NFL Rnd 5 Kerry vs Mayo, Tralee, Sat March 12th @ 7.30pm

[thehermit]

What I'd give to experience just one dry match this League. I was the proverbial drowned rodent by the time I reached the Mitchels shed which provided no cover anyway given the wind was blowing the rain straight into it. My program's pages were fused together 5mins into the game.
Its a credit to the lads on the field that they could play any sort of football in those wretched conditions.

I felt we were the better team but that was far more evident in the first half. The forwards didn't really perform in the second 35 and DC was fairly subdued but still kicked the two frees we needed to see us home. Agree Brosnan was playing great stuff. Don't think Savage did a whole pile.
Midfield let Mr O'Shea look like a million dollars which was disappointing because we all know his proper valuation.
Agree with the poster above about Murphy, what was he doing standing around that far out the field a night like that and only casually sauntering back to his goal.
But for all those concerns massive praise for the boys at the back. This was a night you were battling opponents and the elements, a misplaced pass or kick and anything could have happened given the conditions. To keep them out for registering a major and reduce them to mostly frees was great stuff. We really are building a formidable defence. Add to that the workrate and tackling and harrying by the forwards in the first half, we must have earned 5-6 turnovers that allowed us build a decent lead.

Agree to re: the coulor clash absoulete madness. I saw at least one clear example where, I think is was Spillane, popped the ball to a Mayo opponent obviously thinking he was in the Kerry blue. Maybe in daylight it might not have been so evident, but under floodlights the two jerseys looked very similar and that's not the first time its happened in a Kerry/Mayo game. The home team should always be allowed its home jersey, this rule about both changing is bonkers.

A final word on the ref, I felt he was giving Mayo very very soft frees those last 15 mins. Ultimately its Kerry's fault we allowed them back into it instead of pushing on to open a 4,5,6 point lead but the ref gave Mayo anything that was going.
Why was Hennelly allowed retake that free for example?

Worse as if the 6mins of extra time wasn't enough our man allows them to go nearly 8mins in search of an equalizer. It might not have been evident on tv, but the crowd actually ran onto the pitch before he had blown for fulltime. And that gets no complaints from me!!

We should be certain to get a League final now barring an utter collapse in the last two weeks. Looking forward to taking a novel spin to Armagh next weekend now to see how we fair up there.

Great to win a thight game when our backs were to the wall a bit. We did very well in holding on to the ball and getting scores or a free in the last 10 mins.

It was almost worth the drowning - almost

An Riocht Abu!

[dc84]

Jack needs to pick a goalie at this stage and stick with them kickouts are all about trust between midfield and the goalie takes time to build up.
Despite the narrative that Jack isnt building a squad I think he has done a reasonable job with it! Would anyone bat an eyelid if donoghue,brosnan casey Shane Murphy or graham sull started against cork ? I wouldn't anyway that's 5 options extra on last year ( I know some of them were involved previously ). We missed seanie big time though paudie comes too deep and holds the ball 2 much for my liking when asked to try and be the playmaker It all just works better with o shea there and why wouldn't it he is the best 11 in the game!

[kot]

Mar 12, 2022 22:35:33 GMT ciarraimick said:

Yes Dara worked very hard and turned over the ball alot which was great to see. Showed aggression without fouling. There is going to be some battle at the back for places as everyone doing so well.

Yes agree he played well, thing he needs to add is to be a go-to score getter. A bit like galvin, leave him free at your peril or he will tag on 4 points… which he has in the locker, he just seems to hold back a little.

[kerrysouth]

Jack will be very pleased with the win especiallly missing players of the calibre of OShea white Moran etc will have learnt a lot about his squad thought Graham o sullivan kick passing very good and there is a real chemistry developing between Clifford and Brosnan .Winning primary possession in midfield when we go long from kick outs is a big worry as teams will really press our kick outs and force us to go long if we cant win primary possession but overall a good win and more importantly a really good test and more players involved

[royalkerryfan]

Mar 13, 2022 9:56:51 GMT kerrysouth said:

Jack will be very pleased with the win especiallly missing players of the calibre of OShea white Moran etc will have learnt a lot about his squad thought Graham o sullivan kick passing very good and there is a real chemistry developing between Clifford and Brosnan .Winning primary possession in midfield when we go long from kick outs is a big worry as teams will really press our kick outs and force us to go long if we cant win primary possession but overall a good win and more importantly a really good test and more players involved

Kickouts are differently our most worrying issue at the moment.

