Ultimately a 15-minute masterclass dethroned the All-Ireland champions Armagh and sent Kerry to a semi-final meeting with Tyrone.
Armagh led 1-16 to 0-14 at the 40th minute and all seemed to be going according to how many expected things to play out. The script which had Kerry as also-rans, something both Sean O’Shea and Jack O’Connor referenced in post-game interviews. However, Kerry completely dominated Armagh and particularly their kickout for 15 minutes, which effectively meant that the last 10 minutes was merely Kerry seeing the game out.
Kerry were able to use their route to the quarter-final stage to their advantage as they navigated a draw devoid of a meeting with Division One sides, thus they were able to learn at their own rate.
They lost out to Meath, but this was again layered with learning, as they lost the kickout battle and didn’t bring the required intensity. Championship football is an unforgiving place if you aren’t bringing energy at the breaking ball zone and tackling throughout the field.
Kerry didn’t have to fully show their hand. This was evidenced in two ways. The kickout defence that they unleashed on Armagh was really strong, as they won four from nine (44 per cent) in the first half that were sent beyond the 45m line.
A further tweak at half time to cut out the short options for Ethan Rafferty, laid the foundation for winning nine out of 11 (82 per cent) kickouts in their period of dominance from the 40th to 55th minute, as Armagh sent all balls beyond the 45m line.
This shows the amount of work done by Kerry on the Armagh kickout. Similar to Donegal in the Ulster final, getting a handle on the Armagh kickout can become an attacking platform. Only the best teams are efficient in shutting down opposition kickouts and making it a platform.
Armagh looked devoid of ideas as Kerry capitalised off the energy of the kickout wins, as Armagh’s body language flagged. Even when Rafferty sent the ball long looking for the flick on, Kerry strongly attacked the ball as two Armagh men contested it.
The other key element was Kerry’s use of the two-pointer, which was interesting given that we entered the weekend with question marks on the volume of two pointers from both Dublin and Kerry. Dublin showed it wasn’t in their locker, while Kerry showed they had it when they needed it. Kerry hit five in total, three coming from Sean O’Shea, as Kerry managed to really utilise the close attention that was paid to David Clifford from Barry McCambridge and others.
[ Two-pointers are affecting matches, but not in the way you might expectOpens in new window ]
There is often an unfair narrative around Clifford that if he doesn’t fire then Kerry don’t fire. But Kerry showed real balance all day as they collectively managed to exploit the spaces left by Clifford, to punch holes into scoring zones and shoot under limited pressure. Some of the scores came too easily, like Brian Ó Beaglaoich’s effort in the 50th minute.
In the 15-minute period of utter domination, Armagh barely had hands on the ball, as Kerry had 14 possessions to Armagh’s four. Kerry had a return of a point per possession, as they got 10 points along with two two-pointers, while Armagh failed to raise a flag. The breakdown below of the possession origin and the possession outcome is a hard read for Kieran McGeeney and his management team.
The introduction at half-time of Paudie Clifford was another huge element to the shift in momentum. He really makes Kerry tick. However, Armagh will be really disappointed with the freedom he was afforded.
His score in the 43rd minute will grate with them. The Armagh defence had himself and David Clifford pinned to the sideline, before Paudie slalomed around them without any meaningful contact. It was similar in the 52nd minute as he fisted over the bar as he was played in along the endline following Michael Burns kickout win. Just too easy.
The final possession of the dominance was the one which indicated the game was over as a contest. Kerry had punched holes quickly across the preceding 13 minutes but their deliberate and controlled possession of the ball in the lead-up to Graham O’Sullivan’s point − which lasted just shy of 120 seconds − illustrated their control of the game as they shifted the Armagh defence around at will.
Armagh will be extremely disappointed with this spell, which was unusual for them under McGeeney. Contrast this lack of intensity with the turnover on Joe McElroy in the 48th minute, as Joe O’Connor stripped the ball loose before Paul Murphy dived on the ball ahead of Rory Grugan like his life depended on it.
While scoring more than 30 points in one game is easier to achieve with the advent of the two-pointer, it was astonishing that Kerry reached that milestone as early as 56th minute when David Clifford hit a two-pointer. Game over.
Paul O’Brien is a performance analyst with The Performance Process.
