FORMER KERRY ATTACKER Barry John Keane believes that the Kingdom management would be happy for Dublin to hold Ciaran Kilkenny in reserve for the All-Ireland final.
The Kilkenny question is surely the single biggest head scratcher for the Dublin backroom as they consider their team selection for Sunday’s decider.
The Castleknock man has been Dublin’s best player in recent years, winning All-Stars in each of the last three seasons, but was used as an impact sub in Dublin’s wins over Mayo and Monaghan.
He didn’t feature at all against Kildare at Nowlan Park and was surprisingly dropped for Dublin’s Division 2 league final in April having previously started all of their games.
Assessing the strengths of both teams’ benches, 2014 All-Ireland winner Keane suggested that Kerry would be quite happy to see Dublin hold Kilkenny in reserve again.
“It’ll be interesting to see will Dessie Farrell start Kilkenny or hold him,” said Keane at the launch of AIB’s All-Ireland final ticket giveaway. “For Kerry, you’d probably like him not starting because I think Kilkenny is their best forward but he is looking at it in terms of the last 10 minutes when the game is going to be in the melting pot and will Ciaran be able to do damage with tired legs facing him and take advantage of it?
“He’s your Rolls Royce and he has been for the last 10 years to be fair to him.
“I know Ciaran will give you a load starting but he has that impact where he can chip over two or three. When Dublin have the impact in the last 10 minutes of games, (when they) press the kick-out, they seem to always get it to him. I know their pot-shot selection since Jim Gavin has gone has gone up a bit but you need those cool heads, the likes of Kilkenny and Dean Rock, taking those correct options when they’re needed.”
As for the Kingdom attack, Keane says they possess a rare talent in captain David Clifford and has predicted a thrilling individual battle between the Fossa phenomenon and Dublin’s ultra experienced man-marker Michael Fitzsimons.
Similar to Clifford’s semi-final duel with Derry’s Chrissy McKaigue, there will be a significant age difference between the two with Fitzsimons 11 years his elder at 35.
“Dublin are going to have to accept that he’s going to get three or four points from play, that’s a given,” said Keane of Clifford, his former Kerry and Sigerson Cup colleague. “Dave had an underperformance against Tyrone but they still won by 12 points. That just showed that Kerry have other scorers.”
Keane, however, isn’t so sure that Clifford will necessarily put in a huge shift going in the opposite direction, in a defensive capacity.
“David is probably not the best example of that because as you seen the last day, Chrissy (McKaigue) went up the field once or twice and David followed him and then he went up once or twice more and David kind of peeled back at the half-way line and Chrissy was having a look back thinking, ‘Jeez, is it worth chancing this, if this fella gets the ball in his hands’. They’re going to tease that one out a bit.”
Keane, a second-half substitute when Dublin beat Kerry in the 2011 All-Ireland final to begin their decade of dominance, feels his native county will win this one ‘by one or two’. When the sides met at the semi-final stage last year, an early Seanie O’Shea goal elevated Kerry to an eventual one-point win.
“I think it’s going to be close,” Keane predicted. “I think it’s going to go down to the last 15 minutes when I think both teams will be in it. Kerry will be looking for a big start like last year, getting that goal.
“They were up three or four and then they got the penalty and that would have been a massive cushion if Seanie put that away but Evan Comerford made a good save to keep Dublin in it.
“Then Cormac Costello (scored a goal), turnovers were huge, Dublin always seem to get mostly goals on those turnovers, to be fair. And momentum swings.
“So Kerry will want a good start. It will be cagey, the first 10 or 15 minutes, but hopefully it will open up and it will be free flowing then. You could have a shoot-out then but I think both benches are confident that they’re going to give each other a boost. It’s easy for me to say that I want Kerry to win but I do feel that it’ll be Kerry by one or two.”
Barry John Keane launched an All-Ireland final ticket giveaway from AIB. AIB will place a bespoke automated ticket machine in the Killarney Outlet Centre and Liffey Valley Shopping Centre on Friday, July 28th and Saturday, July 29th respectively this week, giving fans the opportunity to win GAA related prizes, including the ultimate prize, a ticket to the All-Ireland Final on Sunday.
