GAELIC GAMES, THE MIDDLE THIRD:SAY WHAT you like about Graham Geraghty, the man can make a headline. One touch of the ball was all he got last Sunday and it was very nearly the most crucial touch of the whole game against Kildare.
Some fellas just have that talent for anticipation and that nose for being in the right place at the right time. If his goal had stood – as it should have – Meath would have come close to winning a game in which they’d been out-Meathed most of the way through.
Only the best players can change the course of a game like that, purely by thinking that step quicker than everyone else. Unfortunately for Graham, he was too quick for the referee and his umpires as well. It would have been a real Graham Geraghty thing to do, but it wasn’t to be.
Kildare deserved their victory all the same. To be fair to Kieran McGeeney, he has his team playing some tough, intensive football. Their tackling skills are excellent. One scene that really stood out for me was when the Meath captain Séamus Kenny scooped up a loose breaking ball at one stage and he hadn’t time to lift his head before two Kildare fellas crashed into him and took possession back.
You could see them all over the pitch taking responsibility for each other, a real team showing honesty to each other and to the jersey. That will carry them a long way.
The main reason it probably won’t carry them all the way is that lack of a real craft forward on their inside line. They do have one alright, but Johnny Doyle is playing in midfield. They’ll be difficult to play against every day they go out because of how hard they work and how fit they are, but, when it comes right down to it, the teams that are going to be contesting the All-Ireland will be the ones who have players with the most confidence and skill close to goal.
Last Saturday and Sunday, we saw all those players line out over a single weekend for the first time this year – Colm Cooper and Declan O’Sullivan in Limerick, Paddy Kelly and Daniel Goulding in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the Brogans and Diarmuid Connolly in Croke Park, and Stephen O’Neill above in Omagh.
When the All-Ireland is decided, these are the players who’ll do the deciding. In the end, those players are what will separate Kerry, Cork, Dublin and Tyrone from teams like Kildare who are just going to end up having to work too hard for their scores.
Kildare are taking a lot of flak for the amount of wides they’ve been kicking, but you have to accept that even the best players will kick wides. What the best players won’t do, however, is kick a lot of stupid wides. Shot selection is far more than half the battle.
It's like that song The Gambler– you've got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em.
When’s the last time you can remember the Gooch or Bernard Brogan holding a hand up in apology to a team-mate because they took on a stupid shot instead of laying the ball off? They don’t do it. If you want to work out what it is that makes the best teams the best, there’s your answer. It’s the decision-making. It’s knowing when to pass the ball and where to put it, knowing to go for a kick-pass 20 yards infield that hops in front of a better placed man instead of a Hail Mary shot that goes wide under pressure.
Kerry didn’t learn a whole lot against Limerick on Saturday. It was one of those nights – no crowd, no urgency, a referee taking sympathy on a team that was getting a hiding and keeping the margin closer to 10 than 20. Bryan Sheehan was solid enough in midfield, but we’ll have to wait until the Munster final to see if he’s the answer in there. And the big question around Eoin Brosnan at centre back hasn’t been answered yet. For that matter, it hasn’t even been asked yet. But you can be sure Paddy Kelly will ask it the next day.
Kelly is one of the players in the Cork squad who’s been improved by winning an All-Ireland. It’s amazing how it happens, but you can see plain as day his confidence has been brought on no end by having that medal. He was good before but now he’s exceptional.
Eoin Brosnan is a midfielder or centre forward by trade and we won’t know if he’s an intercounty centre back until he’s spent an afternoon handling Kelly. To me, he’s the Cork forward that knits the whole unit together. He picks the right pass at the right time and if there isn’t one on, he’ll make a run to create space and then find his man.
Players like that are gold and you never want to take to the pitch without them. I remember playing a challenge match for Kerry years ago up in Limerick and as we were coming close to throw-in time, Liam O’Flaherty was standing on the bench in the dressingroom looking out the window.
Liam was playing centre back for us and a fine centre back he was too. But here he was all the same, looking out the window hoping to see a Killarney car pull into the grounds because he didn’t want to go out on to the field without Séamus Moynihan. Moynihan made your life a lot easier just by being there to knit it all together, to tidy up and make the right decision at the right time.
