Allianz NFL Division One semi-final: Kerry v Roscommon (tomorrow, 2pm, Croke Park, live on TG4)
THE bee is not yet scraping at the window, and yet Kerry find themselves in fine fettle.
They are also in a vengeful mood. Ask Monaghan. Ask Cork.
The Farney men had the temerity to win in Tralee last year and Kerry bore the scars right up until their big win in Clones a fortnight ago.
“We were probably smarting a bit from the defeat in Tralee last year,” said Kerry boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice after a 1-15 to 1-7 win.
And in almost the same breath, he fired a warning to Cork, who had beaten them well in each of the last two springs.
At 0-10 to 0-2 in the Tralee sunshine, it looked as though Kerry were set to serve the same cold revenge to the Rebels as well, but they eased up.
Still, when Brian Hurley kicked Cork level with just over ten minutes to go, they had enough about them to find the requisite gear.
And so Kerry won a game they didn’t really need to win, and one in which the momentum was going away from them. A good sign.
In their good grace, they allowed Roscommon their day in Killarney back in February. The Rossies held on in eight minutes of injury time to claim a famous win and kick-start their impressive campaign.
Half an hour after the final whistle, the Roscommon supporters remained in Fitzgerald Stadium, waiting to salute their men back on to their team bus.
Backslaps galore. Smiles the width of the Shannon.
Kerry don’t forget.
It’s a fair while since the Kingdom won five on the spin in the League. Another good sign.
Andy Watters and Neil Loughran give their thoughts on tomorrow's semi-final clash
The reformation of Paul Murphy as a roving centre-forward is a move nobody really saw coming, but one that has had decent success.
Kieran Donaghy looks a new man at midfield, propelled by an extended break and shooting a few hoops in the winter.
The current midfield triumvirate also contains David Moran and Johnny Buckley at wing-forward, but Anthony Maher and Bryan Sheehan – who returns to the bench tomorrow after his hand injury - remain strong contenders to wrestle the jerseys back once the bruises heal fully.
In attack, Darran O’Sullivan’s displays have been his best in years. He is reintroduced to the side having missed the win over Cork, as is Aidan O’Mahony.
They have also drip-fed Colm Cooper back after his layoff. In all, Kerry come to Croke Park a different side to the one which was so routinely disposed of by Dublin on the opening weekend.
There is now little emphasis placed on that encounter, and far less again on Roscommon’s opening round defeat by Monaghan.
That evening’s analysis decreed that Fergal O’Donnell and Kevin McStay’s side were just too green for this level of football.
Level in injury-time, they gifted the ball to the one man you don’t want to gift it to, Conor McManus. A four-point loss against a potential relegation rival looked potentially terminal.
Two months down the line, they’ve confounded all the expectations levelled at them. Very few teams win in Cork, Kerry and Donegal in the one season.
The six weeks that followed the Monaghan defeat made Roscommon the League’s big success story. Taking advantage of an error-ridden Kerry display in Killarney started the ball rolling and racking up 4-25 in Cork really set tongues wagging.
Their development over the past eighteen months even is underlined by their selection for tomorrow. Diarmuid Murtagh replaces Donie Shine in the full-forward line – the latter once looked upon as undroppable, but has been a peripheral figure in this campaign.
It will be Murtagh’s first start of the season and he is one of four changes, with Geoffrey Claffey given the number one jersey ahead of Darren O’Malley.
Sean Mullooly and Conor Devaney – who has impacted well from the bench – replacing David Keenan and Niall Kilroy respectively.
With a brand that mixes the traditional with the modern, they have had big attacking performances from Ciaran Murtagh and Fintan Cregg in particular.
Neil Collins has been superb at full-back as well, though he’ll find Colm Cooper a different challenge from the one posed by Tommy Walsh two months ago.
Their three defeats from four at ‘home’ was the relative disappointment, but given that their homes included Kiltoom, Longford and Carrick-on-Shannon, it’s hard to read too much into it.
Perhaps the one that will concern them is the defeat by Connacht rivals Mayo, who flexed a bit of muscle at just the right time to stay afloat.
But they will not be easily quelled. They recovered from that poor display against Mayo to push Dublin to the wall last weekend.
This vengeful mood has been a profitable one for Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s side, but as long as they aren’t overawed, Roscommon could well clip the bee’s wings.
The teams
Roscommon: G Claffey; S McDermott, N Collins, N McInerney; D Murray, S Purcell, S Mullooly; N Daly, C Shine; F Cregg, C Murtagh, C Devaney; D Murtagh, S Kilbride, C Cregg
Subs: D O'Malley, B Murtagh, D Keenan, D Shine, G Patterson, J McDermott, J McManus, N Kilroy, R Daly, R Stack, T Corcoran
Kerry: B Kelly; M O Se, M Griffin, S Enright; P Crowley, A O’Mahony, F Fitzgerald; K Donaghy, D Moran; J Buckley, P Murphy, D Walsh; D O’Sullivan, C Cooper, S O’Brien
Subs: B Kealy, B Sheehan, K Young, A Fitzgerald, P O’Connor, BJ Keane, J Lyne, B O’Sullivan, M Geaney, T Walsh, D Daly
Kerry results
Jan 30: Dublin 2-14 Kerry 0-14
Feb 7: Kerry 1-10 Roscommon 0-14
Feb 28: Down 0-6 Kerry 0-22
Mar 6: Kerry 1-13 Donegal 1-8
Mar 13: Mayo 0-14 Kerry 2-13
Mar 27: Monaghan 1-9 Kerry 1-17
Apr 3: Kerry 0-20 Cork 1-12
Roscommon results
Jan 31: Roscommon 1-9 Monaghan 2-10
Feb 7: Kerry 1-10 Roscommon 0-14
Feb 28: Cork 3-10 Roscommon 4-25
Mar 6: Roscommon 1-12 Down 0-6
Mar 13: Donegal 0-17 Roscommon 1-19
Mar 27: Roscommon 1-7 Mayo 1-11
Apr 3: Roscommon 1-12 Dublin 1-13
Kerry scorers (total 5-109): C Cooper 0-17 (0-11f), B Sheehan 0-16 (0-11f, 0-2 45s), BJ Keane 0-13 (0-9f), D O’Sullivan 0-11, A Fitzgerald 0-11 (0-8f), D Walsh 1-4, J Buckley 1-5, D Moran 1-4 (1-0pen, 0-1f, 0-1 45’), S O’Brien 1-4, B O’Sullivan 0-6, P Crowley 1-2, K Donaghy 0-3, M Ó Sé 0-2, T Walsh 0-2, F Fitzgerald 0-1, C Cox 0-1, P Murphy 0-1, M Griffin 0-1
Roscommon scorers (total 9-98): C Murtagh 4-27 (1-0pen, 0-18f), F Cregg 0-22 (0-12f), C Cregg 2-9, C Devaney 0-11, S Kilbride 2-2, E Smith 0-7, N Daly 0-5, C Connolly 0-4 (0-1f), D Murtagh 1-1, D Shine 0-3, C Daly 0-3, N Collins 0-1, D Murray 0-1, C Shine 0-1, I Kilbride 0-1
