‘I was haunted by Offaly final,’ says Deenihan
FORMER Kerry captain Jimmy Deenihan was haunted by the feeling Kerry could have won five in a row in the 1980s – if he had not broken his leg.
He admitted not being able to play in the legendary 1982 All-Ireland final – when he would have been marking Offaly scorer Séamus Darby – was something that affected him “for a few months”.
“I’m constantly being reminded that if I was playing we would have won,” he said.
“After losing the All Ireland it affected me for a few months at the time. It affected all of the Kerry team. Personally, because I wasn’t playing, I felt that maybe, if I had been playing, we may have won.
“The way it happened that day is that Offaly got the scores at the vital stage and we didn’t have time to recover,” he added.
The former Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Minister, who retired from politics in the last election, has since adopted a philosophical attitude.
“They were crucial in stopping us getting five in a row which really became one of the most immortalised things of all time in Irish sport,” he said.
Asked what he thinks of Dublin’s chances to go where
Kerry have so far failed to go in achieving the five in a row, he said: “Dublin are a superb team.”
He paid tribute to the management skills of Jim Gavin, describing him as someone who “doesn’t crave for any adulation and is very clear-thinking and centred”.
“If they win they will be the greatest team of all time because nobody else has done it,” he said.
“Wexford did four in a row, Kerry did it too. No one has done the five and so, if it happens, it will be a very special moment in all of Irish sport.
“On the other hand, if Kerry win on Sunday and manage to stop them, that Kerry team will be recognised as part of the pantheon of Kerry teams.”