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Post by kerrygold on Jun 13, 2015 20:16:42 GMT
Dara Ó Cinnéide: Kerry ‘slight’ may inspire Tipp Saturday, June 13, 2015 By Dara Ó Cinnéide Even if there is a sense in Tipperary this weekend of stars aligning, of providence, of a full tide turning and of this being a cusp game for a special bunch of players, they will still have to go out and produce the game of their lives to bring down the All-Ireland champions.
There has been no shortage of opinion down these parts all week about all the storm clouds that are in a holding pattern over Thurles, and that may or may not descend on Semple Stadium around 3:30pm tomorrow. For all the games Kerry have won over the years, we (the sons and daughters of Kerry) seem to have a default setting that always has us finely tuned to what could go wrong at this time of year.
When it comes to Munster Championship, there is never a dearth of former Kerry players or die-hard supporters to tell us, with quivering lip, exactly where they were when Clare ended three quarters of a century of pain in the Gaelic Grounds in 1992.
I played in the minor match before that famous Munster final and I can still recall us collecting our gear from the dressing room afterwards and sensing at close quarters the numbed silence of the senior dressing room next door. Whatever else one says in hindsight about that famous game in 1992, it was some achievement by Clare; not just to beat Kerry in a big match but to do so while coming in under the radar.
Nobody does that anymore in Munster and even if Tipperary were to beat Kerry tomorrow, I doubt anybody would claim they came in under the radar or that it was a totally unexpected ambush.
I expect Kerry will have Tipperary’s game analysed and parsed to the extent that surprises will be kept to a minimum. By dent of their general excellence, we know what Evan Comerford, Ciarán McDonald, George Hannigan, Philip Austin and Conor Sweeney will bring to the contest and this week alone, underage giants Colin O’ Riordan and Steven O’Brien have been garlanded for their showings in the past six weeks at senior and u21 level.
This Tipperary team is brimful of talent and people expecting Kerry not to acknowledge that and not to prepare accordingly don’t know Kerry football and don’t know Eamonn Fitzmaurice.
What makes tomorrow even more intriguing is that Tipperary have a group of players on the pitch now who resent the moral victory as much as their predecessors detested losing heavily. Their language, their behaviour, their preparation and their inner belief all points to a team that won’t lie down and accept the status quo.
This is where Kerry’s own attitude comes into it.
By leaving six of last year’s starting All-Ireland final team, including Player of the Year James O’Donoghue, on the bench, Kerry’s selection could be interpreted as disrespecting the challenge that is coming from Tipperary. Either key players such as Aidan O’ Mahony, Donnchadh Walsh and O’Donoghue are fit and being held in reserve or the needs-must pragmatism of the Kerry management deems them worth more coming in as replacements.
Either way, a team with a chip on the shoulder looking for perceived slights could take a look at the Kerry teamsheet and use it as ammunition before heading out onto the field.
If we accept the Kerry selection at face value a few things stand out.
The obvious one is that Colm Cooper is back and back playing on the 40. Is Peter Acheson, a noted midfielder at underage and erstwhile forward going to curb his natural instinct to do a man-marking job on the most creative forward in the game? Or will he be given license to bomb forward at every opportunity and test Cooper’s lung capacity having been out for so long?
When Cooper was playing his first Munster final as a 40-yards man two years ago in Killarney, Cork detailed James Loughrey to follow him. By the time that Cork had got a grip on things in the middle of the park, allowing Loughrey the freedom to push on, Cooper had a lot of damage done. Tipperary can’t afford to allow that to happen but they will be aware too that their discipline in the tackle will be crucial. Down referee Ciarán Branagan will be keen to play it by the book in a rare foray into Munster football.
Another notable aspect of team selection concerns Kerry’s own discipline in the tackle. Because Tipperary, like Tyrone, are a hard-running team, whose first option would be to run the ball out of defence, Kerry could be faced with a similar situation as confronted them in the second half of their last league game in Omagh. Kerry, by their own admission, struggled with their tackling against the relentless running of Tyrone, so it will be interesting to see if they have their homework done in this regard.
