Kerry bouncing back against

past us in an the 2013 All-Ireland semi-final, in what was a cracker of a football match.

At least that day we were competitive with the scores level entering stoppage time. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case on Saturday. Kerry were too far off their men at the back and allowed Dublin to kick under little pressure at times. It certainly doesn’t help the backs when you are being dominated by the opposition at midfield and there is a constant supply of good ball being put in to the Dublin forwards.

Croke Park can be a lonely place as a defender when you are under that much pressure. Tadhg Morley was unable to cheat off his man and protect the full back line like he has done over the last couple of years. It was only a matter of time before opposing managers decided to push their centre forward up high and make Tadhg come out and mark him.

Dessie Farrell had his homework done on Saturday. He played Sean Bugler, a good direct ball carrier, on the ‘forty’ and forced Tadhg to come out and pick him up. Bugler kicked three from play and dictated the play at times with

Morley struggling to get to grips with him. It was only his second game of the season and he is still playing catch up. He will be the first to admit that he isn’t as sharp as he wants to be yet and the pace of the game meant that he was chasing shadows at times.

Morley wasn’t the only Kerry defender to come out on the losing side of his one to one battle. Con O’Callaghan gave Jason Foley a torrid time, scoring 2-2 from play and finishing with a personal tally of 3-4 in total in a man of the match display. He seems to be returning to his form of old after a couple of mixed seasons, which will be another huge asset to Dublin as the year progresses.

As a former inter-county corner back, I know how Jason will be feeling this week. He was left out to dry a small bit and not given the protection he would have expected when marking one of the top forwards in the country. Playing in the full back line can certainly be a thankless job at times.

Similarly, both Ciaran Kilkenny and Paddy Small chipped in with three points each from play and Graham O’Sullivan and Dylan Casey will know that they can’t