[southward]

Mar 13, 2022 9:56:51 GMT kerrysouth said:

Jack will be very pleased with the win especiallly missing players of the calibre of OShea white Moran etc will have learnt a lot about his squad thought Graham o sullivan kick passing very good and there is a real chemistry developing between Clifford and Brosnan .Winning primary possession in midfield when we go long from kick outs is a big worry as teams will really press our kick outs and force us to go long if we cant win primary possession but overall a good win and more importantly a really good test and more players involved

He seems pleased alright..

www.the42.ie/jack-oconnor-kerry-gaa-5709694-Mar2022/

[keane]

While David Clifford is capable of absolutely sublime stuff on the football field there is a big casual streak in his play. He makes more basic mistakes than a player of his calibre ever should. I really hope he looks to eradicate them, maybe better weather will help.

[greengold35]

Mar 13, 2022 0:36:59 GMT thehermit said:

What I'd give to experience just one dry match this League. I was the proverbial drowned rodent by the time I reached the Mitchels shed which provided no cover anyway given the wind was blowing the rain straight into it. My program's pages were fused together 5mins into the game.
Its a credit to the lads on the field that they could play any sort of football in those wretched conditions.

I felt we were the better team but that was far more evident in the first half. The forwards didn't really perform in the second 35 and DC was fairly subdued but still kicked the two frees we needed to see us home. Agree Brosnan was playing great stuff. Don't think Savage did a whole pile.
Midfield let Mr O'Shea look like a million dollars which was disappointing because we all know his proper valuation.
Agree with the poster above about Murphy, what was he doing standing around that far out the field a night like that and only casually sauntering back to his goal.
But for all those concerns massive praise for the boys at the back. This was a night you were battling opponents and the elements, a misplaced pass or kick and anything could have happened given the conditions. To keep them out for registering a major and reduce them to mostly frees was great stuff. We really are building a formidable defence. Add to that the workrate and tackling and harrying by the forwards in the first half, we must have earned 5-6 turnovers that allowed us build a decent lead.

Agree to re: the coulor clash absoulete madness. I saw at least one clear example where, I think is was Spillane, popped the ball to a Mayo opponent obviously thinking he was in the Kerry blue. Maybe in daylight it might not have been so evident, but under floodlights the two jerseys looked very similar and that's not the first time its happened in a Kerry/Mayo game. The home team should always be allowed its home jersey, this rule about both changing is bonkers.

A final word on the ref, I felt he was giving Mayo very very soft frees those last 15 mins. Ultimately its Kerry's fault we allowed them back into it instead of pushing on to open a 4,5,6 point lead but the ref gave Mayo anything that was going.
Why was Hennelly allowed retake that free for example?

Worse as if the 6mins of extra time wasn't enough our man allows them to go nearly 8mins in search of an equalizer. It might not have been evident on tv, but the crowd actually ran onto the pitch before he had blown for fulltime. And that gets no complaints from me!!

We should be certain to get a League final now barring an utter collapse in the last two weeks. Looking forward to taking a novel spin to Armagh next weekend now to see how we fair up there.

Great to win a thight game when our backs were to the wall a bit. We did very well in holding on to the ball and getting scores or a free in the last 10 mins.

It was almost worth the drowning - almost

An Riocht Abu!

The Hennelly retake was that Dara Moynihan was too close to the kicker - didn’t look like it on tv & even McStay remarked that Dara looked to be the requisite 13 metres away.
Agree on the ref - Mayo certainly favoured in final quarter - looked like ref wanted a draw!

[buck02]

I see a headline from Joe Brolly criticising the game last night. I'm not surprised and I won't read his ramblings but all I will say is that anybody not at the game last night wouldn't have understood just how bad the conditions were.

Not winning a tight game is something that we have lamented about Kerry in recent seasons so this will be pleasing. It reminded me a bit like the finish of a Dublin game in the same venue a few years ago when Peter Crowley scored the winning point in injury time after Dublin had drawn level.

Winning such a game without leaders like Seanie and David Moran on the pitch is something that Jack and crew will be delighted with.

