FOOTBALL ANALYST: The two main positives for Kerry came in the performances of Tadhg Kennelly and substitute Tommy Walsh

REACHING A sixth All-Ireland football final in succession is a terrific achievement and Kerry will be delighted to notch another milestone but will be perhaps less enthused about the manner of yesterday’s victory over Meath at Croke Park.

As a spectacle, yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final was a huge disappointment. There was some mitigation in greasy underfoot conditions but not to the extent that it absolved players from poorly-directed passes and general aimless hoofing.

The Kerry players boast a better skills set and that primarily allowed them to win this match; that and having the ability to tweak their patterns to suit the conditions. Meath competed gamely early on and managed to shade the possession stakes but they failed to use the ball wisely. They were far too profligate in their distribution and shooting.

They lacked composure and the sense of panicked option-taking was very evident whether taking on the posts or trying to find a colleague.

Before the match, the hype centred on whether the Meath backs could cope with the Kerry forwards while at the same time alighting on how their own sharpshooters might make life difficult for the Kingdom’s defenders.

Meath held Kerry to 2-8 and the backs deserve credit for keeping them to a relatively modest total but there was a preoccupation with that aspect of the game with little apparent thought about how they were going to amass a match-winning tally of their own. The focus was on not losing rather than trying to figure out a way to win.

They did stop Kerry playing at times on the one hand but were devoid of ideas at the other end of the pitch. They elected to kick 50-yard balls into their full-forward line, mostly poorly directed that sent the beleaguered Meath forwards tearing after lost causes or getting mugged in cul-de-sacs close to the touchline.

Meath’s three inside forwards were isolated, their lot made even worse by the fact that the team attacked in straight lines. Conditions favoured defenders so there had to be more subtlety and variety but the Leinster side never offered anything. One long ball after another skidded over the end line.

There would have been more profit in using Joe Sheridan as a target man. In the first half Brian Farrell’s point apart, Cian Ward – he kicked a couple of marvellous points from the sideline – was the only other outlet for scores.

Kerry enjoyed a little bit more guile and invention up front on a day when Colm Cooper, Declan O’Sullivan and Darren O’Sullivan were by no means close to their best. Instead it was left to others to pick up the slack, notably Paul Galvin and Tomás Ó Sé who worked hard to pilfer breaking ball around midfield.

But the real catalysts and the two main positives for Kerry from the afternoon’s fare came in the performances of Tadhg Kennelly and substitute Tommy Walsh.

Kennelly had a huge game, perpetually in motion and covering huge tranches of Croke Park. His passing was assured, his work-rate industrious and it will copper-fasten his starting place in the final.

Walsh offered a reminder of the value of a bona-fide target man, manifest in the way in which he scored the game’s second goal. It ended the match as a contest. There was an appropriate symmetry in that two of Kerry’s most effective performers combined in that moment: Kennelly’s perfectly-weighted diagonal ball allowed Walsh to use his aerial prowess, shrug off Anthony Moyles and finish to the net.

In the conditions that pertained, the more skilful players tend to make a better fist of controlling the ball and weighing the pass. Kerry used the diagonal long ball shrewdly and were also able to improve their tactics with the relevant personnel changes.

Walsh’s goal allowed his side to amble towards the winning post.

The placing of Séamus Scanlon in front of the fullback line was a clever tactical variation that allowed him to help break up Meath attacks and then carry ball forward in the opposite direction. He was very effective on the day.

Meath were unfortunate to lose their captain Stephen Bray to injury but it wouldn’t have altered the outcome. By the middle point of the second half they were palpably disheartened and lost their shape as five substitutes were introduced.

It’s a young team and they will have learned a lesson or two yesterday that will stand to them.

The road ahead is a long one but this Meath team is capable of returning to this stage of the championship once it matures a little.

The penalty was a contentious award that underlines the folly of a defender making any contact with a forward in front of his own goal. The referee made a split-second decision without the benefit of a replay and was conned by Colm Cooper’s dramatic dive.

It’s something that shouldn’t be borrowed from other sports.

Kerry didn’t fire anything like on all cylinders and there’s certainly plenty to occupy Jack O’Connor at training over the coming weeks, practice that should be very well-attended locally as there is some serious competition for All-Ireland final places.

That final promises to be an intriguing contest between the two best football teams in this season’s championship.

Kerry will improve from yesterday’s display; they’ll need to if they’re to enjoy a successful conclusion to their campaign.