A much needed win. Two points in the bag and possibly Division 1 status secured. Those are the positives.
A look at the table shows that one more win is needed to be sure of Division 1 status.
Winning the last 3 will get us to the final.
I currently don't see us winning three out of three, but if we can somehow beat Dublin at home we should have enough momentum to do just that.
If we don't win against Dublin morale might drop a bit and beating Cavan in Cavan will be even tougher. Cavan are on only 1 point, but if they beat Tyrone and us (which might happen) they can send us down to Division 2. Even Roscommon can still finish ahead of us if we don't win all three games and they do.
Kevin McStay hinted after their defeat to Mayo that they were targeted certain games and obviously Kerry and Cavan are the two games they identified as must win games.
In fact, I would go one further and think that most counties in Division 1 will see Kerry as a must win game. Under FitzMaurice we have been lucky to stay in Division 1 and from a county that was respected and feared, the Green and Gold jersey worth at least 4 points, we have gone to a team that is seen as soft. Run at Kerry, bully them, frustrate them or go cynical: Kerry can't deal with pressure and will submit to continued pressure. Given Kerry an open game and they might win, but do the opposite and Kerry won't have the answer.
Roscommon, and with all due respect to a proud county, should be no match for Kerry. Roscommon have excellent footballers and a very good manager, but realistically they are the Italy or Zebre of Division 1. They will always make it tough to beat them and will always put it up to teams, but in the end there can be only one result and that is a Kerry win. Instead Roscommon looked the better team yesterday and probably deserved to win.
Their penalty was called a lucky penalty here, but the fact is that we give too many penalties away and if we had not dragged down the player he would have almost certainly scored a goal.
We conceded a penalty against Donegal in the first game, leaked two goals against Monaghan, almost conceded a penalty against Mayo and again conceded one against Roscommon. Our answer to teams running at us seems to be dragging them down. Enright and Crowley are both lucky they did not get black cards as Crowley pushed and dragged his man constantly and Enright pulled down his man a few times, giving away needless frees. Both players should be better and should know better.
Scoring 1-19 seems like a good game, but again we didn't have our best forwards performing like they should.
With Paul Geaney, James O'Donoghue and Barry John Keane in the full forward line and Donnchadh Walsh, Jack Savage and Kevin McCarthy on the 40 you'd expect a high score.
Again, we started well and supplied the forwards with some quality ball, but Roscommon somehow got on top of midfield while we went for short kickouts once again.
With Jack Barry and Moran we had some of the best fielders of the game in the middle, but instead of winning the mark the tactic seemed to be to smash the ball down and hope that the half backs would scoop it and run it into the Roscommon half. Maybe it is something they are working on in training, maybe it is something they are trying to perfect and maybe it a system that Eamon hopes to develop, but so far it is not working.
It is clear that the team is working on something in training. Instructions by Hassett and Fitzmaurice from the sideline indicate players constantly need to be reminded about what their roles are. Kerry are currently playing a type of game that is not really Kerry. After Eamon managed to beat
Donegal in the 2014 final he was being hailed as a master tactician and we even seemed to
consider changing the way Kerry play to deal with the defensive structures being used by other teams. There was people talking about the minors under Jack O'Connor adopting the style of the Kerry seniors and stop playing like typical O'Connor teams. Whatever we are working on in training it doesn't seem to suit players and their natural skills and abilities. Maybe a new system is being introduced, much like McGuinness did, and that would take time. In the previous 4 games we often see players run forwards only to stop and turn as running into an invisible wall.
We see intricate moves and players looking towards the sideline whenever they pay off or, more often, when not. Those are all signs that things are being tried in training. Much like teams set up certain plays in training in rugby and American football it seems like the same is being tried in training. Much like last year against Dublin we need exceptional things to win games and in the semi final last year it looked for a while as if we could get a win. Five points up with not long to go and losing by two. Dublin scored 0-6 in the last 15 minutes (last 9 if you don't include injury time) when Kerry scored just 1 point via Stephen O'Brien. Kerry's subs Sean O'Brien, James O'Donoghue for Donaghy, BJ Keane, Brian ó Beaglaoich, Brian Sheehan and Marc Ó Sé scored just 3 points whereas Dublin brought on Paddy Andrews, Paul Mannion, Eoghan O'Gara, Fitzsimons and Cormac Costello who scored just one point. In fact Dublin had just 22 scores with 10 of those coming from frees and 45s. It shows that we were close to beating Dublin and arguably we have an even better team this year. Some of the best scores seemed to come straight from the training ground and in today's games having 15 good players and a system is no longer good enough. Set plays are as much a part of football now as all the rest and new plays and constantly are constantly being thought of and trained. The hope is that is why Kerry are currently not playing as freely as fluidly as they should.