The days of allowing the opposition uncontested kickouts are fast becoming a thing of the past and Kerry will be demanding an awful lot in a defensive sense of their front three, Paul Geaney, Barry John Keane and Kieran Donaghy who will be expected to protect their players from midfield back. Again this comes down to attitude as much as it does to technique. Kerry should have some more fitness work done since early April so their forwards might be more willing to make two, three and four tackles farther up the field than they were in the league.
Much of what both teams will want to do tomorrow is predicated on them winning possession from their own kickouts and protecting their respective full-back lines when they don’t. What often happens in these types of games is that a forward, who wouldn’t ordinarily be doing the scoring (Brian Fox or Mikey Geaney) might be given more freedom to shoot than say Conor Sweeney or Paul Geaney.
Having seen Mikey Geaney kick a goal in each of his last two championship games in recent weeks with Dingle, I know him to be an excellent finisher but tomorrow could be the day to prove that at inter-county level.
A goal would be a huge score tomorrow. I have always been amazed at the weight a goal carries for or against a team striving to make the breakthrough.
Tipperary football folk still talk about the goal that never was from Gerry Murphy in 1999 and of the psychological damage that did. I still have a vivid recollection of Colm Clancy’s and Martin Daly’s second half goals from 1992 that reinforced Clare’s belief that they could win a Munster final.
Goals are gold in a game like tomorrow’s and indeed, the history books tell us that goals were all we had in Gaelic games until June 14th 1885. It was 130 years ago tomorrow that Maurice Davin suggested during a game of hurling that knocking the ball over the crossbar should count as a winner as neither team had scored. By the end of the year, the point or cúilín, had become an integral part of our games.
Either team would be happy to have a few cúilíní to spare tomorrow but I suspect that team will be Kerry.
Munster can’t be left behind on ‘live’ analysis
If the heat being generated on Twitter regarding the Munster Council’s move to curtail the ‘live feed option’ for team analysts is anything to go by, this is a story that is going to run.
The old ‘health and safety’ chestnut has been put forward once again and while those legitimate concerns could easily be addressed, it is hard to believe that such a measure was necessary.
Working with RTÉ, I would be aware of the strict protocols regarding cabling at any outside broadcast event but I’ve no doubt that the analysts would be ultra-careful too given the opportunity.
While many managers’ instinct still trumps technology, most inter-county managers recognise the value of having a live feed option available to his team of analysts on any given Sunday.
Speaking this week to one such analyst involved with a top hurling team, he said that his and other analysts’ demand could easily be met with the infrastructure available. While it is unlikely to be an issue in Fitzgerald Stadium, which had a new fibre broadband overhaul completed this week, it seems strange the Munster Council are willing to allow other provinces streak ahead with their use of technology while they appear to stand still.
It will be stranger still if the facilities required are made available on a permanent basis, based on demand from sports other than GAA, as happened in Breffni Park when the demand came from the Australian football fraternity.
The Munster Council have said that they are available to discuss issues of ‘live feed’ with the six counties in the province. It’s a conversation that needs to happen sooner rather than later.
KEYWORDS: Munster SFC, Kerry, Tipperary, Clare, Munster Council
© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved
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fitz
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Post by fitz on Jun 13, 2015 23:35:27 GMT
Decent with the nib is Dara
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Post by wayupnorth on Jun 14, 2015 14:28:23 GMT
Lovely sunny day in Thutles.atch delayed due to injury in k Junior game.
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Post by donegalman on Jun 14, 2015 16:35:17 GMT
moved to non kerry games thread
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Post by stevieq on Jun 14, 2015 18:25:45 GMT
Enjoyable enough match. Thought Lyne and Sheehan had a great game. Great to see Gooch spraying the ball around from centre forward. Hope all our lads came home fit and able to play 5th July. Roll on Munster Final.