Lots of stuff that we could nit pick about but I think the manner of the win will be the most important thing to take from last night.

[southward]

Mar 13, 2022 10:55:08 GMT greengold35 said:

The Hennelly retake was that Dara Moynihan was too close to the kicker - didn’t look like it on tv & even McStay remarked that Dara looked to be the requisite 13 metres away.
Agree on the ref - Mayo certainly favoured in final quarter - looked like ref wanted a draw!

He was going to play on after Keegan's wide too only for the kids. You could see him trying to shoo them off at first, then giving up.

[ciarraimick]

Keane I agree with you 100%.I have been sayi g this for the last 3 years and people think I'm anti David. I'm not. I get frustrated because of it. David is a superstar and has all the tools to be the greatest forward of all time but because of this its like coaches are afraid to tell him stuff about his negatives and they can be remedied quickly. I. He sometimes gets involved in silly tiffs when no need. His lack of attention at times is so poor that most other players would be punished for it. David gave away the ball simply last night on two occasions and one just before half time which could have cost us dearly. David was the cause of Tyrone s first goal last year with a lazy solo that went straight to Tyrone. Also his kicking sometimes is half hearted and has a habit of dropping them into keepers hands although he got away with it v Donegal with a flukey goal. Finally he is the word tackler in the team and I hate to see him inside our own half. Its like because of his genius no trainer or manager is willing to talk to him in these faults. All he needs is fine tuning. For me his errors cost us v Cork in 2020 although he scored one unbelievable point. He should have been red carded in AI final for an elbow to Murchan in the face. David for all his brilliance drives me crazy at times. Seanie Ó Shea probably has nt half his skill but he s more dependable. Jack and Tally should deal with it.

[veteran]

Another NFL night in Tralee. Another freezing and drenching of the body. These are he sacrifices we make for the fatherland. Still, the discomfort is considerably eased when victory is secured, especially after a monumental struggle. The match wasn't of the quality one was hoping for but this can be attributed to the awful conditions. On the other hand it can be confidently asserted that the tumultuous contest, that is what it was, lacked nothing in terms of physical intensity and daredevil endeavour, particularly when the match reached its crescendo with Mayo desperately looking for an eqaulising score or indeed a winning score. They may have snatched one or both with a smidgin of luck or , more likely, if Kerry were not so feverishly determined to thwart them at every hand's turn. Eventually, the glory belonged to the Kerry lads, the mental breakdown to me. I expect I will be all right with treatment.

Kerry lined out with Tony Brosnan starting instead of Paul Geaney. I bow to nobody in my admiration for Paul but I was delighted that Tony was included from the start. I cannot understand the repeated reluctance to select this crack shot. Mayo began in a serious fashion and we found it difficult to gain possession but when we did we attacked with purpose and menace. Needless to say the phenomenal David Clifford was the chief instigator up front of this Mayo jeopardy. Inevitably, he was involved in the goal but he didn't start it or finish it. That chore fell to a man who , apparently, was not destined to be on the pitch, your friend and mine, Tony. He collected and danced, parted to David and Adrian Spillane so they could share the journey, collected again and danced again and struck the target like he routinely does for Dr. Crokes. A predator's habitat is on the pitch not on the bench. Ah, he did several other great things as well.

But of course Kerry did not have matters all their own way in that opening half. Diarmuid O'Connor had a great chance of a goal but Shane Murphy got some part of his body to the ball to enact a crucial save. Another Mayo man shot narrowly wide. A goal up at half time , playing with the wind. Would it be enough? You wouldn't put your life savings on it.

Mayo continued their hard running , physical effort in the second half yet we seemed to be able to keep them at arm's length. This was achieved by a relentless work rate. Coming into the home stretch we we were three up and then something bizarre occurs. We win a free in front of the posts which my five month old grandson, I introduced him to you after the Donegal match, would have converted. For some inexplicable reason Paudie Clifford decides to take it. Why? And then when he took it, did he mi* it or was he trying to sneak into the goal. Either way, the calamitous upshot was that the free was saved. Had we scored we would have gone four up. To compound our misery, Mayo swept upfield and scored. Rather then being four up we were now just two up. Memo to Paudie: you had another fine game, particularly in the first half when you worked like a dervish but delicate matters are the domain of the kid. The kid in this case is not a reference to my grandson!