After all, we have some amazing talent, but seem to fade in and out of games.
On the other hand basic skills seem to be ignored. How many hand passes go horribly wrong, how often do Kerry players run straight into traffic and are not being supported, how often do kick pass go wrong or how often do we fumble the ball? Things like frees for picking the ball of the ground, lying on the ball, double hops, overstepping and so on shouldn't happen. That should be second nature. I'm not singling out Moran, but especially in the first half possession was given away way too easily by him and all throughout the game Kerry passes went wrong. Like in the first 3 games even against Roscommon we kept giving possession away way too easily.
Looking at how Kerry's minor teams played over the last 3 years, the Kerry colleges in the Corn Uií Mhuirí and Hogan Cup competitions, the winning teams playing in the Junior Championship last two years, the Kerry clubs at Junior, Intermediate and Senior level it is clear that a certain Kerry style still exists. Every time Mickmack posts a Youtube video here I see lots of videos on the right side highlighting kerry's exemplary kick passing and skill levels. Kerry are still producing the best footballers, even our County Board Chairman thinks so, but at senior intercounty level we are no longer displaying those skills. Compared to Dublin or even Tyrone Kerry players are no longer kicking the ball to a player running into space such that is bounces and reaches the player's chest with pinpoint accuracy. A player needs to get the ball on the bounce, but a lot of times in the last 4 games, the ball is more or less passed on the ground as if it is Kerry's way of adapting Cork's ground hurling to football.
Fielding too seems to be a skill we have lost.
Maybe, just maybe, we are not saying those skills because of the heavy training they are probably doing at the moment, but the other counties are doing the same. We can't afford to look at excuses and we can't afford to hide behind them either.
With all due respect to Kealy and Kelly we need either one to improve a lot or find a different goalkeeper. Crokes Shane Murphy is not available currently, but wasn't the McGrath cup the time to try out Murphy in one or two games? Will Shane Ryan be given a chance after the U21 championship is over?
Both Kelly and Kealy are struggling at the moment with their kickouts, under the high ball and shot stopping. That said though Kerry players are not moving during the kickout and they don't seem to know where the ball will go. A system of codes like in rugby lineouts is very easily introduced and practiced. Kickouts, and the winning of kickouts, have become such an important factor in football these days that it is unacceptable to just kick the ball long and hope the midfielders can win it. Going short means the opposition will immediately put pressure on the backs and are immediately in goal territory when they turn over the ball. Kickouts need to be taken a lot quicker too as the opposition should have no chance at all to figure out where the ball goes. During a kickout players should be moving and knowing where they should go.
The most successful teams know exactly where the kickout will go and have two scenarios based on whether the ball is won or not. Tyrone and Dublin, and in less obvious ways Donegal, Mayo and Monaghan, create most of their scores directly from kickouts.
Having an excellent full forward line means you can play ball in there quickly and creates goals. Both Kealy and Kelly seem to struggle currently under the high ball and other counties will identify and use that.
Ciaran Murtagh is an excellent player, but everyone around us could see what way Kealy would go on the kick. The whole farce with the ball being in the exact spot could have been comical if it wasn't that serious. Kealy coming up to take frees and then kicking them miles wide it simply unacceptable. If we don't have any players that have that range we should drop it short and go for the goal or a point. We have some of the best forwards in the world so dropping it short will more often than not result in a score.
Enright, Shanahan and Young did well though in the fullback line and Young has become a real leader. Time and time again you could see him instruct the other backs and whenever he went forward you could see the opposition struggled. Like in the game against Mayo he was again one of our best players. Enright is a good player, but when his man is faster than him seems to know one solution only that is foul the man. We give away too many scorable frees and in my opinion I would have Ó Beaglaoich on , when he becomes available again, instead of Enright. Enright is a serious player, but needs to learn not to cough up so many frees. By comparison a young, inexperienced player like Shanahan did amazing work. Shanahan seems to have what it takes to become a sure starter. A few good games don't make a Kerry star though so we'll just wait and see.