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Post by misteallaigh abú on Jun 14, 2015 19:40:36 GMT
A beautiful day for our first championship outing of 2015. However, when we arrived outside the stadium the queue was a mile long. When we eventually got in, they were sold out of programmes. The organisers were obviously expecting a much smaller crowd than THE 11,000 or so that turned out. We were very slow to get out of the blocks today, rustiness and the training camp in Portugal obviously played their part. Tipperary owned the ball for the opening 10-15mins and we were cleaned out around the middle. Our half forwards and half backs were slow to close in on broken ball and the Tipp men found it all too easy to find their full forward line. Bryan Sheehan took the game by the scruff of the neck and dragged us back into the game. He was immense for the 60 or so minutes that he was on the pitch. Assisted by Jonathan Lyne and Anthony Maher they steadied the ship and once we hit the front we were in control thereafter. Some of our tackling was quite poor at times and our full back line today won't win us an all Ireland,that's for sure. Marc was done for toe on several occasions, Aidan got caught for pace for the 2nd Tipp goal and Enright was poor. Incidentally,Colm Cooper won a free on the Tipp 45 and opted to take a quick free. It was cut out and Tipp came straight down the pitch and scored. Should he not just have used his vast experience and put the ball down for Bryan to kick over and see out the half? It was baffling to say the least. Kerry came out with real intent in the 2nd half and 5 unanswered points put the game to bed. We got glimpses of some absolutely majestic football in that 10 minutes. One pass of Cooper's across the pitch to Mikey Geaney took three or 4 Tipp men out of the play. He showed flashed of genius today. It is great to have him back. Thereafter,we simply went through the motions and Tipp bravely battled to the end. They were limited but they weren't helped by the inept refereeing of the county Down referee whose name escapes me. His performance was as forgettable as his name. The only thing he was consistent on was the pick up off the ground. Everything else he appeared to just make it up as he went along. The teams and the supporters deserved better. For me Sheehan,Lyne and Maher were excellent and others showed up well,fleetingly. It was great for Gooch to get 70 mins under his belt. Lots of things to work on but that's the way it should be after every game. Anyway,I'm really looking forward to the 5th of July.Munster final day in Killarney, nothing compares to it.
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inchperfect
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Post by inchperfect on Jun 14, 2015 20:21:31 GMT
They were limited but they weren't helped by the inept refereeing of the county Down referee whose name escapes me. His performance was as forgettable as his name. Ciaran Branagan. The Radio Kerry commentators were giving out about him too, that he gave nothing to Tipp in the first half.
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seamo
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Post by seamo on Jun 14, 2015 20:36:37 GMT
Couldn't ask for much more from a 1st championship match. Tipp gave us a fright which will humble us a little bit and help in preperation for Cork. Colm got 70 minutes into him, JOD and Donnacha got a run too.
Plenty to work on, sadly some old failings are raising their head again though. Most important player on Kerry panel now?....Aiden O Mahoney! We're heavily reliant on him now without Griffin stepping up.
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Post by ballynamona on Jun 14, 2015 21:04:02 GMT
I was laughing to hear Newstalk refer to it as a facile victory. Just don't think a 6 point margin in Ulster would lead them to use that word. It seems that the media have a certain script when it comes to Munster football.
Have to say fair play to Bryan Sheehan, he looks leaner than I have ever seen him and he had his eye in today.
Tipp have some very good players, notably Acheson and Stephen O'Brien. It was a decent, open, game of football.
Barry John Keane did well I thought, he justified his selection.
The organisation left a lot to be desired today alright. On the plus side, it was great to play Tipp and have a good atmosphere. The last time I was there for a Kerry v Tipp game it was deathly dull. The Tipp crowd got behind their team very well.
The ref may have been poor, but the role of umpires at this level is in complete disrepute. The two gents at the Sarfield end managed to get the least guilty of the 4 Tipp players involved in an incident booked.
