Jack O’Connor says Monaghan ‘caught us at a bad time for them’

HOW poor were Monaghan? More importantly, how good were Kerry? A little from column A and a little from column B you’d have to think.

As poor as Monaghan were, and they were desperately so particularly in the first half, Kerry were genuinely very impressive. There was an energy and a determination to the Kingdom that we’d only seen in patches against either Cork or Clare in Munster.

For the Farney it was a bit of a perfect storm. Playing well below themselves against a team just starting to pick up steam in a meaningful way for the All-Ireland series.

And it’s not like the Kingdom wanted for motivation either. Not because of anything Monaghan did or have done. No, it seems that Mayo’s win over the green and gold at the same stage twelve months ago was front of mind for Jack O’Connor and his players.

“We’d a lot of motivation here today, because we lost here twelve months ago,” O’Connor revealed after the game.

“We were very adamant that wasn’t going to happen [again]. They [Monaghan] caught us at a bad time for them, because we thought we were a good bit off it this time last year so players were very determined that that wasn’t going to happen today.

“When you had a championship record here going back to what was it 1995 and to lose it, of course that stings. We don’t really have to mention it. The players know all about it. They were determined today that there wasn’t going to be a repeat of that.”

And Kerry really were on it in that first half. Simply ravenous being honest, the Kingdom turning over the Farney eighteen times in the first half delivering ten of their fifteen-point half-time tally.

“We were very happy with the way we played in the first half,” the Dromid man continued.

“Obviously, we dropped off and got a bit maybe sloppy in the second half, but look overall we scored 24 points and won the game by ten, so I think you’d have taken that this morning.

“It can be difficult [to keep going when so far in front], even though we were hoping to keep driving it on. Look things get a bit scattered then when you bring on a lot of subs together. Maybe everybody isn’t on the same page, but overall you have to be happy enough.”

Other than losing the second half – largely thanks to Gary Mohan’s goal on 59 minutes – just about the only potential pebble in the Kingdom manager’s shoe at the end of the seventy minutes was that it was another game without a goal.

It’s the Kingdom’s fourth game in succession without a goal, having had at least three or even four fairly clearcut chances in the game.

“Yeah it’s been a while [since we scored a goal],” O’Connor reflected.

“We’re still making a few chances, but we just need to finish a couple of them now, but if we kick enough points we won’t get too excited. I’d be more disappointed with the one we conceded actually, but anyway that’s neither here nor there.

“They’re [the players] not [overly conscious]. I thought we’d another chance near the end where we had four on three, but Seánie [O’Shea] kicked a point so I wouldn’t say they’re overly worried about it.

“Sure you’d always like to see us getting a goal or two. I thought we’d a couple of good chances, but once we keep creating chances we’ll be alright.”

All in all then, it’s positive stuff from the green and gold.

“I do think our trajectory is going up,” O’Connor continued.

“I thought we were better today than in either the Cork or the Clare games and you’d still hope that there’s another level in us if it was put up to us. That was the best half of football we played. I think ye all realise that.

“Maybe fifteen minutes of the second half [as well], so we just need to keep building on that and keep looking at the stuff that really worked for us in the first half and I think a lot of it came down to hard-work.

“We worked like dogs, our forwards and got a lot of turn-overs and got easy points on the counter attack. The formula isn’t complicated, but it can be hard enough to keep that going for seventy minutes if you’re that far ahead.”

It would be hard to pick out too many – or any – Kerry players who didn’t perform up to snuff, either on the starting fifteen or coming off the bench. Nevertheless there are a handful who really distinguished themselves. Notably Paul Geaney, getting his first start in this year’s championship.

“He was going well [in training],” O’Connor said.

“We put a lot of stock in what we see in training and he played well. I think he kicked five points. That’s serious kicking, and his club mate Tom [O’Sullivan] wasn’t too bad either. So that’s eight points out of Dingle today, so that’s a good return any day.

“He’s playing great football, what is he now he’s 33? He’s certainly not playing like a 33-year-old. He’s showing great hunger and great appetite for the game and we just couldn’t ignore his form in training.”

A final word on the injury front. The absence of Graham O’Sullivan was notable. It wasn’t, however, the groin injury which kept him out of the Munster final that ruled him out here.

“He had a bit of groin trouble and he was alright with that, but he went over on his ankle here [Fitzgerald Stadium] last Saturday and that’s why he missed today. Well it’s a few weeks [out], like, which isn’t great this time of the year,” O’Connor confirmed.