As affairs came to the boil, we were finding it increasingly difficult to win our kickout. The maddening thing was this was a reprise of what happened for a stage in the second half against Donegal. Shane , as Shane Murphy did in Killarney, hit a sequence of kicks out to more or less the same spot in front of the stand. No variation. We were being obliterated during that phase of the game while contesting those kicks out. If Shane did not have the wit to do so himself, why did management not advise him to mix it up a bit. Of course, I admit that failure to capture our own kicks out is not entirely the goalie's fault but he should have the gumption to try some other tactic if success is not accruing from what he has being trying heretofore.

In most of our matches we tend to struggle with our kicks out. Mayo seemed to able to get their efforts away effortlessly. A lot of our short ones were directed low along the ground which, with a wet ball can be suicidal. The ball can easily be picked off the ground or fumbled with a forward on your back. Perhaps, our backs are not readily making themselves available. On the other hand , Jason made himself available on several occasions in the second half on the terrace side only to be ignored. I am labouring our kick out predicament because if we do not sort it out, long and short, we can throw our hat at Sam.

Mayo threw the kitchen sink, table and chairs at us as we approached the finishing line , aided by two or three outrageous refereeing decisions. To the eternal credit of our lads, backs in particular, we did not buckle.

It is odd to relate that Tom O'Sullivan was our only back to struggle. One of his difficulties was that anytime Ryan O'Donoghue went to ground a free was awarded. Tom is entitled to the odd poor day. I was very impressed by Dylan Casey. I like his understated style. Little flamboyance about this young man. Old school , no nonsense defending.

Jason Foley at last seems to realising the potential he displayed as a minor. He has got much stronger without compromising his speed. I felt he was wonderful last night.

Graham O'Sullivan was a tenacious, bundle of aggression. He limped off late in the game and the hope is that this does not worsen our injury tale of woe. Tadgh Morley and Brian O'Beaghlaigh continued their good recent form. Brian was caught for a short kick out, when he waited rather attacking the ball.

Overall, our midfield came off second best. Mayo are strong there. Diarmuid did make a few incisive bursts . Jack made one extraordinary interception, bravely going low to retrieve a misplaced pass.

Apart from a couple of wayward kicks in the first half, Dara Moynihan had a magnificent match. He clattered into much bigger lads, disdainfully dispossessing them, hared around the field in a demented , yet purposeful fashion. He was one of our main men. Adrian was more subdued than of late and took a ferocious belt in the face and was appropriately substituted early in the second half.

David Clifford was massive. Nothing new there I suppose. Oh people say he shouldn't do this , he shouldn't do that , he should the other thing. Bear this in mind. David is not a footballing machine. David is a footballing genius. Therefore he does what geniuses do. He does the sublime more often than not. Occasionally, like all geniuses he can be careless, indifferent indeed, but mostly he is awesome. I am partial to bit of genius. You should too. It is what is most likely to transport out of these dismal, gloomy times.

[rollingstone]

Mar 12, 2022 23:01:33 GMT southward said:

Dunno how it looked on the telly but the colour clash seemed quite pronounced in the flesh. Baffling that both teams changed colours and actually manufactured this situation. Was it responsible for one or two of the turnovers, I wonder - it's got to have impacted fellas' peripheral vision at least.

A complete joke that the home team changes anyway and even worse when it was a similar dark shade to that of the away team. 

What is the point in having a home and away jersey if the home team always changes as well?

[southward]

Including the McGrath Cup, that's 8 games now without conceding a goal. And no, the phantom penalty in Inniskeen doesn't count. Fair going.

[southward]

Mar 13, 2022 11:06:49 GMT ciarraimick said:

Keane I agree with you 100%.I have been sayi g this for the last 3 years and people think I'm anti David. I'm not. I get frustrated because of it. David is a superstar and has all the tools to be the greatest forward of all time but because of this its like coaches are afraid to tell him stuff about his negatives and they can be remedied quickly. I. He sometimes gets involved in silly tiffs when no need. His lack of attention at times is so poor that most other players would be punished for it. David gave away the ball simply last night on two occasions and one just before half time which could have cost us dearly. David was the cause of Tyrone s first goal last year with a lazy solo that went straight to Tyrone. Also his kicking sometimes is half hearted and has a habit of dropping them into keepers hands although he got away with it v Donegal with a flukey goal. Finally he is the word tackler in the team and I hate to see him inside our own half. Its like because of his genius no trainer or manager is willing to talk to him in these faults. All he needs is fine tuning. For me his errors cost us v Cork in 2020 although he scored one unbelievable point. He should have been red carded in AI final for an elbow to Murchan in the face. David for all his brilliance drives me crazy at times. Seanie Ó Shea probably has nt half his skill but he s more dependable. Jack and Tally should deal with it.