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Post by Deise Exile on Jun 14, 2015 21:46:17 GMT
I have to agree with new stalk, it was facile. Kerry barely out of neutral and slipping into first gear. Tipp still a good bit off the pace. Their forwards shooting was shocking to say the least. Looking at the Kerry bench says it all about how the Kerry management's feelings about the team required to beat Tipp. No way that JOD will be on the bench for Cork and if we were playing Cork today then Kod would have started.
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Post by Deise Exile on Jun 14, 2015 21:46:38 GMT
For Kod read JOD!
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Post by muilleann on Jun 14, 2015 22:13:08 GMT
Don't think today told us much about either team.
Second half was disappointing from a Tipp point of view.
Can't see Kerry being beaten in Killarney.
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Post by wayupnorth on Jun 14, 2015 22:48:01 GMT
Lovely sunny day in Thutles.atch delayed due to injury in k Junior game. No - I wasn't on the bottle! - just the sun in my eyes in Semple and too small a screen on the smartphone. Great crowd today but the other stand should have been opened so much earlier. I think the game will have at least given us a better test than the cakewalk Cork had over Clare and it was just great to see Colm back and playing as sublimely as ever. Thought he looked a bit tired towards the end but not bad for his first 70 minutes in nearly two years. Some nice cameos from the bench as well. James was bursting to get on and there's gong to be some struggle for starting places for the Munster final. Well done to all the travelling contingent, I don't think I have seen such a Kerry turnout for an away opening Championship match before. A good start but lots more to be done.
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fitz
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Post by fitz on Jun 14, 2015 22:57:42 GMT
I didn't think it facile. We coughed up a lot of chances and the second half is a bit skewed in balance by chronic shooting from Tipp. Gooch made a few uncharacteristic bad decisions but ffs we'll give the man a break, his first real competitive game at intercounty level in 22 months. He worked like fcuk all day and did some savage tracking especially in second half. Lead by example.
Sheehan especially and Maher had fine games and Tipp were very competitive around the middle. O'Riordan is a fine player.
Jonathan Lyne was very good, him and Sheahan for motm for me. Mikey Geaney had a solid game. Barry John was good and I feel should have been left on. I would have picked Paul to come off first. Stephen O'Brien made big impact with direct running creating and scoring. Yet he has this repetitive tendency to be drawn to cul de sacs, and then turning over. More ironing. I like him he's dangerous and difficult to stop. Killian was steady throughout. Marc after poor positioning for first goal and on one or two more plays got much better as the game progressed. Solid second half. Enright was ok. I didn't see much of Griffin, I was hoping to see a lot more of him with ball in hand coming out. I think Aidan could well go back in. Star was ok,quiet enough, being pulled and dragged but he did some of his own for our second goal.
Ruthless management on Johnny. Yellow card and at risk of more, very bad drop into keeper's hands. Enough seen - off.
I know he wasn't on that long and was really hoping for better from Daz, but a ball into keeper's hands a bad wide and not the most energetic tracking back when compared with Gooch. We need much more from him. Tommy, not on long enough.
Some of out foot passing in both halves, especially second was poison. Shocking from All Ireland champions first game or not.
Tipperary clearly don't have good scorers from distance, but this and their key awareness (hardly a secret) of our discomfort defending hard direct running made for uncomfortable viewing.
Twice we were in complete control after coming from 1-2 to 0-2 to score 2-3 unbroken, from our second goal going 6 points up, all over them they score a goal immediately. Unacceptable. Then after a ruthless first fifteen minutes of second we get 7 clear but cannot kick on. Sloppy stuff from thereon in. If Gooch had not risked a black card and Kealy not saved brilliantly we could have been back in squeaky bum territory. I am being pretty critical but there is tons to work on. Cork would certainly have hit a much higher percentage with chances Tipp had.
Even with the sweeper how can we do better holding the ball carrier up when in flight? A couple of red sea instances occurred where our remaining backs were dragged away then uncertainty ensuing on who's going to go to ball carrier. It's our clearest biggest weakness.
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 14, 2015 23:30:06 GMT
I thought Tipp were poor and disappointing today after some of their talk in the media this week. They will need to be contesting annually in the top half of div.2 and showing genuine contention for promotion to Div.1 before they can walk the walk in the Munster championship.
