THEIR SEMI-FINAL victory was remarkable, but there was a slight blemish. Kerry manager Jack O’Connor was particularly frustrated with one key mistake during their exhilarating clash with Dublin.
“It’s just a bit disappointing the way we gave them the goal from a turnover in the middle third of the pitch,” he explained. “We’ve been warning fellas that Dublin are very good on the counter-attack.”
In Gaelic football’s constantly evolving handbook, the turnover is now chapter one. It was the main source of scores in the 2021 championship, 38%, and Kerry’s main problem. Rewind to their 2021 semi-final loss against Tyrone and one number projects like a flashing dashboard light.
Kerry coughed up 35 turnovers, 30 in the attacking third. They conceded 2-09 from this one source.
This year they conceded just three goals over the course of their entire Allianz League, Munster and All-Ireland runs. On Sunday, Galway forced 11 turnovers and scored 0-2 from that.
How a team concedes is as important as what. To solve a problem, first find its source.
So how did Tyrone score their first goal last August? It came after a rare David Clifford error. He mis-controlled a solo on the 45-metre line and Brian Kennedy intercepted the ball. Six handpasses later, Conor McKenna was wheeling away as the umpire raised a green flag.
A turnover means the chance to attack during unstructured play. Defenders are out of position, channels are left wide open, the opposition are immediately scrambling. Their goal is to reset. If they can buy some time to do so, all the better.
Now consider Kerry’s attacking turnovers last Sunday. Two efforts fell to Galway goalkeeper Conor Gleeson. One was a long-floated pass, the other a Stephen O’Brien shot that dropped short.
There was the infamous John Daly free which came after a Damien Comer turnover on Paul Murphy. Two were on the kick-out and one was a David Moran kick pass out over the sideline. The other five were precisely the kind they do not want to concede. Attacking in a dangerous position, then losing possession. This is where counterattacks start.
What did Kerry do? They responded with a foul on all five occasions. On the other hand, three of 11 Galway infringements came high up the field after a turnover in the attacking third.
Early in the final, David Moran was bottled up on the 45-metre line and Galway broke forward through Johnny Heaney. Stephen O’Brien raced back and conceded a free.
Later a pass inside from Paul Geaney failed to find its target. David Clifford was shown a yellow card for his tackle on Sean Kelly.
A Paudie Clifford handpass was intercepted by Dylan McHugh. Brian Ó Beaglaoich knocked McHugh to the ground.
Before half-time, a Ó Beaglaoich handpass dropped short and Paul Conroy intercepted at the top of the D. He is then fouled by the Kerry defender.
In the second half, Kieran Molloy executed a textbook tackle to dispossess Stephen O’Brien. The ball is hand-passed to Paul Conroy, Killian Spillane raced in and conceded the free.
In the 2022 championship, Kerry fouled 65 times. 21 fouls came after they coughed up a turnover in the attacking third. Despite that foul count, they conceded just 16 points from free kicks.
Strategic fouling has long been a characteristic of the best teams. Dublin were outstanding at it. In a fantastic breakdown for the Irish Times at the start of last year, Eamon Donoghue explained how the Limerick hurlers foul more than any other time but concede the least from those frees. It is about the location of their fouls, usually out of range for opposition free-takers.
In the All-Ireland semi-final, Dublin did their best to highlight the issue.
During a counter-attack, Diarmuid O’Connor pulled back Brian Fenton. It is not a black card offence as he did not pull him down.
“That is a tactical foul. Consistent fouling by Diarmuid O’Connor,” said RTE co-commentator Kevin McStay. Meanwhile, Fenton immediately pointed out it was not the first time.
O’Connor was shown a yellow card. Five minutes later, John Small appealed to the referee after Sean O’Shea also committed a foul high up the field after a turnover. O’Shea was also booked.
“Containing foul on the fast break. All teams are doing it. Not just Kerry or Dublin but these sorts of fouls are a cancer in the game,” said McStay. “They break down all momentum.”
What really went wrong during Cormac Costello’s goal? Good officiating from Paddy Neilan. Twice Kerry fouled after David Moran coughed up possession. The referee raised his arm and played advantage.
In elite sport, Pragmatism always has a place. Kerry know both sides of this coin. Their shock loss against Cork in 2020 was riddled with strategic fouling. On long kick-outs lost or turnovers, it was the go-to option. That tie finished with a remarkable 71 infringements.
These stoppages allow teams to slow down the transition from defence to attack. Make a stop, re-set and establish a defensive structure.
Speaking on The42’s GAA Weekly podcast, Marc O Se stressed it is a valuable tool to limit goal chances while a difficult infringement to police.
“It is borderline cynical but is part of the game. I don’t know, it is a hard one to fix it. Be more stringent on the fouls? It’s hard to figure out. If you introduce something like the personal fouls in basketball, it is hard to police that.
“It might be an idea though. Three personal fouls. There is no doubt it is happening but it is happening for years. It is a very effective way of getting bodies back and minding the house. As a result, you don’t have as many goals.”
Bodies behind the ball are all well and good, but the best chance of progress is to work smarter, not harder. Jack O’Connor’s outfit are a fluid and adaptable team with brilliant basics and a supernatural talent up top. They had the required sophistication and expertise.
They lasted longer and had deeper reserves in their squad. At half-time, Galway had scored 0-2 from turnovers. Kerry 0-1. Galway’s total didn’t change in the second half, they scored two points in the final 25 minutes. Kerry finished with 0-8 from turnovers.
For all of the Connacht champion’s dominance in the first half, they couldn’t crack Shane Ryan’s kick-out. Five of their seven first-half points came from this source. It kept Kerry ticking over while so much else misfired.
The 2022 All-Ireland final pitted two exceptionally well-coached sides against each other. This is what it takes at the highest level. During one of the many lockdown webinars, Sport Northern Ireland invited current Kerry coach Paddy Tally on to discuss his philosophy and the level of thinking required to succeed.
”I do feel our game has moved on, especially the top level of Gaelic football,” he said.
“It has moved on to a position where tactics and tactical awareness is a much greater part of winning games. A lot of games now are won on the line. I don’t mean that in an arrogant way. I mean managers have a lot more to do now.
“Generally, for teams that are winning big games, a lot of it is down to what is happening on the line. I don’t mean that as during the game.
“It is the work long before that.”
What delivered the 38th crown? The reason for the Kingdom’s success is multifaceted. O’Connor was brave where it mattered and assembled a strong backroom team to push along an already stacked squad.
Over the course of 2022, they became tactically smarter and more astute. Ironing out kinks that were previously so costly. Most of all, they did what it takes to win.