Jesus, Mick, did Clifford nick your girlfriend or something?

[misteallaigh abú]

Yet again last night Briain Ó Beaglaoich & Morley we’re excellent and it is great to see Jason Foley gaining in confidence with each game. We have a very solid structure in our defence and the absences of Breen, White, Murphy & Donoghue weren’t too harshly felt last night. A good sign.
Mayo were good and they gave it everything, as they always do. It was, however, heartening to see us stand up to it then the screw was being tightly turned on us. Another good sign.
We now are practically guaranteed a league final place, great to have with championship around the corner.
I thought the ref did a decent job in awful conditions.
Aidan O Shea, involved in everything bar the football part of it!

[ciarraimick]

Southward😁😁 Seriously though. I am a big fan of Clifford as are my kids but he frustrates me because he is so good that he has a devil me are attitude sometimes and makes very basic errors. Look his skillset is second to none but he needs more concentration.

[taggert]

Mar 13, 2022 11:30:34 GMT misteallaigh abú said:

Yet again last night Briain Ó Beaglaoich & Morley we’re excellent and it is great to see Jason Foley gaining in confidence with each game. We have a very solid structure in our defence and the absences of Breen, White, Murphy & Donoghue weren’t too harshly felt last night. A good sign.
Mayo were good and they gave it everything, as they always do. It was, however, heartening to see us stand up to it then the screw was being tightly turned on us. Another good sign.
We now are practically guaranteed a league final place, great to have with championship around the corner.
I thought the ref did a decent job in awful conditions.
Aidan O Shea, involved in everything bar the football part of it!

🤣
Good shout.
All AoS was short was a whistle and notebook last night.....

[Annascaultilidie]

"If I exorcise my devils, well my angels may leave too."

[ciarraimick]

Annascaul. That might be true but it's the simple things that are easy to correct. Paudie is being talked about for his missed free but I've seen David miss simple ones too in front of goals and thats down to a carelessness. All great players have flaws but David s flaw is carelessness and that's easily sorted.

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2022 11:06:49 GMT ciarraimick said:

Keane I agree with you 100%.I have been sayi g this for the last 3 years and people think I'm anti David. I'm not. I get frustrated because of it. David is a superstar and has all the tools to be the greatest forward of all time but because of this its like coaches are afraid to tell him stuff about his negatives and they can be remedied quickly. I. He sometimes gets involved in silly tiffs when no need. His lack of attention at times is so poor that most other players would be punished for it. David gave away the ball simply last night on two occasions and one just before half time which could have cost us dearly. David was the cause of Tyrone s first goal last year with a lazy solo that went straight to Tyrone. Also his kicking sometimes is half hearted and has a habit of dropping them into keepers hands although he got away with it v Donegal with a flukey goal. Finally he is the word tackler in the team and I hate to see him inside our own half. Its like because of his genius no trainer or manager is willing to talk to him in these faults. All he needs is fine tuning. For me his errors cost us v Cork in 2020 although he scored one unbelievable point. He should have been red carded in AI final for an elbow to Murchan in the face. David for all his brilliance drives me crazy at times. Seanie Ó Shea probably has nt half his skill but he s more dependable. Jack and Tally should deal with it.

Mick iv said it to you before that you've been watching the dublin robots a bit too much over the Last 10/12 years, the dubs players will play a system that limits skill but you'll get results from it, for me football should be intertaining and nobody in the world knows what Clifford will do when he gets the ball and that's exciting and I say long may it last.

The best part of Clifford unpredictability is. Its hard for teams to nail him down.

Please sit back and enjoy David Clifford, let him be himself as he won't be around for ever and the game needs mavericks after 8 years of dublin robot wars.

