Kerry 2-16 Galway 1-9:KERRY, BOY. How do you crack them? It is four o'clock now and the All-Ireland champions are going through post-match duties – big Kieran Donaghy has thrown a long arm around some fan for a photograph near the 50-metre line and Tom O'Sullivan is holding a baby near the tunnel.
Colin Cooper stands at the halfway line signing autographs. Judging by the line of fans, he ought to be back in the changing room by eight o’clock.
At the final whistle, Donaghy was arguing the toss with an umpire over a sideline ball . . but then remembered that this was the league, after all, and that the scoreboard suggested a good day out for the Kingdom.
And it was.
By the end, it was an exhibition.
Jack O’Connor gave his bench a run and two players, Bryan Sheehan and Anthony Maher, knocked over four points between them in the last 13 minutes.
By contrast, five of the starting Galway forwards failed to register a score. The champions were sleepy in the first half, picked up plenty of yellow cards and trailed by two points at half-time. And yet there were plenty of signs of the threat they will present when the football turns serious again.
It was there in the nimble finish that is fast becoming the trademark of David O’Callaghan, a forward who likes to read attacks as they build before ghosting on to finish them. It was there in the orchestration of Donaghy, around whom this Kerry attack flows.
It was there in the fine score that Anthony Maher scored late on, the chutzpah with which Adrian O’Connell broke forward, a la Tomás Ó Sé, for his point on the run and in the general smarts that Declan O’Sullivan showed.
Never mind the 1-7 that Colm Cooper finished with – the goal a lesson in making the defender second guess you.
Sobering to think, too, that the senior men like Aidan O’Mahony, Tommy Griffin and Marc Ó Sé are just beginning to wind up for a new season. Watching Kerry here was to realise that Dara Ó Sé wasn’t being modest when he used to say that there was no point in getting precious. The irreplaceable man is gone. And the show rolls on regardless. Frightening.
The league defeat consigns Galway to probable relegation, but, more worryingly, the match saw Michael Meehan literally carried from the stadium with an injury immediately after scoring a goal, the moment on which Galway’s day turned. Even more worryingly, it leaves Galway with plenty of work to do if they are to get their house in order.
Meehan rose to palm home a perfectly judged ball from Gary Sice which enticed Kerry goalkeeper Brendan Kealy off his line and left Tom O’Sullivan backpedalling. But as soon as he hit the ground, Meehan collapsed and he was in obvious pain behind the goal-line and was eventually helped around to the dug-out unable to place any weight on the right knee.
“We are hopeful enough that it is not going to be too serious,” said Kernan afterwards. “We think he strained the lateral and cruciate ligaments but we have to wait until he gets an MRI.”
In his 21 minutes on the field, Meehan again showed his importance to Galway plans. It wasn’t simply the place-kicking delivery, although that was something – a 45 and three frees dispatched over the bar with formidable ease.
But without Meehan, Galway had no compass.
Four points from the remainder of the day, three of those from the deft boot of Paul Conroy. He operated from midfield with Barry Cullinane and were overwhelmed at times by the sheer physique of the Kerry men.
Diarmuid Blake started in fine fettle, but got mired into a Galway defensive effort that looked increasingly strained. Centre forward did not seem like a happy home for Joe Bergin and, overall, the Galway attack was incredibly blunt after Meehan’s departure.
Kerry were energised by a sensational goal fired by Declan O’Sullivan after 40 minutes.
“Training doesn’t lie and Declan was going really well so I had a feeling he was going to cut loose,” said Jack O’Connor. “The goal was fantastic and gave everyone the confidence to go and play.”
Noses in front, they never looked back, banging over points from all angles. They hit 2-4 without reply in the first 16 minutes of the second half. A gulf opened up here and as Galway wilted, the visitors increased the pressure. It was one-way traffic.
Normal service resumed.
KERRY:B Kealy; A O'Connell (0-1), P Reidy, T O'Sullivan; A O'Mahony, T Griffin, M Ó Sé; S Scanlon, M Quirke; D O'Callaghan (0-3), D O'Sullivan (1-1), D Moran; C Cooper (1-7, five frees), K Donaghy, K O'Leary. Subs: B Sheehan (0-3, one free) for D O'Callaghan (57 mins), Alan O'Sullivan for C O'Leary (57 mins), A Maher (0-1) for S Scanlon (57 mins), G O'Driscoll for M Quirke (66 mins), P O'Connor for D O'Sullivan (66 mins).
GALWAY:E O'Conghaille; D O'Neill, F Hanley, D Burke; D Blake (0-1), D Reilly, G O'Donnell; B Cullinane, P Conroy (0-3); G Sice, J Bergin, N Coleman; M Meehan (1-4, three frees, one 45), N Joyce, M Clancy. Subs: C De Paor for M Meehan (22 mins inj.), F Breathnach (0-1) for N Coleman (41 mins), D Meehan for D Reilly (45 mins), D Cummins for M Clancy (58 mins),
Referee:Michael Duffy
