KERRY RUTHLESSLY EXPOSED Monaghan’s tactic of allowing Rory Beggan roam from his goals on Sunday as they ran in three goals in the Division 1 clash.
The Farney fly goalkeeper endured a difficult afternoon in Iniskeen.
For Kerry’s first three-pointer of the day, Beggan advanced quickly as Kerry attacked but he was easily rounded by Clifford who slotted home.
Then a loose Darren Hughes pass to Beggan near the halfway line was intercepted by Sean O’Shea and delivered into the path of David Clifford to roll into an empty net.
Kerry’s third goal arrived when a long kick-out was gathered by Jack Barry and quickly transferred to Sean O’Shea.
Spotting the goalkeeper off his line, O’Shea dispatched a kick over Beggan’s head to raise Kerry’s third green flag and leave them 15 points clear with 11 minutes still to play.
“Beggan had a nightmare of a day,” said Marc Ó Sé on this week’s episode of The42 GAA Weekly.
“We’ve seen this happen before. I’ve seen Niall Morgan in Killarney last year having a nightmare, everything fell apart for him and he was the hero at the end of the year winning the All-Ireland.
“It doesn’t give me any pleasure to say it – I’d actually blame Beggan for the three goals.
“For the first one, I could see what he was doing. Maybe he goes down and pulls the player he risks the black card but I thought he could have done better for that one. And obviously the two mistakes after that.
“It’s very disappointing for him but he’s a very good goalkeeper and he’ll definitely learn from that,” he continued.
“It’s okay when if you’re soloing the ball out the field, but in this situation with Beggan was just a loss of concentration. Losing the ball, you shouldn’t be doing it at that level.”
Referencing Aaron O’Neill’s marauding runs for Kildare against Dublin, Ó Sé said defences should be better set-up to cover for a sweeper keeper when they’re caught out.
“It’s a feature of the game now, goalkeepers are doing it. We see Armagh, they had an outfield player Ethan Rafferty in the goal.
“I think that might be the Kieran Donaghy influence as well because Austin Stacks are doing it with Wayne Guthrie in goal, he’s a midfielder and was in with Kerry for a while. He’s in goal now with the Stacks. It’s a hard one to get right.
“If you’re going back and looking at the last nine or 10 games and it’s a case that Beggan has been very influential (with his attacking involvements) then you keep going.
“But you still have to question when they do lose the ball there, how come there’s only one-on-one inside. It’s very risky. You make the contest with Kildare, when Aaron O’Neill went up they did have bodies back.
“Monaghan in fairness do normally defend well. Rory Beggan and Banty will be disappointed at that.”