[rollingstone]

Thought Moynihan was excellent last night, got really stuck in with turnovers and setting up play. I'd need to see the replay of the match but live in the second half he looked to me like he won several breaking balls from long kick outs to the stand that he (and I) knew were very very unlikely to be won cleanly. I was on the terrace in the opposite corner so I am open to correction but I'm sure I saw him manoeuvre himself into position for the breaks and he got his rewards a few times. People have observed that he's not a huge scoring threat but IIRC he's chipped in with a few this NFL including the goal against Dublin, would like to see his stats on that.

[royalkerryfan]

Mick,

The reason people rave about David is the things he can do that others can't the unpredictable.

Do not change David do not change.

[kot]

You can have the sublime genius and serial success. Doesnt have to be a choice. I.e. noughties + gooch.

[dc84]

Funny I was just thinking as i read the narrative across a few papers yesterday about how mayo have this amazing full backline in comparison to ours.
Then I watched the match and saw it very differently if I was mayo id be a little bit worried about their defence that was more or less their full defence Harrison maybe aside.
The balance is off and coen is struggling badly I'm not sure about o hora either he is relentless alright but struggled positionally last night and a few other times aswell. Not sure Mullins is a man marker at all either.
Our ff line scored 1-6 from play no bad shooting considering the conditions by most accounts this morning Ryan o donoghue destroyed Tom sull to the grand total of 1 mark and 0 from play, Orme got 0-1.
If Cillian o connor was playing last night then o donoghue wouldve got 0-1 I wonder would their be as much talk about him he was good on the frees but nothing spectacular either.

[dc84]

Mar 13, 2022 14:04:11 GMT ryle1973 said:

Dc84 - Great post and I tend to agree with you.
Watched the game back this morning. Ryan O'Donoghue's kicked some big frees. Outside of that what did he do that was so special? He didn't touch the ball in the first half. Won a good mark and a free in the second half. Every other ball he got just went backwards with it? What do people want Tom to do, intercept 50% of the ball that's kicked in like he usually does?
Great to see Jason Foley having a fine game after all the criticism he's received here. A hard north kerry man!

Boland was their best forward kicked 3 pts Tom has set such high standards its very hard to destroy every single best opposition forward every week!
If Tom keeps him scoreless from play if we meet again id be happy enough !

[ciarraimick]

Kingdomboy We are discussing Clifford not Dublin and if you considered Diarmuid Connolly or Con Ó Callaghan robots then you were nt watching them much. If you enjoy a player missing tap over frees or passing the ball to the opposition that's fine but I don't. I enjoy his ball winni g and his sublime scores but No I don't enjoy simple errors that can cost a team. Did you enjoy his pathetic solo to Tyrone that cost us a goal last year or some of his simple misses v Cork in 2020?.I doubt you did. If it was David Moran he d be slated. Now as I've said before I think David is a superstar but he makes a way more errors than other greats I've seen like Maurice Gooch Canavan McManus etc.

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2022 15:39:26 GMT ciarraimick said:

Kingdomboy We are discussing Clifford not Dublin and if you considered Diarmuid Connolly or Con Ó Callaghan robots then you were nt watching them much. If you enjoy a player missing tap over frees or passing the ball to the opposition that's fine but I don't. I enjoy his ball winni g and his sublime scores but No I don't enjoy simple errors that can cost a team. Did you enjoy his pathetic solo to Tyrone that cost us a goal last year or some of his simple misses v Cork in 2020?.I doubt you did. If it was David Moran he d be slated. Now as I've said before I think David is a superstar but he makes a way more errors than other greats I've seen like Maurice Gooch Canavan McManus etc.

no Mick I don't Clifford for a bad solo or for going for the jugular against Cork on a night when you would hardly put a bucket outside the door, it's a 15 man game not a 1 man show and he needs other lads to do their parts as well .

I just think you should enjoy David Clifford flaws and all at least he doesn't do the fool like Connolly O'Callaghan is a good player that played to an exact system and no off the cuff like our Clifford.

[ciarraimick]

Missing simple scores in front of goals and giving away simple passes is not off the cuff football. Anyone can do that.

[royalkerryfan]

Ahh Mick anyone can miss a score or a pass.

Remember the lad is still young.