ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE Dublin 3-10 Kerry 1-15:DUBLIN'S "SPRING Series" at Croke Park continued on its merry way on Saturday night with one of the best-loved pieces in the county's repertoire, the last-gasp win over Kerry.
According to the truest traditions of the genre, the win was based on goals and for the second week running Dublin put three past serious opponents. The performance, before an attendance of 23,720, guaranteed the home side would remain top of the Allianz Football League on full points from three demanding fixtures.
Two of last week’s scorers, Tomás Quinn and Kevin McManamon, were on the mark again and their first-half strikes were supplemented by a third from centrefielder Michael Darragh Macauley, who had returned as a replacement to the team after being unwell last week.
That 51st-minute goal set Dublin off on an impressive 1-5 to 0-2 10-minute burst, but, orchestrated by Colm Cooper, Kerry hit back with four unanswered points to level the match going into injury-time.
With a draw – or worse – facing the home side, Bernard Brogan made the decisive intervention.
Having struggled all evening on limited service to escape the clutches of Marc Ó Sé, Brogan managed to slip his man at the most crucial moment of all and steer over his only point from play although as he had also created the first goal.
It was enough – but not before they had to endure the concession of a 50-metre free to Bryan Sheehan, one of the few footballers you’d almost expect to convert from that far out.
His kick, however, drifted to the left of the post, confirming Dublin’s first Croke Park defeat of Kerry since October 1993 when current manager Pat Gilroy played and kicked a point.
Welcoming the latest victory, Gilroy said: “We really had ourselves in a very good position around 59, 60 minutes and then the last 10 minutes were very poor.
“We made elementary mistakes and it just wasn’t good enough. We really should have pushed on when we got three or four ahead . . and were very lucky to get the win. I think they probably did enough to deserve a draw at least.”
He added that he thought, “We (must) have the worst defensive record now in the league, so we have a lot of work to do.”
Once again, Dublin had started in lively fashion.
Brogan set up Quinn for a third-minute goa,l but Kerry hit back when Sheehan converted a penalty after David Geaney was fouled.
The home side struck again in the 14th minute when McManamon sprang onto a blocked O’Gara shot and rounded Eoin Brosnan to finish well for a 2-2 to 1-1 lead.
For the rest of the half, with their centrefield on top, Kerry levelled the match by half-time, a run of scores that included a big, long-range point from Moran, who on the other side of the interval pulled down a 45 under his own crossbar.
Like the previous week, the combination of spring fitness levels and the summer expanses of the stadium pitch made for play that was fast and loose. Gilroy grumbled afterwards about giving away another big score, but the enhanced ability to take goals is encouraging and first-choice defenders have yet to return.
They might have had more goals, but Declan Lally and Alan Brogan both chose the conservative option when clear on goal and took their point.
Centrefield was more of a concern as Séamus Scanlon and Moran (who switched with Sheehan after about 20 minutes) dominated the kick-outs, despite Stephen Cluxton’s best efforts to place the ball for team-mates.
Macauley’s energy and work-rate provided a lift in the second half, but the Denis Bastick-Barry Cahill combination wasn’t as good as it had been against Cork.
Tactically, Kerry did themselves no favours by utilising the early delivery into Kieran Donaghy to the extent they did. Seán Murray improvised another effective performance at full back, getting in the way of the ball raining down on the square and limiting the big full forward’s opportunities in possession (although one such intervention forced Cluxton into a scrambling save).
Yet, when Kerry ran at the defence, Darran O’Sullivan and Cooper caused panic and that approach nearly pulled the match out of the fire. The Eoin Brosnan experiment continued at centre back and Kerry manager Jack O’Connor declared himself satisfied: “We just withdrew him there because that is his first game at that level. Castlebar now wouldn’t compare with that or Austin Stack Park, the pace out there. It’s a big pitch and those Dublin forwards are lively. He had a lot of running to do. Overall, that will bring him on a ton.”
Brosnan was also at the centre of the latest “score that wasn’t” controversy when his shot was waved wide in the 40th minute. Cooper had a similar experience towards the end but that looked a good call on the replay. O’Connor again addressed the question of the return to training of defender Tom O’Sullivan. “I don’t want to talk about anyone who is not here. I just want to talk about the squad we have here and the heart they showed in the second half. That’s my concern for the moment.”
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; M Fitzsimons, S Murray, A Hubbard; D Lally (0-1), J McCarthy, P Casey; D Bastick, B Cahill; P Flynn (0-1), K McManamon (1-1), D Connolly; B Brogan (0-4, three frees), E O'Gara (0-1), T Quinn (1-0). Subs: MD Macauley (1-1) for Bastick (ht), B Cullen for Connolly (49 mins), A Brogan (0-1) for Quinn (49 mins), P Andrews for Flynn (64 mins).
KERRY: B Kealy; P Reidy, K Young, M Ó Sé; T Ó Sé, E Brosnan, A O'Mahony; S Scanlon, B Sheehan (1-5, pen, four frees); D Moran (0-1), D O'Sullivan (0-2), D Walsh (0-1); C Cooper (0-6, one free), K Donaghy, D Geaney. Subs: K O'Leary for Geaney (21 mins), J Lyne for T Ó Sé (52), A Maher for Brosnan (58), A O'Connell for O'Mahony (66).
Referee: M Duffy(Sligo).
