Ryan’s role shouldn’t be overlooked by history

Damian Stack looks at some of the stories making backpage news over the past seven days

ITH those big long arms of his outstretched to the heavens he plucked the ball, plucked it just in time, just as it was about to sail over the bar from the boot of Paddy Small.

When the history books come to be written Tommy Walsh, the returning hero, and Killian Spillane, the young hot-shot out to make his name on the biggest stage of all, are going to feature prominently in whatever chapter this ends up in, but here in this first draft of history we want to make it clear that none of it, absolutely none of it would have happened without Shane Ryan.

Were it not for the Rathmore man rising high in that moment and scooping up possession just over the crossbar, Dublin would have gone six points clear and halfway towards the five in-a-row.

It was the hinge point in the game, coming at the end of a period of Dublin excellence, during which the Kingdom were under considerable pressure, coughing up a number of frees with the Sky Blues seeming to have a stranglehold over possession.

Dublin withstood a really strong start to the second half by Kerry much in the same manner in which they did the first, had restored their lead to five and looked set to control the game all the way for the finish, despite being down to fourteen men.

The second Ryan clasped the ball and burst out past John Small all that changed. With no time for Dublin to reorient themselves – and down effectively to thirteen men with Small on the deck – Kerry had a glorious chance to inject a little chaos to proceedings.

This was it, the chance they’d be waiting for. That Kerry needed a little luck along the way – David Moran’s slightly wayward pass to Walsh finding its destination despite David Byrne’s best efforts – is no harm either. To beat the Dubs Kerry were always going to need a little rub of the green and, besides, you make your own luck when it comes down to it.

Really you couldn’t have scripted it better. The margin between the sides, the moment the goal came, the reaction of the crowd, the confidence which surged through the team as a result, all perfect, all what you would have wanted before hand.

The Dubs even looked what they so rarely do: rattled. Walsh’s point – coming shortly after a bad wide and following an assist by Seán O’Shea – brought Kerry to within one.

When the Strand Road man returned the favour for O’Shea a couple of minute later to level the game up you could feel the whole momentum of the game had switched sides along with the roar of the crowd.

Kerry on the front foot. Dublin on the back.

Not even a pointed free from Rock could alter that. Points from O’Shea and Spillane – a real beauty off his left into the mass of blue in the Hill 16 end – gave Kerry the lead and it was possible to believe that Kerry were about to do it.

What happened next we really wouldn’t put down to a loss of nerve on Kerry’s part. More so it was down to the remarkable resolve of this Dublin team. Quickly recovering their composure after Kerry’s 1-4 in the space of ten minutes, they reasserted control for the final thirteen or so minutes.

The Kingdom, dead on their feet to a large extent, hardly threatened Dublin at all after that, but really dug their heels in. Dublin may have been in control, but they got nothing easily. Cormac Costello, under pressure, denied by Hawkeye. Diarmuid Connolly with Paul Geaney diving across him shot wide. Even then Dublin didn’t buckle, with those set backs and the weight of five in-a-row on their shoulders. It needs stressing that Dublin’s end-game was every bit as remarkable and as impressive as Kerry’s ten minute surge.

Once they regained parity – Eoin Murchan assisting Dean Rock for a brilliant point – there was no way they were going to allow Kerry another chance to take the lead. The Dubs were happy to hold possession, happy to take a draw if that’s all that was on offer.

Of course they pushed and probed as is their wont, but they weren’t going to take any risks in the pursuit of a winner. That level of control, of cool, is other level and a big part of the reason why they’ve won four All Irelands in-a-row. Dublin know how to win. Just as crucially they also know how not to lose. This is their second replayed All Ireland final in three years – they also have had a drawn All Ireland semi-final, again with Mayo.

It’s for this reason that many people are of the view that Jim Gavin’s men are likely to win the replay. They’re a learning machine. That view, coupled with the feeling that this was a glorious chance missed for Kerry, almost presupposes that the Kingdom won’t also learn equally as much.

There’s every chance that Kerry will learn as much if not more from the experience. In last weekend’s final Kerry had fifteen players (eleven starters) getting their first taste of an All Ireland Final. Kerry went into this drawn final with kids, they left it with men. Of course, it’s a concern that with pretty much everything going their way – a penalty, a red card for Dublin’s best defender, two additional clear-cut goal scoring chances, dominance at midfield, the goal coming at just the right time – Kerry still didn’t finish the job. That doesn’t mean though that Kerry won’t get another chance. By definition a replay is another chance and you better believe that they’re going to embrace it.