Kerry 1-20; Tyrone 0-17
There was nothing “freakish’” about this win by Kerry against the kingpins of underage football Tyrone in Croke Park on Saturday evening.
This was Kerry reforming from a team beaten by Meath to a force that is gathering up something of a late season storm following the annihilation of Ulster duo Armagh and the Red Hand in successive games.
And as Manager Jack O’Connor succinctly put it afterwards, there was nothing “freakish” about this win unlike the 14 unanswered points in a 15 minutes second-half spell against the Orchard County in the previous round.
This time around the Kingdom did what the men in green and gold have done for over a century more than any other county - they go back to basics and apply their talents around the twin launching pads of clever play and hard work to blow away opponents.
It helps O’Connor and the Kerry boys, of course, if so-called experts in the media from former players to correspondents write them off in mid-season. Kerry and indeed Jack had a habit of using such opinions to create a siege mentality - something that invariably works better for them than any other team.
This time around after the backlash by the men from the deep south against Armagh, O’Connor was more thoughtful and sanguine about his side’s performance.
"We felt that this was going to be a very tough game. Tyrone had some big results that almost went under the radar. They beat Donegal in Ballybofey, very few teams do that. I don't think it was picked up too much in the media. They beat Dublin here. I don't care what they say about Dublin, Dublin are still a hard team to beat here in Croke Park.
"They would have come into this game with a lot of confidence and there was a lot of noise about our game, which meant Tyrone were coming in under the radar. I thought that showed early on. In the first 15 minutes, Tyrone were the better team. They settled quicker and had us in a lot of bother on breaking ball around the middle of the field. As soon as we got to terms with that, I thought the game changed and David's goal settled us."
O’Connor’s side faced a slight wind on the changeover but made the third quarter once again their launch to victory as they hit nine unanswered points to wipe out the game as a serious contest.
In that time, it was man of the match Joe O’Connor who showed how Kerry can transform during a season.
"I think this was a more rounded performance because Tyrone are very big around the middle of the field, Brian Kennedy and Conn Kilpatrick are big men and they have a lot of targets, and (Niall) Morgan has a serious weapon of a kickout.
"The two boys (Mark O’Shea and Seanh O'Brien) plugged away great for most of the game, and then Joe finished up midfield and what a game Joe had. Powerful game, he is getting better all the time.”
He went on: “Kerry supporters were a factor today, big time. The support travelled in huge numbers and long may it continue. These boys are giving everything for the cause and they’re playing good football. They deserve to be supported and we’re delighted.
“I don’t have the language to describe it, but it’s working both ways, you know? They’re getting energy from the crowd, and the crowd are getting energy from the players,” he remarked.
Not for the first time, it was David Clifford who was the scoring difference between his side and an opposition as he landed 1-9 in yet another fruitful day spearheading the attack. His goal on the cusp of half-time gave Kerry a psychological lift to go in ahead after it was Tyrone who looked the better team for much of the first half, particularly the first 15-20 moiety.
The early second-half showing ended up toying with the losers and indeed while they got the last scores to reduce the losing margin to six, Kerry by then had taken their foot off the pedal and were thinking of Sunday week’s All Ireland final where they will play a Donegal side capable of asking different questions than their Ulster compatriots Armagh and Tyrone were capable of doing in Kerry’s last two outings.
If the modern game under the new rules tell us anything, it is that early leads count for nothing these days.
Tyrone were 0-5 to 0-2 to the good after quarter of an hour and looked like they might build on previous big wins against Dublin and Donegal.
They started and scored from the impressive Ciaran Daly who hit two fine points, Kieran McGeary and U-20-star Eoin McElholm, a late addition in place of Peter Harte, also found the target and had Tyrone purring going forward.
Had a goal attempt by Darren McCurry hit the top corner instead of being brilliantly parried by Shane Ryan perhaps we might have had another outcome, but it is doubtful the way Kerry stepped up to dominate when it mattered from then on.
Yes there was the unfamiliar sight of their two main scorers, Clifford and Seanie O’Shea dropping two-point efforts into Niall Morgan’s hands but the Kerry kettle had begun to hum, and it would soon be boiling.
Clifford found his range with a point and followed it up with a great two-pointer. Kerry were up and running and Tyrone were seeing less and less of the ball.
One David put his side ahead, it spelt danger but the Ulstermen showed their mettle as points from Mattie Donnelly, who could have pulled the trigger for a goal, and Darragh Canavan showed they still had life in them.
Kerry’s goal threat now became evident though this time around it was missing the goals rather than scoring them which had the crowd talking. Still there was time from an opportunistic gem on the half hour mark from D. Clifford who dummied before firing home to give his side a 3-point interval lead - 1-9 to 0-9.
With the wind at their backs in the second half, it didn’t look bad for Malachy O’Rourke’s men and when Canavan landed the first score of the new half - a two-pointer, it was a one-point game.
Neutrals expecting a slug fest for the rest of the game were building a strong case when the same Canavan landed a total of four scores to replay to Paudie Clifford’s effort for Kerry.
History suggested the men from the north would go to war in this quarter - the reality this time around was they went to sleep for over 20 minutes as Kerry hit a rich point-taking vein of form with nine unanswered points with O’Connor having a tour de force at midfield.
Killian Spillane was introduced after 47 minutes and put down a marker to start with a brace of scores shortly after his resumption.
The Clifford brothers continued to find the range and Sean O'Shea, shot his first one pointer from play on the hour mark.
Tyrone came in search of goals but were invariably turned over as McElholm, sub Peter Harte and Michael McKernan all missed scores, with Mark Bradley wide when a score seemed simpler to record.
When Clifford tapped over a free down the stretch to build the lead into double figures, Tyrone were beaten and Kerry’s thoughts were already on Sunday week. Tyrone reduced the lead to six but that was more cosmetic than control as the game was long gone from their grasp by then.
Kerry: S Ryan; P Murphy, J Foley, D Casey; B Ó Beaglaoich, M Breen, G White (c); S O'Brien, J O'Connor (0-2); M O'Shea, S O'Shea (0-3, 0-2f), G O'Sullivan (0-1); D Clifford (1-9, 1tp, 0-4f), P Clifford (0-2), D Geaney (0-1) Subs: Killian Spillane (0-2) for Geaney (47), E Looney for Casey (58), T Morley for Breen (61), M Burns for O'Brien (61), T Brosnan for Paudie Clifford (64)
Tyrone: N Morgan; C Quinn, P Hampsey, N Devlin; P Teague, B McDonnell, K McGeary (0-1); B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick; S O'Donnell (0-2), E McElholm (0-1), C Daly (0-2); D McCurry, M Donnelly (0-2), D Canavan (0-7, 1tp, 0-1f) Subs: M McKernan for McDonnell (47), M Bradley for McCurry (47), P Harte for Daly (52), R Canavan (0-2, 1tp) for McElholm (55), M O'Neill for O'Donnell (66).
