Kingdom escape to victory

Kerry 1-12 Monaghan 1-11: Afterwards, Monaghan men fell to the ground as though their world had just stopped and Kerry men had…

Kerry 1-12 Monaghan 1-11:Afterwards, Monaghan men fell to the ground as though their world had just stopped and Kerry men had the grace to look almost embarrassed by the cruelty of their victory. This was not a good football match, but it was an extraordinary one.

There were echoes of 1985 about the way Monaghan took the aristocrats to the brink only to be confronted with the most shattering of defeats. Ultimately, the Kavanagh County were left with the one consolation Seamus McEnaney, their excellent manager, told them to tolerate no longer: the moral victory.

Two points up after 65 minutes against an All-Ireland champion team which had played second fiddle for the previous hour: these are the rare and tantalising chances that football counties like Monaghan hope and pray will arrive once in 20 years. It was there, that shining moment, so clear and close they hardly believed it could be true. Maybe Monaghan fatally hesitated in those few moments for they went from being poised to earn an epochal win to desperately scrambling for a draw in what must have seemed like a few lightning seconds.

But one must recognise the honesty of the Kerry team in all of this. If Monaghan were on the threshold of hero status within their county, the Kingdom players were staring infamy in the face. A defeat here would have been greeted with scathing criticism in the football strongholds of the south and would have placed intolerable pressure on the shoulders of their manager, Pat O'Shea.

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Kerry looked vulnerable here and Dublin's robust, goal-lustful forwards will be smacking their lips when they study the chances created by Monaghan. Thomas Freeman's 23rd minute penalty was an immaculate strike, hit low and hard along the carpet, worthy of any Premiership marksman.

But they should also have prised Kerry open from play and Freeman came within a second of doing so, denied by a marvellous diving block by Marc Ó Sé on 60 minutes.

The teams were level then at 1-09 apiece but Monaghan were playing with astonishing verve, absorbing the blow of Declan O'Sullivan's 57th minute goal as though it were no big deal and calmly setting about restoring their lead.

Freeman kicked a free and then big Vincent Corey laid a ball back to Paul Finlay, who curled another. That was nine minutes from full time but, crucially, it turned out to be Monaghan's last score.

By then, Pat O'Shea had replaced several glittering names with other glittering names and with less than five minutes left on the clock, their season had entered desperate straits. Sometimes, those now-or-never scenarios can liberate teams. Familiar players materialised in those scrambling, tense last minutes to force some order on proceedings.

Colm Cooper had a ferociously hard experience in the company of the Monaghan men and he bounced up after so many heavy hits that he seemed to be made of some material more durable than flesh and bone. Monaghan held him scoreless from play but never the prima donna, it was Cooper who made a tremendous leap to break the ball down for Bryan Sheehan to clip a point. Sheehan was the one angle that Monaghan had not covered.

How could they? Kerry have such a bench that it would be mathematically impossible to study all the permutations. He was the Kerry forward able to exploit the one chink in Monaghan's plans and two minutes later, he clipped the equaliser. This was when legacy and entitlement and the killer instinct that comes with being All-Ireland champions came to bear fruit.

This was when the magnitude of the moment froze across the subconscious of the Monaghan men and when Kerry knew they could steal it. You could almost smell the fear in the stadium when the ball was kicked out and the Monaghan fans watched as Kerry came away with it again.

Tomás Ó Sé started the move and big Kieran Donaghy played it back to Darren O'Sullivan and around him, men in green and gold hoops were moving purposefully forward, wanting the ball.

Ó Sé had kept on running, looping past O'Sullivan and sprinting on to the fisted pass before fisting the winner. Monaghan had a couple of late chances but the dream died when Darragh Ó Sé plucked a long, long Finlay free from the skies. The champions survived.

It was a numbing conclusion to Monaghan's valiant season. They turned up to win here. The front three of Hanratty, Corey and Freeman worried the Kerry back line and Rory Woods gave an exceptional display for 60 minutes, firing three points from play as well as dropping back deep. A

Always gifted in his ability with a football, the overall improvement in Woods's game is perhaps best emblematic of the changes McEnaney has brought to bear.

The midfield pair of Dick Clerkin and Eoin Lennon won plenty of ball and the back six took no prisoners. Monaghan held the illustrious Kerry forward-line to a point from play. The Kerry goal was probably the only high ball they failed to cope with and O'Sullivan was the right man in the right place. When you see Eoin Brosnan and Paul Galvin being retired early, you think your work is done. But Kerry had too much wealth for the drumlin county. As it was, Monaghan would have won this match had they converted their 45s.

In a just world, they would have at least got the same as their predecessors in 1985: a draw. But Monaghan have not been trading on what is fair or otherwise. They acquitted themselves boldly all summer but came up against the All-Ireland champions who had plenty of excuses to quit here, yet did not.

And when all is said and done it will be Kerry versus Dublin, with all its associated magic and hype. It the thought of storming that pale blue fortress does not sharpen the champions' appetite for battle, then nothing will.

HOW THEY LINED OUT

KERRY: D Murphy; M Ó Sé, T O'Sullivan, P Reidy; T Ó Sé (0-1), A O'Mahony, K Young (0-1); D Ó Sé, S Scanlon; D O'Sullivan (1-0), E Brosnan (0-1), P Galvin; C Cooper (0-4, four frees), K Donaghy, MF Russell (0-3, three frees).

Subs: S O'Sullivan for P Galvin (51 mins), B Sheehan (0-2) for MF Russell (58 mins), T Griffin for C Flanagan (60 mins), D O'Sullivan for E Brosnan (64 mins),

MONAGHAN: S Duffy; D Mone, JP Mone, C Flanagan; D McArdle, G McQuaid, P Finlay (0-2 one free); D Clerkin, E Lennon; S Gollogly (0-1), R Woods (0-3), D Freeman, C Hanratty (0 2) , V Corey, T Freeman (1-3, one free, pen).

Subs: D Hughes for S Gallogly (44 mins), P Meegan for D Mone (50 mins), H McElroy for R Woods (66 mins), B McKenna for P Meegan (70 mins).

Yellow cards: JP Mone (16 mins), D Mone (34 mins), D Clerkin (48 mins, 72 mins), D McArdle (49 mins).

Red Card: D Clerkin (72 mins).

Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).