Most managers will tell you they learn as much in defeat as in victory, although Eamonn Fitzmaurice was not being as philosophical as that. Defeat to Dublin always hurts, no matter what shape or form it comes in, and Fitzmaurice found nothing new in that lesson.
There's nothing new about Kieran Donaghy struggling to win a free either, said Fitzmaurice, the Kerry manager highlighting his frustration on the sideline by suggesting there was "rape and pillage" going on around Donaghy in the second half, and still he could not win a free.
Donaghy had a legitimate claim on a penalty late in the second half when given close attention by Cian O’Sullivan.
Fitzmaurice clearly was not happy with the treatment of Donaghy when playing at full forward. “Kieran Donaghy finds it very hard to get frees. It frustrates him, frustrates us, and he does get a lot of treatment before the ball comes in. One of the reasons we moved him out the field this league was to give him a bit of freedom, to play a bit of football.
“Before half time, when he was inside there [at full forward], he caught a ball inside, and there was a very soft free giving out. And then there was basically rape and pillage going on in front of the goal in the second half and we didn’t get anything.
“It’s frustrating, but it is what it is. We knew it coming up, knew that’s the way it’s going to be, and we just have to keep going. But it is very frustrating when you’re being targeted and fouled and you don’t get frees. But it’s not just Kieran. You see it in games in general, that the big man should be able to give as good as he gets. But a free is a free.”
Not that Fitzmaurice was using Donaghy’s apparent lack of frees as an excuse for the 11-point defeat. “At times we get obsessed with stats. The most important stat is the scoreboard. You win by what you deserve to win, you lose by what you deserve to lose.
“We competed well for three-quarters of the game, but, similar to 2013, Dublin kind of overpowered us in the end there, got the goals and stretched out the game. But it doesn’t matter if you lose by a point or 11 points. You lose and that’s it.”
Fitzmaurice wasn't about to get worked up either by the straight red card shown to Aidan O'Mahony in the second half, one of his most experienced defenders, or the horribly misjudged kickout by goalkeeper Brendan Kealy which handed Dublin's Paul Flynn the ultimately decisive goal.
Red card
“I didn’t see it,” he said of the O’Mahony incident. “If you get a red card you have to deal with it. As they game went on Dublin made it count, and they did that very effectively. It is what it is.”
And the kickout?
“Dublin punished it, and we have to take it on the chin. But we’re not being blasé about it, that it’s only the league. We really wanted to win today, came up to win, put everything into winning. But we weren’t good enough. The better team won.
“There is a gap there with Dublin still, and it’s up to us to close it. But I think we were better today than last September, but they’re a serious outfit.
"Jim Gavin is obviously brilliant at his job because for him to be able to keep the levels of hunger that he has in a group that has been so successful in the last couple of years is remarkable really. There is a gap there, evidently, but I don't think it's huge.
“But to beat Dublin you have to be on top of your game, from the first minute to the last minute, because they don’t slacken off.”