In the half back line Crowley too was out of his depth. I think I saw at least 8 or 9 pushes and just as many jersey-tucks by Crowley yesterday and each one could have meant a black card. By comparison Griffin offered a lot more when he came on and it is great to see that he is still getting a chance and in a position that suits him much better. If only we had started with Griffin.... Morley and Murphy though were under pressure. Given how excellent Morley was in the first 3 games it was a bad game for him and he was the one who pulled Enda Smith down. Whether it was a penalty or not, I think it was by the way, is not important as another ref would have issued a black card if it was outside the rectangle. We can't do that, not at this level. Murphy too seemed confused by having to adapt to a different role again. Whether he was doing the business at Centre Half Forward or not, it seemed like he still wanted to play that role yesterday. When he first came on the scene he was amazing in both the right corner or the right wing, but instead he was being put on the left wing. Would it not have been better to go with Crowley or Lyne at Centre Half back and Morley on the right wing, freeing up Murphy to go back to his favourite side and discover the form that set the championship alight when he burst on the scene in 2014.
Given how well Lyne and Griffin did when they came on it was strange to see how long Crowley was kept on the pitch. Sometimes things just don't work out, but Eamon seems reluctant to make the changes.
Likewise Moran and Jack Barry were not winning midfield, but nothing was done for 30 minutes. Sheehan looked fitter than ever when he came on against Monaghan and I think he was missed yesterday. Moran is one of our best players and a leader of the team, but he did not have a great game yesterday. Instead Jack Barry was subbed and Maher brought in. Jack Barry again had some excellent runs and caused a lot of problems to Roscommon when he did win ball. Maher did not play better than Barry when he came on. Yesterday was a game made for Brendan O'Sullivan but instead he is nowhere near the panel. Did he remove himself I wonder? Fed up with the treatment he has been getting? Griffin too would have been a good option in midfield.
Moran and Maher seemed to be tapping ball down rather than fielding it and more often than not Roscommon came away with it.
Kevin McCarthy and Jack Savage had very good games and Jack Savage played a similar role to the Gooch on the 40. He played that role very, very well. Mccarthy worked hard all day and was like a young Donnchadh Walsh. Hopefully he keeps this form going.
Donnchadh Walsh seems to have discipline issues now he picked up a totally needless black card just after coming back from a suspension. I don't get why Eamon went for Stephen O'Brien instead of Darran O'Sullivan as Darran was again one of the main attacking threats when he came on for Savage, who was playing well, whereas Stephen O'Brien kept running into traffic too often. Stephen did create the goal though, but I'm still not convinced about him.
Personally, I would have brought on Darran for Donnchadh and Conor Keane towards the end.
Jonathan Lyne came on for Young, who seems to have a slight injury, meaning we had no more fullback. Would Gavin Crowley not have been a better option, given that he played full back at minor and U21 level. What is the point of having him on the bench if he never gets any time on the ball?
The same with Denis Daly who is just warming the bench.
If Eamon doesn't want to play them then get them off the bench. I wouldn't blame the two of they get really frustrated by now.
Likewise bringing on Mikey Geaney for Barry John, why not Conor Keane.
Why have Cathal Ó Lúing there, another player with experience at full back, if he's not getting any time at all?
When we needed scores Eamon took of Barry John and brings on Mikey Geaney.
Paul Geaney and James O'Donoghue seem to be struggling as they are not just not as clinical as they were. They both had low scoring for players of their standing and though geaney finished with 1-6 he only scored 2 from play and a goal that was created by Kevin McCarthy and Stephen O'Brien.
In short: a huge improvement is needed in two weeks time and though we might be focusing on Dublin the way Roscommon focused on beating us, I can't see Kerry winning that game unless we get every player back to their old form.
Scorers for Kerry: Paul Geaney 1-6 (0-4f), James O’Donoghue 0-4 (0-1f), Jack Savage, BJ Keane 0-2 each, Shane Enright, Peter Crowley, Paul Murphy, David Moran, Stephen O’Brien 0-1 each.