I’d say the Cork forwards feel the same about Paddy Kelly. Just as the Kerry forwards probably feel about Declan O’Sullivan. Declan is so crucial to the Kerry team now because he takes such a hammering physically and never gets involved in any retaliation or anything like that. He’s unmarkable when he plays like he did on Saturday night, running at teams, drawing defenders, finding the pass.
You can’t find a chink in his armour because his temperament is so sound and he loves the big games. And on top of it all, he has a great understanding with the Gooch, who is probably playing the football of his career at the moment.
Watching Dublin on Sunday, you could see an inside-forward line that might even be the best in the country, with men who are standing up and being leaders. They were only kept at bay by an incredible goalkeeping performance from Eoin Culliton. It has to be said a little more composure from Diarmuid Connolly would have brought more goals but give the goalkeeper his due – those shots were really struck well and the saves were super.
It was easy for Dublin in the end but they might be a bit worried about their midfield. They’re very strong on the ground in there but Brendan Quigley probably caught a few too many balls for Pat Gilroy’s liking. Michael Dara Macauley is very good on the ball and Barry Cahill is a clever player but they aren’t very imposing in there. A good midfield will fancy their chances against them.
Kildare look like they will leave Johnny Doyle there and with Hugh Lynch improving like he did between the Wicklow and Meath games, McGeeney has the players to take the midfield battle to Dublin the next day.
Before last weekend, I said there were three main contenders for the All-Ireland with one waiting in the wings. Well, Tyrone walked on-stage on Sunday. Kerry, Cork and Dublin all had easy games against mediocre teams and could only beat what was in front of them. But Tyrone had a serious work-out against a Monaghan team who were much better than anyone expected. For all that we give bad press to the Ulster Championship, nobody can doubt the two best games we’ve seen so far have come from up North.
Tyrone did what they had to do and we’ll have to make room for a fourth contender now. Again, it came down to what their best players can give them. Brian McGuigan took a beautiful goal but there was no doubt the star of the show was Stephen O’Neill. Down in Kerry, we had kind of hoped Stephen was finished destroying teams but we got a reminder on Sunday he’s nowhere near it.
It was great to see. That was virtuoso stuff – his footwork, his quick thinking, everything. The point he got near the end when he turned inside two tacklers running along the endline was outstanding. The range of scores he can kick with either foot is devastating. But even more than that, it goes back to what sets people like him and the Gooch and the Brogans and Paddy Kelly apart. Speed of thought, the right choice of shot or pass, simple things done well without thinking.
Come September, that’s what will win the All-Ireland.
Weekend Fixtures
Today
Leinster U-21 Hurling First Round– Carlow v Dublin, Dr Cullen Park, 7.30pm.
Leinster JFC Semi-finals– Kilkenny v Cavan, Kilkenny, 7.30pm; Dublin v Kildare, Parnell Park, 7.30pm.
Ulster U-21 Hurling Shield Semi-finals– Monaghan v Donegal, Clones, 7.30pm; Tyrone v Fermanagh, Omagh, 7.30pm.
Saturday
Leinster SFC Quarter-final– Wexford v Westmeath, Wexford Park, 5pm, P Hughes (Armagh), (extra-time if necessary).
Leinster SHC Semi-final– Wexford v Kilkenny, Wexford Park, 7pm, J Ryan (Tipperary).
Camogie – Senior Championship, Round One: Clare v Cork, Clooney Quin, 2.30pm; Offaly v Kilkenny, St Brendan's Park, Birr, 2.30pm; Dublin v Tipperary, Naomh Mearnóg, 3pm; Wexford v Galway, Bellefield, Enniscorthy, 3pm.
Sunday
Connacht SFC Semi-final– Leitrim v Roscommon, Carrick-on-Shannon, 2pm, P McEnaney (Monaghan).
Leinster SFC Quarter-final – Carlow v Louth, Portlaoise 3.30pm, D Fahy (Longford), (extra-time if necessary).
Ulster SFC Quarter-final– Cavan v Donegal, Kingspan Breffni Park, 3.30pm, M Duffy (Sligo), (extra-time if necessary).
Munster IHC Semi-final– Limerick v Waterford, Thurles, 1.45pm.
Munster SHC Semi-final– Limerick v Waterford, Thurles, 4pm, B Kelly (Westmeath).
Ulster MHC Semi-final– Derry v Armagh, Casement Park, 1.45pm.
Ulster SHC Semi-final– Armagh v Down, Casement Park, 3.30pm, E Hasson (Derry).
