Kerry’s Stephen O’Brien key part of slick forward line

Probably because they were expected, Kerry’s two All-Ireland semi-final defeats of Tyrone in 2015 and 2019 don’t sit too deep in the memory but both were competitive affairs, won by four and three points respectively.

They are though days that must feature in Stephen O’Brien’s virtual scrapbook. Six years ago he was part of a half-forward line that bided its time, bought small parcels of space and when the chance presented itself kicked 0-6 from play, with just two wides, a major contribution in an 0-18 to 1-11 win.

O’Brien was joined by Johnny Buckley and Donnchadh Walsh that day and kicked 0-2 in the first half, on both occasions taking on a Tyrone defender and getting a shot away.”

“It was great to see,” said then manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice. “Stephen O’Brien had a great game against Kildare too. We can see the form lines in training. When they are going well, they generally do bring it to the pitch.”

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The year as defending champions ended in disappointment with defeat by Dublin in the final.

Four years later, the match was the peak of O’Brien’s year in which he cemented his claims for Footballer of the Year. At half-time Tyrone looked on their way, leading 0-9 to 0-5 with Kerry apparently out of ideas.

Revival came after the break and was driven by David Moran but when it came time to finish Tyrone in the final quarter, it was O’Brien who did the damage. With the match level at 0-12 each in the 56th minute, he pounced when Kieran McGeary turned over ball on a counterattack, ran it out of defence and passed to Moran.

As the ball was transferred up to Paul Geaney, who picked out O’Brien’s run all the way from his own D to Tyrone’s 13m line and he scored a goal and within seconds added a point effectively to break the match. He scored another point before the end.

“That game was definitely in the melting pot well into the second half. The way we’re playing anyone can pop up with a score so I was lucky that day that I did. It could be anyone the next day. Look, yeah, it was a good day for me anyway.”

The year ended disappointingly with replay defeat by Dublin in their five-in-a-row final that Kerry could have won the first day.

There is considerable pressure on Kerry now to win the All-Ireland with Dublin’s grip on it finally broken by Mayo and pressure on O’Brien and colleagues in attack given the options at manager Peter Keane’s disposal.

“There’s absolutely huge pressure,” he says. “When you play for Kerry, it’s something you’re going to have to deal with – very, very strong forwards over the years but like, yeah, there’s huge competition this year as well, maybe more than any other year.”

Dedicated to his craft

One familiar face in the rival forwards is young Kenmare club-mate and All-Star Seán O’Shea.

“We’re in a good position to have a squad of really committed, enthusiastic players and Seánie is the epitome of that. He’s very, very dedicated to his craft. He trains exceptionally hard. I would have known him for a long time. I suppose everyone in the club knew that he was going to be a very good prospect.

“It’s great to see that he’s turned from being a prospect into a proper senior player for Kerry. He just fits in so well in the camp, he’s definitely one of our leaders.

“He was always an exceptional player. I remember John Morgan, who trained us a couple of years ago, maintained that he was the only young fella to do a full diving block at under-eight level. He said he’s one to watch out for ever since then.

“He’s definitely a very, very good player. He comes from a strong background with the club as well. His father is the club chairman at the moment and his brother is our club captain, he’s an excellent player as well, Dara.”

In the 2000s Tyrone beat Kerry three times at Croke Park in All-Ireland finals and a semi-final. “Definitely not the fondest of memories of those earlier clashes with Tyrone in the noughties,” says O’Brien.

On Saturday he hopes to maintain the more recent trend.