Kerry were poor to moderate with some positives and tipped along at 30% capacity. A game that did nothing for either side. Kerry were never going to lose the tie, a 6 point victory and two goals conceded is just a very poorly decorated Christmas tree. Eamonn will certainly have the players attention over the next three weeks on the back of today's performance.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2015 23:37:43 GMT
Mark Griffin is not County standard it's obvious. I don't know why they persist with him. Marc O'Se has slowed down a lot and it showed today. Enright was poor too. Cork will destroy us if we start those three against them. It's easily our weakest spot. I would not be surprised if O'Mahony, Murphy and Fionn come into the team for Cork. If Moran is fit he will come back in. You could see Sheehan go to the 40 with Cooper going inside with Donaghy and O'Donoghue. Donnacha and Buckley 10 and 12. That would be my Forwards.
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 14, 2015 23:52:00 GMT
Mark Griffin is not County standard it's obvious. I don't know why they persist with him. Marc O'Se has slowed down a lot and it showed today. Enright was poor too. Cork will destroy us if we start those three against them. It's easily our weakest spot. I would not be surprised if O'Mahony, Murphy and Fionn come into the team for Cork. If Moran is fit he will come back in. You could see Sheehan go to the 40 with Cooper going inside with Donaghy and O'Donoghue. Donnacha and Buckley 10 and 12. That would be my Forwards. Wing back maybe.
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Jigz84
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Post by Jigz84 on Jun 15, 2015 8:29:48 GMT
Mark Griffin is not County standard it's obvious. I don't know why they persist with him. Marc O'Se has slowed down a lot and it showed today. Enright was poor too. Cork will destroy us if we start those three against them. It's easily our weakest spot. I would not be surprised if O'Mahony, Murphy and Fionn come into the team for Cork. If Moran is fit he will come back in. You could see Sheehan go to the 40 with Cooper going inside with Donaghy and O'Donoghue. Donnacha and Buckley 10 and 12. That would be my Forwards. Harsh enough on the full-back line there. None of them were roasted. Griffin's problem is that if he's left exposed inside then he's in trouble. I would think Kealy's performance yesterday would be more worrying. On yesterday's game, Mikey Geaney will start v Cork. He was brilliant, his best Kerry performance so far.
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Post by glengael on Jun 15, 2015 9:03:08 GMT
2 Tipp families in front of me in the queue were discussing the larger than expected crowd who showed up. One of them said that they'd come along because twas a fine day to watch a match and wouldn't it be great to be able to see the Gooch playing again, which was lovely to hear.
Plenty to work on for the next 3 weeks.
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keane
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Post by keane on Jun 15, 2015 9:05:07 GMT
Mark Griffin is not County standard it's obvious. I don't know why they persist with him. Marc O'Se has slowed down a lot and it showed today. Enright was poor too. Cork will destroy us if we start those three against them. It's easily our weakest spot. I would not be surprised if O'Mahony, Murphy and Fionn come into the team for Cork. If Moran is fit he will come back in. You could see Sheehan go to the 40 with Cooper going inside with Donaghy and O'Donoghue. Donnacha and Buckley 10 and 12. That would be my Forwards. Harsh enough on the full-back line there. None of them were roasted. Griffin's problem is that if he's left exposed inside then he's in trouble. I would think Kealy's performance yesterday would be more worrying. On yesterday's game, Mikey Geaney will start v Cork. He was brilliant, his best Kerry performance so far. I thought Griffin and O Se were absolutely decorated. There's now arguing they weren't roasted in the first half and IMO were very lucky we got on top at midfield to take the pressure off them in the second half. Agree re:M Geaney, thought he was really good even when we were struggling at the start. His best game for Kerry I thought as well.
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 15, 2015 9:09:39 GMT
The ball passed 12 outfield players before it reached Griffin and O'Se. The goals Kerry gave away left a lot to be desired.
