JEEPERS KEEPERS
Shot-stoppers are now the quarter-backs Success of the mark has only heightened importance
IN any other county, to lose an All Star goalkeeper mid Championship would lend itself to crisis management. In Kerry?
The news that Brendan Kealy had quit the panel in the buildup to an All-Ireland quarter-final was delivered almost in the light tone of one of those ‘and finally’ news segments tagged on at the end of the bulletin that is meant as an antidote to the daily drudge.
He was thanked for his services and there was a good luck message from manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice earlier this week.
Kealy was the man between the posts when Kerry took off Dublin’s cloak of invincibility in the National League final as Dublin’s bid for a fifth successive crown was denied and a 36-match unbeaten run in League and Championship ended.
There wasn’t a whole pile that day to suggest he wasn’t going to feature in the Munster semi-final against Clare or Munster final against Cork, even if Dublin attacked his kick-out and won key possessions in the frantic endgame. But Brian Kelly has been rotated in since and stayed there, causing Kealy to walk away in frustration at the lack of game time.
It’s just one more intriguing subplot in a goalkeeping saga that threatens to define the summer.
In goals for Galway is Bernard Power who could teach Kealy a thing or two about warming the bench. His involvement with Corofin up to the All-Ireland club semi-final meant that Ruairi Lavelle was well placed to hold the number one jersey, right through to the Division 2 League title victory.
And then through Connacht. Although Galway’s wipe-out in the final came at a price as Roscommon attacked Lavelle’s kick-outs and Enda Smith lorded affairs in midfield when the restart went long.
For the make-or-break qualifier against Donegal, Power was drafted in. Galway’s kick-out strategy worked much better and just to cap it all, Power guessed right for Paddy McBrearty’s penalty and blocked it and also saved the follow-up.
The impact of the ‘mark’ has only served to increase the importance of the goalkeeper, given that the mark is rewarded with a free-kick with no risk of a turnover. Combined with a short kick-out strategy that is a standard in any serious team’s artillery, the goalkeeper’s status as the quarter-back of Gaelic football is only becoming more pronounced.
Stephen Cluxton has redefined the position for the 21st century but the trend of others trying to follow his uncanny ability to find a teammate on the run rather than simply go for distance makes it a high wire act.
Which means that a turnover from an errant kick-out that results in a goal has become another recurring theme.
Just as Paul Durcan’s skewed short one allowed Kieran Donaghy
Cluxton’s redefined the position for the 21st century
steal in for the defining goal of the 2014 All-Ireland final, this summer has been shaped by goalkeeping displays. David Clarke has safeguarded his status as the best shotstopper around, and his form only highlights the mis-step of Mayo management dropping him for last year’s All-Ireland final replay.
Rory Beggan has been one of Monaghan’s consistent players – and yet it was his intercepted kickout that saw Down grab that key goal as Monaghan exited the Ulster Championship, Ryan Johnston playing in Niall Donnelly who was grounded close to goal. Darragh O’Hanlon dispatched the penalty.
Derry’s Ben McKinless emerged as another colourful character, mixing the sublime with the faintly ridiculous in a roller coaster of a qualifier against Mayo.
With a set of highlights to lend him immediate cult hero status, the teenager’s short kick-outs set Derry nerves jangling throughout – kicking the ball directly to Jason Doherty led to Mayo’s crucial goal in extra-time. And yet he redeemed himself with a string of briallitn
Clarke has safeguarded his status as the best around
saves.
Arguably the most bizarre goal in this year’s Championship came in the Leinster first round match between Meath and Louth. In a game in which he made a series of vital stops, Paddy O’Rourke managed to lose his bearings after one kick-out, rushing backwards into the net as Ronan Holcroft’s shot bounced past him in surreal fashion into the other side of the goal.
On Tuesday night two young goalkeepers – Shane Ryan (Rathmore) and Shane Murphy (Dr Crokes) – took part in Kerry senior training for the first time.
It would be some story if one of them is called into action before the summer is out. Given the way the summer is unfolding, don’t rule anything out.