Kingdom take 5th title in 10 years, as fancied Cork fail to take chances

Their victory over a highly-fancied Cork side was a triumph of persistence and planning. Despite a dangerously circuitous route which had taken them through unconvincing performances in the qualifiers against the likes of Longford, Sligo and Antrim, Kerry made it count on the big day.
A fifth title in 10 years, and a sixth final appearance in succession, there is something in their DNA which guides them to Croke Park in September like a salmon to the spawning grounds. This was a major vindication for coach Jack O’Connor and his players who had been effectively written off earlier in the summer.
A reconstructed team with Tommy Griffin at full-back, Mike McCarthy at center-back, Seamus Scanlon at midfield and Declan O’Sullivan at full-forward delivered at exactly the right moment.
“There’s a lot of satisfaction in this,” said O’Connor. “Fellas like Pat Spillane were almost feeling pity for us, but that’s where you get your energy from. The last couple that we won in 2004 and ’06, people said they were soft. Well, by Jesus, there was nothing soft about this one.”
Whereas some Kerry teams of the past had strolled their way to success, this ultimate eclipse of their Munster rivals came at the end of a desperately hard road. They survived an early onslaught, then dominated the period coming up to half-time with a sustained burst of scoring before eventually snuffing out the Cork attack throughout the second half.
If the winners were focused, composed and pretty ruthless in the manner of their victory, Cork surely let another opportunity slip like sand through their hands. After the break, their shooting and their decision-making were woeful. They had 14 wides in all, and 10 in a hugely disappointing second half.
The much vaunted half-back line of Graham Canty, John Miskella and Noel O’Leary failed to function, while Pearse O’Neill, who had been so influential on the journey to the decider, let the occasion pass him by. Canty found it extremely tough against a highly-energised Tadhg Kennelly, who added an All Ireland medal to his Aussie Rules Grand Final success with the Sydney Swans, and while Colm Cooper wasn’t quite his usual ebullient self, he clearly had an edge over Anthony Lynch.
Elsewhere, Declan O’Sullivan gave Kieran O’Connor a torrid afternoon, and both Paul Kerrigan and Paddy Kelly struggled to make an impression in the half-forwards. Cork had enough possession to win the game, but they sorely lacked the conviction of their opponents.
“When you lose an All Ireland final at any stage it’s a serious setback,” said their bitterly disappointed manager, Conor Counihan. “Equally, you have to credit the opposition in terms of the pressure they apply to you.”
Counihan dismissed the suggestion that his team had peaked in the semi-final win over Tyrone. “Had we got the few scores in the second half and pulled away and won the game everyone would’ve been saying the Tyrone game was good for us. You can toss those things around for eternity. The reality is … we were beaten in an All Ireland final and that’s very disappointing.”
If the excellent Tom O’Sullivan at corner-back won the vote for the man- of-the-match award, Tommy Walsh demonstrated his pedigree with four sumptuous points from play, and Kennelly also made a big impact before he was replaced by Donnacha Walsh on the 50-minute mark.
However, Kennelly can consider himself fortunate to have been on the pitch when Jack O’Connor called him ashore as the center-forward’s reckless challenge on Nicholas Murphy just after the throw-in merited a straight red card. If there were some suggestions that Kennelly’s shoulder to Murphy’s jaw was the result a mistimed tackle, video evidence surely indicates otherwise.
Murphy recovered and Cork were undeterred running up a storming 1-3 in the opening 10 minutes with Colm O’Neill hammering home a superb goal with his left foot after Tommy Griffin had slipped. Already it seemed if the game might turn into a repeat of the Munster semi-final replay which Cork won by eight points, however, Kerry gradually and inexorably got into their stride.
As the Cork defense struggled, Declan O’Sullivan, Walsh and Kennelly all had a major hand in the turnaround in fortunes coming up to the changeover. Paul Galvin and Seamus Scanlon came into the game more and more, and having trailed by five points, Kerry went in at half-time leading by 0-11 to 1-6.
“We were only two points down having played poorly for the last 15 minutes of the first half,” said Cork captain, Graham Canty, “and there was no panic. After that we were creating the chances, but we just weren’t taking them.”
If the Kerry defense was unbelievably sharp, Cork still managed to squander a host of chances. Daniel Goulding could have shifted the balance when he bore down on goal only for Diarmuid Murphy to parry his shot to safety. While there was never much daylight between the teams, that was only moment of alarm for the winners.
In essence, Kerry did what they had to do, inviting Cork onto them and then breaking up the attacks. “We’ve great faith in these men,” O’Connor explained. “Their heart and their character have been questioned all year, but they’ve been coming through tough games going right back to the league. And that stood to them. Compared to us, we felt Cork hadn’t been in a battle all year.”
A 36th All Ireland title for Kerry then. Hard won, but aren’t those the sweetest of all?
Meanwhile, Armagh put in a strong finish to bridge a 60-year gap by taking the All Ireland minor title with a 0-10 to 0-7 victory over Mayo at Croke Park.
Armagh appeared to have blown their chance of a first championship at this level since 1949 when they hit seven second-half wides, but scores from Thomas McAlinden, Peter Carragher and two more by Robbie Tasker in the closing five minutes sealed the win for the Ulster county.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Mayo who lost a second minor decider in a row, and a fifth at this level in the past 10 years.