IN THE AFTERMATH of their All-Ireland series defeat to Mayo, Kerry appeared to be off colour.
The All-Ireland champions had been humbled in Fitzgerald Stadium, Eoghan McLaughlin’s goal on the hour mark pushing Kevin McStay’s side out of sight. Along with losing an All-Ireland opener, it was Kerry’s first championship loss on home turf since 1995. Just something extra to darken the bruise a bit more.
Cork gave them a scare when the sides met in the next round of the series, but a David Clifford penalty spared them from a second successive defeat. A 28-point mauling of Louth marked the end of their group campaign as they marched directly into the quarter-finals.
Some of the Kerry momentum had been restored but didn’t look convincing. Perhaps not quite in disarray, but certainly not in imperious form either. They didn’t look untouchable for any of the other quarter-finalists, one would presume. A Tyrone side with Darragh and Ruairí Canavan purring at the moment were expected to give Kerry a good shake in Croke Park.
What followed, however, was a display of Kerry dominance to give everyone a stinging reminder of their credentials. David Clifford and Seán O’Shea combined to overwhelm the Tyrone defence, while they also restricted the Ulster challengers to just 12 points, and only eight from play.
In the space of just one performance, Kerry have eradicated those doubts and soared into the frontrunner position as All-Ireland contenders. But this isn’t the first time that we’ve been deceived by their wounded appearance. And it’s not the first time that they’ve done so under the guidance of Jack O’Connor.
The cost of losing faith in Kerry has often been devastating.
2006 – All-Ireland qualifiers, Longford v Kerry – Round 4
In 2006, Kerry lost the Munster final to Cork which knocked them down the road of the All-Ireland qualifiers. They joined the competition in Round 4 where a place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals was on offer.
Kerry were also looking pale that year with long odds of lifting the Sam Maguire hanging over them. Their opponents in that qualifier were a Longford side who had gathered considerable momentum in the previous rounds of the competition. They travelled down to face Kerry, encouraged by the belief that a win was within their grasp against a team that was turning cold.
But then O’Connor selected a young Kieran Donaghy at full-forward and Kerry had a feast. O’Connor admitted in his autobiography that it had been one last desperate effort to revive their season.
That 4-11 to 1-11 result was a statement victory for Kerry to evaporate all doubts about their pedigree. It was the benchmark that they built their All-Ireland triumph upon. Donaghy was unmarkable at the edge of the square which enabled Kerry to pick off Armagh, Cork and Mayo along the way to the summit.
An incredible trump card for O’Connor to pluck from his deck.
2009 – All-Ireland quarter-final, Kerry v Dublin
2009 was the year of the startled earwig. After a year away from the helm, O’Connor was back in the bainisteoir bib with Kerry.
Three seasons on from that resurgent All-Ireland success, O’Connor’s side found themselves stuttering and stumbling again. Cork had scored another victory against them in Munster as they dumped them out at the semi-final stage. The qualifier campaign that followed was a series of missteps and tiptoeing around disaster for the Kingdom. They faced Longford again that year, coming away looking shaky with just a four-point win from Pearse Park. They had just one point to spare against Sligo in the next round and failed to signal any real intent when they defeated Antrim to book their place in the quarter-finals.
Dublin were next up and they were looking decidedly sharper than Kerry at that point. Under Pat Gilroy, they were mapping out a path to All-Ireland glory and Kerry were looking like just another box to tick en route.
That was until the opening minute of the game when Colm Cooper swiveled around Stephen Cluxton to open Kerry’s account with a goal. It was the first goal that Dublin had conceded in that championship and Kerry’s first real intake of oxygen. By half-time, they were leading by 14 points and by close of business, Gilroy was contemplating the famous earwig remark that summarised the contrasting fortunes of both counties.
Similar to Tyrone’s star Canavan brothers in 2023, Dublin boasted arguably the best inside forward line in 2009 in the form of Alan Brogan, Conal Keaney and Jason Sherlock. They contributed a combined 1-4. At the other end, Colm Cooper had built up an individual tally of 1-7 to take over the narrative.
The GAA / Twitter
The GAA / Twitter / Twitter
Clifford and O’Shea were channelling something similar yesterday as they blocked out the sunlight on their opponents. They scored 1-10 between them, with the Fossa man’s exquisite sideline pass setting up the play for O’Shea’s goal.
Building All-Ireland successes on newfound energy late in the season is becoming something of a pattern for Kerry. Maybe it’s the idea of feeling slighted and doubted that drives them. Or perhaps it’s just a matter of timing their peak to finish strong in the final strides.
Their semi-final display against Derry will tell us more about how Kerry’s 2023 season is going to end.
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