All-Ireland SFC final: Galway v Kerry, Croke Park, Sunday, 3.30 – Live on RTÉ 2 and Sky Sports Arena
When attending Jack O’Connor’s unveiling in Tralee last October, the trajectory he has since travelled looked inevitable. Coming in for his third tour of duty as Kerry manager, his demeanour didn’t bear the hallmarks of expectancy but implicit in the media conference was the demanding pressure to regain the All-Ireland for the county after eight years.
There was hardly anyone in attendance who wouldn’t have bet on O’Connor and his team being present on the last scheduled weekend of the football championship – a day that dawns this Sunday.
Everyone would have been there a while though, trying to guess correctly who the other finalists might be.
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Galway bring a fascinating complication to the last act of Kerry’s intended football renaissance. They have improved every step of the way, bring some of the same sense of entitlement that their opponents are trying to parlay into redemption and have some top-drawer footballers.
By strange coincidence, O’Connor’s first two championships, in 2004 and ‘06, came after beating Galway in the league final and Mayo in the All-Ireland final both years. This year they walloped Mayo in the league final and now face Galway.
The difference this time is that unlike those years when Kerry knew full well that only an earthquake would stop them taking home Sam Maguire after the final, this is a lot less certain.
Just two reference points will do. One, there was something of the Mayo reaction last year to beating Dublin in the semi-final two weeks ago. Yes, they hadn’t done it for a while but no, it was not an end in itself and arguably – given the Con O’Callaghan injury – not as challenging a match as Sunday promises to be.
Secondly, delight at beating the Dubs for the first time in 13 years hints at the nagging reality. Kerry should be brought on nicely by the win but they still, with a few exceptions, haven’t won an All-Ireland yet. What’s more, many of them conspicuously failed to win one when playing 14 men for more than half the 2019 final.
What is so different this year that the Munster champions are starting at three to one on?
Partly, it’s the accepted narrative of O’Connor’s appointment. Three times an All-Ireland winner in his previous two stints, he was appointed specifically to get the All-Ireland done.
Providing the stardust style is David Clifford, whose talents on the ball generally defy restraining orders. He and Paul Geaney ideally operate in pockets of space, as Kerry try to manipulate opposing teams into movement that leaves plenty of open territory.
A counterattacking game built on defence and turnovers mightn’t thrill the keepers of the flame in the county but it has been very effective.
Goals conceded have dropped from seven to one compared to last year over the same number of matches and you can see why. There are no easy routes to goal. Jason Foley and Tadhg Morley protect the D and there’s plenty of back-up. The pace of the counterattacks can be punishing and although immediate views on Gavin White’s injury in the semi-final sounded bleak, things may have perked up in the meantime.
His pace would be a big loss to their game. Another strength is the reliability of Seán O’Shea’s free-taking, which makes cheap fouls not particularly good value.
Galway have served a useful apprenticeship in this championship, beating Mayo and Roscommon to win Connacht. Their full-forward line has been high-yield with Rob Finnerty, Damien Comer and Shane Walsh taking it in turns to make significant scoreboard impact.
Crucially, they have thought their way out of trouble in serious contests, particularly against Armagh but also against Derry, who inexplicably didn’t make the most of their opportunities when they had Galway under pressure. But Pádraic Joyce’s team rode out the storm and pounced for goals.
Derry, the limit of whose revivals had been a couple of points in the Ulster finals, found themselves 0-4 to 1-7 in arrears after John Daly had supplied Comer not 10 minutes into the second half. Game over.
Kerry have been good at shutting out goals, although Dublin highlighted the menace of turnover possession by launching a coherent counter, topped by Cormac Costello’s excellent finish. But that’s the only time the umpires behind Shane Ryan have reached for the green flag all championship.
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Galway also have the edge at centrefield with Cillian McDaid’s dynamism and Paul Conroy’s accuracy as well as Matthew Tierney’s auxiliary presence on the 40.
As a collective, the Connacht champions could strike for scores that would test the Kerry resolve perhaps beyond breaking point but is that the likely outcome?
Kerry’s improved defence will not be as easily breached as Galway’s previous opponents’ whereas the usually admirable adventure of Dylan McHugh, John Daly and Kieran Molloy in the Galway half backs needs to be subdued in favour of sitting that bit tighter.
The Cliffords, Geaney and O’Shea can exploit an at times careless Galway defence that coughed up a six-point lead in quarter-final injury-time, facilitated Roscommon in mitigating a hammering into a more plausible three-point defeat, having allowed Mayo nearly catch them in the first match and even let Derry take the bare look off things in the 74th minute of the semi-final.
Kerry have suffered, reset and prepared for this weekend all year. In every sense it has now arrived.
