Arriving into Killarney on Saturday, flags out, sun shining, traffic backing up, everything about the place had the feel of a proper championship match. Only for the Kerry supporters, the mood slowly and then suddenly turned.
In the end all that buzz was gone, and aptly for Kerry it finished with dark clouds fast closing in. What happened in between?
The horse and jaunting cars in Killarney knew Mayo were coming to town primed for battle. Mayo were smarting from the Roscommon loss, no doubt about that. After playing some spectacular football throughout the league, all that was gone to nothing.
Once this round-robin draw was made, Killarney was always going to be their redemption day.
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Jack O’Connor has been around long enough to also know exactly what was coming. There was no question Mayo wouldn’t turn up. They’d no choice but to turn up.
When you know a team like that is coming, bound to be physical and set up for the battle, and you don’t turn up? That raises a lot of questions.
First of all, if you’re on that Kerry team, didn’t have a Munster final in Killarney, after Cork were beaten, this is your day too. A more or less full house at Fitzgerald Stadium, that great home record, any Kerry player worth his salt would be up for it.
If I was a Cork player, I’d fancy my chances. I don’t think any Cork player is fearing Kerry too much right now
Instead, too many of them just weren’t. The way Kerry played lacked any cohesion. They weren’t just a little bit off it. They were well off it. Second to everything, right from the bloody throw-in.
There were so many telltale signs, all over the field. Early on Jack Barry was dispossessed and he looked at the referee, as if asking for some sympathy. That’s not the answer. The answer is to win the next ball, be every bit as aggressive, if not more so. There were a few more of those moments throughout the game.
Sizing up any team, in any proper championship match like that, you need nine or 10 of your players to perform close to their best to get over the line. Mayo had at least that many. Realistically, Kerry only had three or four. Shane Ryan, the Clifford brothers, and maybe Paul Geaney in the second half.
Kerry were expecting things to happen, Mayo made things happen. If you took out David Clifford, Paudie too, Kerry could have lost by 10 or 12 points. Easily. That’s why you’d have to compliment David, again. When Kerry really needed the goals, he had three successive shots for goals.
Someone asked me was he selfish? He absolutely wasn’t selfish. Kerry needed someone to bring them back into the game, he was single-handedly trying to do that. Had he got one of those goals, Kerry might just have got back into it.
Mayo were by far the better team, even though that didn’t show on the scoreboard. Now, they aren’t the finished article yet. They still have some flaws. It’s certainly not the same old Mayo, and the goal they eventually got, from Eoghan McLaughlin, was excellently taken. If Mayo were properly clinical, they should have had two or three goals well before that.
The chances they did get were left behind. I don’t think they were as decisive as Dublin would be, given those same chances. Or even Galway, for that matter.
Mayo’s point-taking was exceptional. They’ve obviously done a lot of work on kicking from distance. Then again there was no great heat on them when kicking either, another big let-down from a Kerry point of view.
Mayo are also enjoying their football, you can see that. Kevin McStay is knocking a great tune out of them.
Play sliding doors: if that was Dublin playing in Killarney on Saturday, Kerry would have been beaten right out the gate. And if, say, Tyrone were coming to Killarney next weekend, even though they lost to Galway, I wouldn’t give Kerry much hope of beating them either. Not with the lack of aggression they showed against Mayo.
It leaves Kerry in a bad spot. At half-time, they could have replaced three of four players. It’s easy to take off your corner forward, Tony Brosnan, who isn’t functioning. Realistically Kerry were being beaten around the middle third. Jack Barry and Diarmuid O’Connor were kicking on water all day.
Jack referenced afterwards their Munster championship matches, against Tipp and Clare. The final was one-sided, still I thought Kerry looked sharp, on their toes, and I felt were up for it. They looked fresh, had a purpose about them, looked to know what they were about.
For whatever reason that was all gone on Saturday. They’d no direction at all. And I think Jack was still trying to figure out himself what had happened.
What might work in Jack’s favour is that this was a collective downfall. Not one or two players off, not losing a tight game. There needs to be a big response all round. To me, it’s going to require some major reconstructive surgery.
Mayo’s bench finished Kerry off, the likes of Eoghan McLaughlin, Paddy Durcan, Stephen Coen. Go back to the league, Kerry ran with a limited enough panel, and you just can’t afford a limited bench any more.
Looking ahead to Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday week, Cork’s season has been in the wind so far, now they’re gifted this chance of redeeming themselves by kicking Kerry when they’re down. If I was a Cork player, I’d fancy my chances. I don’t think any Cork player is fearing Kerry too much right now, although we’ll see how Cork fare against Louth on Saturday.
Seánie O’Shea is struggling for form, definitely, but we wouldn’t be having that conversation unless he’d already proven himself among the best footballers in the country. He just needs to get some of that form back.
My experience of Jack is that he does always select players on form, and if these were his players in form, I wouldn’t like to be in his shoes now. All things considered Kerry are a long way off where they want to be. It will take a fair shift in the sand to get them back.
Jack also referenced 2009, my last year with Kerry, when we were beaten by Cork by eight points, struggled in the backdoor against Sligo and Antrim, then suddenly found a bit of form and went on to win the All-Ireland.
So it is possible. Kerry just need to find form sooner, not later.
