GAELIC GAMES:The house was full. It rained. The Gooch was sublime. Kerry won the All-Ireland football final. Suddenly yesterday the summer presented itself to us as just a sequence of glaring inevitabilities. Or if you are a Corkman, as a series of unfortunate events.
The game and Kerry's 35th title will be remembered less for the quality of the football than for the novelty of the goals Kerry scored. If that seems a harsh memorial for Kerry, who played brilliantly at times, and for Cork, who just deserve better, those are the breaks.
Kerry have so many All-Irelands that anything which distinguishes one title win from another must be pressed into play.
This was their third title in four years, the first back-to-back win by any county since 1990, when Cork, led by Billy Morgan, did it. Kerry won by 10 clear points and have now won their last three All-Ireland titles by an aggregate of 31 points.
As a considered response to the revolution visited upon the game by Ulster counties in the earlier part of this decade that is quite a riposte.
Football's leading franchise has re-established itself at the top of the game and Kerry now just compete with their own history when it comes to further motivation.
"We just started talking about the chance of three in a row in the dressingroom next door," said Paul Galvin, Kerry's extraordinary wing forward, within minutes of yesterday's game ending. "That's what Kerry football is all about. Maybe it is time for a new dynasty in Kerry football. The greats are the greats but maybe we can create a new dynasty."
Comparative assessments of Kerry's various dynastic eras will have to wait. This team, though buttressed by the experience and power of Darragh Ó Sé, whose eclipse of Nicholas Murphy was instrumental yesterday, are young and could take some satisfaction in winning yesterday with a brand new left wing to their defence.
They are young and have vacuum-packed so much experience into their lives it seems it would be harder to stop being dominant than to continue.
Colm Cooper is 24 and was playing in his fifth final yesterday. Kieran Donaghy is the same age and won his second successive medal. The third member of their full-forward line, Bryan Sheehan, is just 22. Frightening.
"There's still a lot in this Kerry team," said captain Declan O'Sullivan, who at 23 years of age lifted the Sam Maguire for the second year in succession and won his third All-Ireland medal. "There's still plenty to win."
And how will it be won? O'Sullivan gave the answer when replying to a question about his feelings on creating his own little piece of history, the first man to lift the new Sam Maguire cup two years in succession.
"Yeah, a very proud moment," he said, "but it is all about the players one to 34, who have been training together to put back-to-back titles together. It comes down to work-rate and attitude and honesty."
Work-rate. Attitude. Honesty. Everywhere in evidence yesterday. Probably it was all over midway through the first half when Cooper rose to contest a high ball with breathtaking bravery in front of the outrushing figure of Alan Quirke, the Cork goalkeeper. Quirke was bigger, taller and carrying more momentum and weight. The ball came off the Gooch's fist and flashed to the net. Cork looked winded, like men who had been sucker-punched.
It just got worse. That goal separated the teams at the break and Cork, whose every gamble seemed not to be working, went into the dressingroom thanking the stars they still had enough chips left to play some more hands. Then Kerry came out and scored 1-4 without reply in the first seven minutes after the break. Gentlemen, please leave the casino.
The rout started with a goal of even more bizarre construction. Ger Spillane looked to have safe possession coming away from his goal. Quirke moved off his line and out to take a pass across the face of goal. Spillane had his pocket picked in what Kieran Donaghy, the thief, would later describe as a basic basketball steal. Donaghy looked up, saw the goal area evacuated of all life, practically paused to shake his head in disbelief, and deposited the ball for a goal.
Short of 36 minutes gone and people had a mind to head out and beat the traffic.
Kerry, of course, had more work to be doing. Donaghy added a third goal when Quirke and his corner back Michael Shields went for the same ball without consulting each other. Donaghy broke it, chased it down first and hit it on the turn into an empty net. Cork would lose by 10 points but at that moment it looked as if they would suffer a far greater humiliation.
They fought back briefly and perhaps hopelessly with a goal from substitute Daniel Goulding but had to endure a final quarter watching Kerry sending on a fleet of substitutes to testimonials of applause and cheering and Kerry players taking training-ground potshots, looking to add their names to the list of scorers.
It was an odd and slightly bizarre final, one which will haunt Cork for quite some time and will bear several retellings this winter in the heartlands of Kerry.
