What a difference a fortnight makes. Kerry manager Jack O’Connor is no less happy to have beaten Tyrone in Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final than he was when champions Armagh were tumbled two weeks ago: “Delighted,” he specifies.
But he is a more upbeat, less recriminatory Jack than when taking issue with his team’s treatment at the hands of Kerry pundits after the quarter-final, contentedly contemplating his seventh All-Ireland final – even though the season is now truncated.
“In the old days, it was three or four weeks to an All-Ireland final, but it’ll be a great two weeks, you know, there’s always a great buzz around the county so really looking forward to it now.”
There may not have been the sturm und drang of the 15 minutes when Armagh were consigned to their championship exit by an unanswered 14-point barrage, but once again Kerry dominated and ran off a series of scores that effectively took the match away from Tyrone.
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Once Darragh Canavan had cut the margin to a point in the 42nd minute, 0-13 to 1-11, the Ulster team didn’t score again for 22 minutes by which stage they were eight points worse off on the scoreboard and embarking on the last few minutes of their 2025 season.
It had started quite well for them and they led for most of the first quarter and were right in it until half-time. But Kerry had turned the tables with a 29th-minute goal by David Clifford, who would end the day with 1-9, and they were never headed again.
O’Connor thought that the wind might have played a role in subduing Tyrone in that third quarter but he also pinpointed a much better performance from his team around the middle where the early imperium of Conn Kilpatrick was broken and Kerry’s Joe O’Connor was named TV man-of-the-match for a dynamic display getting on ball and moving forward.
“What a game Joe had, you know, a powerful game and he’s getting better ... all the time.
“We got to grips around the middle of the field – that was the big thing. No better man than this man here on a lot of breaks [he was sitting beside his captain Gavin White, who had played a big role in turning things around] and that was the thing that was killing us early on.
“I think there was a bit of a disconnect between Shane’s kick-out and fellas getting to the pitch at the break, so we spoke about that at half-time and I think that was a big factor in the second half.”
He acknowledged that the win could have been more emphatic, given the number of goal opportunities his team created. But a combination of poor finishing, inspired goalkeeping by Niall Morgan, and some desperate defensive interventions kept the score in check.
“I know, I know, two or three at the back post that looked like tap-ins: it’s disappointing ... but at least we created the chances. Today we were creating goal chances.
“The last day we were creating two-point chances, but I think it’s a sign of the team that they recognised what was in front of them and there was a bit more space inside this time. And they got the ball in and created those chances, but yeah, look, sure of course we could have had an easier afternoon if we converted a couple more.”
White was asked about the challenge of playing in such hot weather – with on-field temperatures in the high 20s.
“Certainly, they were difficult conditions to play in so I suppose we were looking to try and keep the ball as much as we could, but everyone on our team was obviously trying to run the ball as best as they could. It was fairly warm out there at pitch level.”
Malachy O’Rourke, as a former member of the FRC, whose rules modifications have played such a role in making the football championship the best in years, was able to accept ruefully that the additional space accorded to full forwards had been additionally challenging. But he had no excuses, demurring when asked to comment on his team’s meagre free count in the first half.
In general, he acknowledged that things hadn’t worked as planned.
“Yeah, it was disappointing the way it got away from us. I suppose at half-time we felt we were right in the game. First half we played a lot of good football. We did well on both kick-outs. I suppose the downside of that was we gave away a wee bit of possession cheaply through our own efforts, unforced, and then Kerry put us under pressure at times.
“And then we were caught a wee bit at the back then, we left ourselves a wee bit bare at the back. And obviously David Clifford, we didn’t give Paudie [Hampsey] enough cover at times, and David Clifford in particular was very prominent there.”