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keane
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Post by keane on Jun 15, 2015 9:24:05 GMT
The ball passed 12 outfield players before it reached Griffin and O'Se. The goals Kerry gave away left a lot to be desired. That goes for every score a player in the full forward line ever gets. We're being very generous to full backs if we're going to trot that line out. We were certainly in trouble all over the place in the first 15 minutes, but I'm not convinced that encapsulates why Marc O Se was five yards off his man every time the ball came in.
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Post by misteallaigh abú on Jun 15, 2015 9:25:23 GMT
I would be inclined to agree with Keane. I thought that our full back line looked in serious trouble on several occasions. Marc,Shane and Griffin were all at sea, on occasion and against better quality attackers would have been toasted yesterday. I was particularly disappointed in Griffin's tendency to get pushed aside too easily by his opposite marker. On several occasions he just fouled his man. Against the likes of Colm O Neill I would be very worried for him. Enright gets caught the wrong side of his man far too often for my liking. It's early days and we will surely improve in defence. We need to.
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 15, 2015 9:29:21 GMT
The ball passed 12 outfield players before it reached Griffin and O'Se. The goals Kerry gave away left a lot to be desired. That goes for every score a player in the full forward line ever gets. We're being very generous to full backs if we're going to trot that line out. We were certainly in trouble all over the place in the first 15 minutes, but I'm not convinced that encapsulates why Marc O Se was five yards off his man every time the ball came in. I have no issue with that opinion and agree with it, however the running coming through the middle of the Kerry team provided no platform for any full back line.
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Post by veteran on Jun 15, 2015 9:34:45 GMT
I read during the week where Kerry were refused permission for a a live feed of yesterday's game on health and safety grounds no less. I wonder then how the Munster Council viewed the circus which took place before yesterday's match. Now, Tipperary football is on an upward curve, the All-Ireland champions were coming to town and on that team a little wonder boy was making a return to earth. Would that not have suggested to the health and safety experts that there could be an almighty influx of visitors on the 14/06/2015. Seemingly they were too engaged with the dangers of the live feed to take cognizance of this probability. The result was that just one stand was opened for the occasion. The supporters, no matter how many were showing up, were being crammed into the one stand. It was not until people were swinging off the rafters did it dawn on the authorities that the other stand should be opened. The result was that the match was delayed by fifteen minutes. The attendance was eventually announced as 11,000. Feel free to add another five thousand to that figure. Indeed, I was told that they ran out of match tickets! They certainly ran out of match programmes. There are times when I despair at the quality of some of people holding posts of authority in this country. But of course they can always take refuge in the "health and safety" coral.
Well, further despair was to envelop me in the first ten minutes or so of the match when it appeared that we could not get our hands on the ball. Tipperary started like a whirlwind, getting the first score , a fine point from Colin O'Riordan. Deeper despair was to come. Michael Quinlivan, a fine player, got possession and did a Kerry dance past Mark Griffin and planted it. The Tipperary supporters were now lifting the roof of the stand, I mean the two stands, and it became clear that that there was going to be nothing "facile" on offer today. Happily, our two boys at midfield began to talk back, encouraged from behind by an unbending Jonathan Lyne, magnificent all through, and the tide was turned to an extent. Bryan hit over a few missiles from ground and hand and the goal of course brought sanity back to the affair. It was a well worked move and was adroitly finished by BJK who appeared to be off balance at time. All the forwards looked lively now with the exception of Johnny Buckley, restricted by an early and unwarranted yellow card. Another goal followed. It was fortuitous enough in that it appeared that KD and Paul Geaney jumped for the same ball and when it broke Paul snapped it up and finished in the one movement. Sublimely done. That opened up a gap of about six points and surely the jury were now about to return an unanimous verdict. Not so. The ball went down the field in the next movement and believe it or believe not the ball was finished to the Kerry net again, and again by Michael Quinlivan. The jury were recalled. Two points in it at the break.
