Excellent defensive

Former Kerry goalkeeper Eamonn Fitzgerald reflects on a pleasant outing to Croke Park

On Saturday last this Kerry team delivered what I hoped they would but was anything but sure they could.

Their form since winning Sam just a year ago was patchy and unconvincing. Hammering Louth gave hope, but Tyrone was the acid test. Thankfully they delivered.

Now we can look forward to a probable Kerry v Dublin final. Jack O’Connor will be dampening down the present elation. Kerry got the tougher semi-final: Derry are well ahead of Monaghan.

So, on the weekend of June 15/16, both Kerry senior football teams will be in action. The Kerry ladies’ win over Cavan last weekend guarantees them a home quarter-final against Meath, the current All-Ireland champions, in Tralee on the Saturday.

On The Road

Going to Croke Park is always special. Why you go there is obvious, but too often circumstances dictate the mode of transport. What with trains booked out so fast, and the uncertainty of extra carriages being provided by Irish Rail, and the ridiculous GAAGO saga, alternatives must be sought.

It deprives so many people who are in no position to travel to Dublin either for health, age or financial reasons. This compounds the frustration for so many Kerry supporters.

On this occasion the Road to Croker literally became the Road to Croker. Diarmaid wheeled all four of us safely and smoothly to the Red Cow. Brendan, Malachy and Tom shortened the journey with opinions, yarns, craic, banter and great fun. The Luas into town heaved with so many Kerry fans. Quite rightly, traditionalist Tom proposed a dinner in the middle of the day. The 3.45pm throw-in gave ample time to stroll to Croker, and I enjoyed guiding my colleagues to the game, diverting quite often from the usual trek from town to Jones’ Rd. I didn’t lead them quite so far off the beaten track as happened on the way to the 2022 final, to the home of Kellie Harrington.

For very good reasons, Tom hadn’t been in Croke Park for quite some time, so on this occasion we headed for the Hogan and Tom was feted at premium level. Fair dues to this farmer of many hectares, who is also an agronomist and an environmentalist. He was like the curious children in The Village Schoolmaster

“who gazed and gazed and still the wonder grew how”.

The green sward of the pitch was heaven on earth for this man who helped the great Prunty create the new sand-based pitch in the Fitzgerald Stadium. His opinion on the Croke Park pitch: “very green and not a weed in sight, but little comfort for the poor bees”.

With the job done and the monkeys

DEFENCE: Cormac Quinn of Tyrone is tackled by Kerry half forward Dara Moynihan. Photo: all gone, Diarmaid pointed the Ford Mondeo southward. The game was parsed, deconstructed, re-constructed and each passenger gave his honest opinion. These are mine in summary.

I was reminded that in the past I expressed reservations about this Kerry team and doubted that it was capable of retaining the Sam Maguire. Although I expected Kerry would defeat Tyrone, I felt that everything would have to go right for Kerry. They won in 2022 because they had the best player in their ranks, played to a good defensive strategy and were lucky. The Seánie O’Shea miracle and all that.

My main concern was that Kerry would not assert themselves and impose their game on Tyrone. If Tyrone lured them into an ambush of physicality, with little regard for fair play, the real danger was that David Clifford would become so frustrated. He could be caught up in retaliation and would walk prematurely along with his older brother, Paudie. The Red Hand of Ulster would thrive. Now I revise my opinion, still with some reservations. This is a good Kerry team, not great, but a lucky one. Luck was on their side. Cork did them a favour. They had two weeks to prepare and as Dr Eamonn always maintained, rest is central to recovery from training and/or matches.

In the 19th minute, the person sitting be- side me (a stranger, a native of Castleisland but out of the Kingdom for decades) asked me what I thought would happen. I had no hesitation in assuring him that barring some freak refereeing decisions, penalties given that should not be given or vice versa, Kerry were going to win. Tyrone played their usual swarming tactics and then released a runner through the central channel on a path for a goal. This Kerry defence was excellent. Tyrone got to within 40 metres of the Kerry goal at best, realistically outside the scoring area. The D was preserved. Ironically, former Tyrone player Paddy Tally provided the blueprint. He played a huge role in the strategy for last year’s All-Ireland final, but unfortunately Kerry did not adhere to that in the league. Tadhg Morley was brilliant for the first time in a year. He closed off the bearna baol.

Then Gavin White showed why he is an All-Star. Out with injury for most of the past year, he played his primary role of defence perfectly and really opened up the Tyrone defence with those searing runs. He broke the tackles and the scoring opportunities emerged. Midfield did very well, especially Diarmuid O’Connor (1-2). He had a good final last year but in my opinion has disappointed in his progress as a midfielder. A brilliant minor along with Clifford and O’Shea, with great strength, mobility and fielding abil-