NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE FINAL Kerry 1-15 Derry 0-15:IN THE chess game of an intercounty season yesterday's Allianz National Football League Division One final constituted a few mildly interesting moves for the modest crowd of 20,547 but nothing that hasn't been seen already in the current competition. It ended with Kerry claiming a 19th title and avenging last year's defeat by the same opponents.
Manager Jack O’Connor has thus begun his second spell in charge just as he did his the first, five years ago, with a satisfactory league campaign. Again yesterday he threw on the full complement of replacements and watched his team establish an early lead, which despite a dogged response from the holders, never changed hands over the 70 minutes.
His Derry counterpart, Damian Cassidy, had to cope with the disruption of an accidental injury to Paddy Bradley, sustained when he collided with his brother Eoin in the first half, who despite reappearing in the second half didn’t look as lively as he had in the initial stages.
With Kerry’s forwards exhibiting plenty of the sharpness that makes them such a formidable combination Derry needed to make more of the chances they created; instead they were more wasteful.
There were also other pressures. After Kevin McCloy put in an impressive first half on Kieran Donaghy, winning a couple of direct contests and growing gradually more confident, Kerry simply switched the big Tralee full forward out the field and he blossomed, winning ball and distributing it accurately and penetratively, setting up the goal and finding his forwards with some excellent kicked passes.
In the company of Tommy Walsh, McCloy deflated a bit after a couple of possessions that he broke ended up being lost rather than picked up and cleared.
On the credit side of the balance sheet Barry Gillis was very composed in goal, taking a couple of high balls very confidently and clearing well when under pressure. The half backs also played well and Declan O’Sullivan didn’t get the same opportunity to run the match from centre forward that he had availed of when the counties met last month in Bellaghy.
Fergal Doherty worked hard at centrefield, covering back and forward, and Joe Diver beside him had a couple of good drives at the Kerry defence but Anthony Maher and Micheál Quirke were never completely subdued and overall Derry needed to make more of the ball that came their way.
The holders opened in lively enough fashion. With both Bradleys on the field they used the width of Croke Park and the pace of the front men to score early points – Eoin setting his brother up for the first and Chris McKeigue, a late replacement for Paul Cartin, rounding off a good supporting run from the half backs with a second.
Whatever about the match, the scoreboard turned in the ninth minute. Unusually Donaghy went out to take a lineball instead of hovering in the square for someone else’s delivery or leaving Colm Cooper to try to put it straight over. But his kick went accurately to Quirke, who touched it down to Donnacha Walsh, a late call-up in place of Paul Galvin, and he repeated his feat of last year’s final by expertly finishing for an early goal and a 1-0 to 0-2 lead.
Tommy Walsh had been causing problems for Kevin McGuckin from the start and once Cooper began to find his rhythm, Kerry consistently threatened scores. Derry hung on to trail by just a point, 0-9 to 1-7, at half-time but the sense of the first half was that if Kerry tipped the pedal they could zoom clear.
Derry were close enough to be in contention but needed a goal or two to effect the sort of paradigm shift that would have put Kerry under serious pressure.
They did chip away with points from Mark Lynch’s free-taking and a couple from Eoin Bradley and Enda Lynn but the necessary, dramatic intervention never happened. Kerry, meanwhile, began to rumble their replacements on to the field.
Quirke got a bang early in the second half allowing Darragh Ó Sé a run, Tadhg Kennelly was reacquainted with Croke Park for the first time since the unhappy circumstances of the second International Rules Test of 2006 and involved himself satisfactorily in the play although some of his movement off the ball failed to attract the attention of team-mates.
Bryan Sheehan came in first as a blood replacement and then permanently, as O’Connor elected to take off Donaghy when Declan O’Sullivan’s blood injury had been cleared up.
The margin fluctuated from one to three throughout the second half but Derry couldn’t break even at any stage. Sheehan’s frees and some well worked points kept Kerry ahead.
Football’s last yellow card of the current experiment was flashed in the last couple of minutes at McBride, presumably much to his surprise as up until then referee Marty Duffy looked to have decided to implement the previous weekend’s congress decision a month early.
Last year Kerry lost three finals, league, Munster and All-Ireland. There may be bigger challenges ahead and it’s nowhere near endgame but the pieces are gathering ominously for everyone else.
KERRY: D Murphy; P Reidy, T O'Sullivan, K Young; T Ó Sé (0-2), A O'Mahony (0-1), T Griffin; A Maher, M Quirke; Darren O'Sullivan, Declan O'Sullivan (0-1), D Walsh (1-0); C Cooper (0-6, three frees), K Donaghy, T Walsh (0-2). Subs: D Ó Sé for Quirke (42 mins), T Kennelly for D Walsh (46 mins), D Moran for Maher (50 mins), B Sheehan (0-3, frees)for Donaghy (58 mins), D Bohane for Griffin (62 mins), S O'Sullivan for Darren O'Sullivan (66 mins).
DERRY: B Gillis; K McGuckin, K McCloy, G O'Kane; C McKaigue (0-1), B McGuigan, SL McGoldrick; F Doherty, J Diver; E Lynn (0-1), P Murphy (0-1), B Mullan; E Bradley (0-4, one free), P Bradley (0-2, one free), M Lynch (0-4, three frees). Subs: J Kielt (0-1, free)for P Bradley (23 mins), P Bradley for Mullan (39 mins), D McBride for O'Kane (47 mins), S Bradley (0-1)for Murphy (49 mins), R Dillon for McBride (yellow card, 69 mins).
Referee: M Duffy(Sligo).