Just as the opening period of the first half belonged to Tipperary the opening period of the second half belonged to Kerry, ultimately deciding the match. This was Kerry football at its peak. Five or six points were strung together in sequence. All top of the range. Yet, Tipperary were winning loads of possession and the Kerry defence continued to leave doors wide open. Tipperary knifed through one of these doors and Brendan Kealy was forced to make a wonderful save. Had he not, it would have been a three point game again. Then Tipperary went on a spree of kicking wides from play and frees. About three of those frees should have been readily converted. Consider it was just a six point margin at the end. In those last ten minutes of the second half Kerry were sloppy and careless, repeatedly giving easy ball away.
Nevertheless, taking all the factors into account, I am pleased with the six point result. It wasn't comfortable but it will suffice.
I don't think Brendan Kealy could be blamed for either of the goals and he stymied a Tipperary resurgence with that second half save.
Marc O'Se started poorly but asserted himself well as the game advanced. Mark Griffin found it very hot against Michael Quinlivan. Shane Enright spent most of his time at CHB where he struggled against the strong running of Philip Austin. Why was he posted there? Killian was another man who settled into matters as the game wore on. Peter Crowley was very good until he was forced off with a blood injury after a nasty collision. He subsequently was forced off again. He is badly needed in that CHB position.
Anthony Maher shone brightly against a strong Tipperary midfield but he has developed this infuriating habit of breaking the ball, more often than not into the hands of an opponent. You are well able to catch the high ones, Anthony, so why not do that. Bryan was probably our key man. Show me the man who catch and kick and I will show you a footballer. Bryan is a footballer.
Apart from Johnny Buckley, it would be difficult to find fault with the forwards. Remember, they were opposed by some very good backs. Of course, one must mention the elusive butterfly. He did make a couple of uncharacteristic errors but there were times when he reminded us of the way things once were and might be again. Perhaps, as the game progressed and as he tired he might have been pushed into the full forward line and Paul brought out. It is only a small point, partly inspired by my wish to see Paul get a run on the forty some time because there is another man who can catch and kick it. BJK was his usual industrious self and seemed to be more thoughtful in possession on this occasion. Michael Geaney had one of his better games but Stephen O'Brien put down a strong claim for that position with his display when he came on . KD was a huge handful but as usual he was dragged with impunity. Johnny Buckley has had better days and I won't be surprised if he turns out to be a dominant figure against Cork.
One of the ignoble traditions of the GAA is that one is allowed to puck a substitute when he comes on. One of the most blatant displays of that thuggery was when Maurice came on against Dublin in Thurles several years ago. He was manhandled by a couple of different opponents in full view of Mr. Michael Curley who turned a blind eye. That display of boorishness paled in comparison with the treatment James O'Donoghue got yesterday when he came on. He was shouldered repeatedly, rabbit punched , kicked in the legs, all in full view of two carefree umpires who were out on a day trip. The referee eventually intervened and a yellow card brandished. For what? Should have been red, sir. Back to health and safety issues again! Who would encourage their offspring to play football after witnessing that? Back to despair again.
And so, Kerry march on the the sunlit uplands of Killarney while Tipperary remain in the foothills, for a while at least. They are well capable of a forceful run in the qualifiers if the cards fall their way.
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Jun 15, 2015 9:37:11 GMT
Is it possible that there was less than 12,000 at yesterday's game or are the GAA going to get called to by the ******* ************* if they keep this craic up?
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fitz
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Post by fitz on Jun 15, 2015 9:48:58 GMT
Totally agree KG. Easy to pick on the Full Back line when your midfielders are behind their men and half backs punctured. Marc was well ropey in first half but had a fine second half and was plenty nimble again a talented forward in Quinlivan( I think). I don't know why Kealy is getting lackery. He made two fine punches from his nemesis high balls and a brilliant save and 'most' of his kickouts were steady. I think he's slow to spot Cluxtonesque opportunities and maybe discouraged from doing so. I can't see Fionn getting back in yet anyway. Lyne was brilliant yesterday. Sheahan can't be dropped if fit, nor Maher, he's flying. Johnny might be under pressure as Mikey didn't put a foot wrong. Griffin must be showing something that they're persisting with him, but I agree be good to see it. Enright will start against Cork I reckon to man grapple with Hurley. It seems Murphy must be worth his place but for who? Marc most likely. O'Mahoney strong chance replace Griffin.
