do turn the corner. We’ve seen it hundreds of times but we need to turn the corner and I just hope it’s going to happen against Kildare.”

They say it’s the hope that kills you but hope is as much as Kerry have now - hope that Galway can do them a favour.

The mood in the county has swung way and the other since Clones with the bullish optimism in the immediate aftermath veering towards apprehension that Galway mightn’t keep up their side of the deal. Is Fitzmaurice aware of the unrest and unease among supporters at the self-inflicted situation the Kerry team finds itself in?

“No, not really. I’m sure there’s plenty of chat going on, that goes with the job. I know that. I’m sure there’s loads going on but for us we’re just keeping the head down, especially the week after the Galway game we had a good bit of regrouping to do to get ourselves organised for a tough away game the following weekend that our season was riding on so, no, not really. I’m sure there’s plenty there but a couple of wins always sorts that out.

“The Tyrone game in 2012, there was a huge Kerry crowd there that night and it helped the team, it drove on the team and I’d be expecting something similar,” he said, recalling the emotional Qualifier in Killarney six summers ago which the home side won 1-16 to 1-6. “The fact that there is so much at stake and it’s a new young Kerry team coming to the fore, you would expect a big support there. We’re always claiming we are a football-mad county (so) you’d like to see everyone come and show that.”

On Saturday’s opponent, Kildare - who cannot reach the All-Ireland semi-finals - Fitzmaurice feels they have been unlucky in the Super 8s to date, and is expecting a huge challenge from them.

“They’re playing for pride and they’ll probably be playing with a bit of freedom and abandon that they’ve nothing to lose as such. I know (manager) Cian (O’Neill) and he’s a competitive man, he’s going to want to win the game as well. We’re expecting a huge challenge from them.”

Fitzmaurice also explained his decision to re-introduce Paul Geaney in the final few minutes in the drawn game against Monaghan, having take the Dingle man off early in the second half.

“It was to get a goal. We needed a goal and he is one of our best goalscorers. We ended up with Paul, James (O’Donoghue), David Clifford, Kieran (Donaghy), all fellas who are capable of getting goals. That’s all it was.”

As much as he would like one and all of those players to raise a green flag on Saturday evening the player or players Fitzmaurice and all of Kerry want to be hitting the net on Saturday are called Comer and Walsh and Burke.

It’s the only way Kerry won’t be left marooned.