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Post by jackiel on Jun 15, 2015 9:56:52 GMT
I hadn't heard the attendance figure but would certainly have thought more that the 11,000 mentioned above, particularly because I spoke to a steward who said there were about 8,000 more than expected. Munster Council were certainly caught on the hop. They'd run out of programmes and didn't have a shop on the old stand side so you had to traipse back over for a bottle of water. In this day and age I cant understand how so many people were queuing for buy tickets on the way in, the local Super Valu is a no brainer as far as I'm concerned. I felt we were rusty but it was great to see some of the lads getting a run after injury especially Gooch. Plenty of work to do, roll on Killarney.
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Post by seaniebo on Jun 15, 2015 10:20:35 GMT
I was slightly disappointed with Tipp. I said to my Tipp compadre prior to throw in that I was hoping Tipp would be firing on all cylinders and Kerry wouldn't be sluggish therefore giving us an honest game. Unfortunately the second half petered out to a stroll in the park after Kerry put the foot down.
That said but for some dreadful shooting we may have been sweating heavily going down the home stretch. One felt we could up the ante if needed but we did become more than sloppy.
By the time James came in we had completely taken our foot off the gas and that effectively meant the supply into the full forward line was sporadic at that point. Gooch was none too happy and I saw roaring at his colleagues to up it. Great to have Colm back. Some of his foot passing was straight out of the top drawer. He took a heavy hit at one stage that flattened him and I held my break. He bounced straight back up.
I agree that our full back line were very much under pressure in the first half. I will say it was criminal the lack of cover they had. There was simply acres of space between midfield and our full back line allowing the Tipp midfield and half forwards to ping passes into their inside forwards at ease. You give any half decent forward a ball like that and he will gobble you up. Much different scenario in the second half resulted in our full back line shoring up and become much more dominant.
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animal
Fanatical Member
Posts: 1,931
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Post by animal on Jun 15, 2015 10:27:26 GMT
Yesterday was far from facile. Tipp will have given Eamonn food for thought. They were a real threat in the first half and but for their profligacy could have been ahead at half time. Their direct running caused us problems early on. It was reminiscent of the horror show against Cork in the league back in March. Cork got in the habit of scoring goals by running at defences and will surely have had someone casting an eye over us yesterday. In any case we weathered the storm by dropping some bodies back and eventually gained a foothold at midfield. However any similar early doors vulnerability will be punished by Colm O'Neill and co in Killarney. We can thank Tipp for giving us something to work on.
Tipp were very poor at the start of the second half and we stretched ahead with our greater accuracy. This meant the game was no in doubt for the last 20-25 minutes.
If there was an award for incompetence yesterday it would have been a dead heat between the Munster Board and the referee. The shambles of the ticketing and the decision to only open one stand was deplorable. Amateur hour stuff. The referee was quite poor. he gave Kerry the benefit of some ropey decisions that left the Tipp crowd exasperated. He also bottled numerous black card situations. Stephen O'Brien of Tipp should have seen black in the 1st half for a blatant drag down. Mark Griffin was also lucky although perhaps less clear cut. And, though it pains me, Gooch was lucky not to see black on two occasions near the end of the match.
Selection headaches for Eamonn ahead of the final. Most of them the headaches you want. I would like to see Mahony in for Griffin - Mahony always shows up against Cork. Griffin just isn't doing it for me. If Moran is fit he may come in at midfield with Bryan switching to the 40. Bryan put in a great 70 minutes yesterday and will be very hard done by if he loses his place. Buckley was poor yesterday but I won't be writing him off. He has often followed a poor performance with a much stronger one. It will be an interesting few weeks in training.
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