TIPPERARY'S fairytale came to an end last Sunday, even though many homes outside of Mayo, including my own, were willing their unbelievable underdog story to continue.
A lack of big match experience, allied with too many unforced errors and some disappointing refereeing decisions, ultimately cost them. The defeat, though, should not detract from what has been a magical season for the Munster county normally associated with hurling at this time of the year.
When the draw for this year’s Championship was made, many pundits pointed to Mayo’s side of the draw and earmarked the Connacht men for a return to the All-Ireland final and a chance to gain redemption for all their big game defeats in the last six years. They have duly obliged and their target from the start of the year would have been September 18.
However, the route and quality of their performances to get to the Croke Park decider have done little to enthuse anyone outside of Mayo that, this year, they could finally make the breakthrough. New management and new tactics take time to bed in and it is to their credit that they now occupy a place in this year’s final.
Even though the pundits and columnists around our country are critical of their somewhat disjointed performances to date, Stephen Rochford and his players now occupy a position 29 other counties starting the Championship can only dream about. They have three weeks to get their team ready for a final few will give them a chance of winning after this weekend’s potentially enthralling encounter.
As to who I think will win this mouthwatering clash, for the first time in my role as a columnist, I am going to tip Dublin to beat Kerry - not just because the last four times I have predicted the Kingdom would defeat the Dubs, they have failed. But I just feel Jim Gavin’s men are that bit mentally and physically superior.
In my youth, I was brought up watching the Kerry Golden Years video because, in those days, you only had four channels and one other video tape, which was my brother’s Daniel O’Donnell Greatest Hits. That would mysteriously go missing most evenings, so I have always had an almost romantic attachment to the Kingdom and their stars of that era and how they dominated the game and the Dubs.
From 1976 to 2008, that dominance continued, but a changing of the guard has happened since then. And even though the Munster men will be cheered on by more than myself on Sunday afternoon, I fear the Dubs, who tend to occupy the pantomime villain role, will once again prevail.
In the 2011 final, Kerry led by five points with five minutes remaining when Kevin McManamon scored a goal that changed the whole dynamic of the game. Since then, Dublin have been in the ascendancy, totally disregarding all the reasons I would point out in this column why the Kingdom still had the upper hand on them.
There comes a time that even I, in my eternal allegiance to Kerry, must smell the coffee and admit Dublin are just that good bit better than anyone else out there. In their last three big competitive matches, in the Championship and the league final, Dublin have won by an accumulative aggregate of seven points - a significant margin given their rivalry and position in the game and probably more noteworthy is that each game followed a similar pattern.
In these three matches and the 2011 final, Kerry were more than a match for the favourites until the final stages of the game, when they capitulated. It allowed a rampant Dublin forward unit to do what they do best and put considerable daylight between them on the scoreboard.
In my column in April, I stated Kerry would have to beat Dublin in the league final - not because a league title was important, but to break the run of successive defeats which would leave them in a stronger position for this match at the weekend. Dublin won by 11 points, pulling away at the finish again.
Panel-wise, Dublin are the only team in the Championship who have the luxury of being able to introduce substitutes whose abilities are just as good as the players they are displacing. We even saw in the last game that Gavin was not afraid to call ashore a quiet Bernard Brogan, who was replaced by Paul Mannion, the latter going on to finish Donegal off in style.
I’m not saying the Kingdom cannot defeat Dublin. And when you boast a full-forward line of genuine quality like Donaghy, Geaney and O’Donoghue, then you will always have a realistic chance. However, they will have to improve some aspects of their game if they are to harbour hopes of facing Mayo in the decider.
They can’t allow Cluxton to control possession from his kick-outs and must go man-to-man. Hopefully, that will frustrate and put pressure on a team that is so used to dominating opponents in the same way Kerry teams did in the past. Donaghy must be played on the square and not in midfield as, at his age, he is no match for the fitness levels required to face an athletic Dublin in the middle sector. A quick supply line to a dangerous Kerry full-forward line is also needed if they are to ask questions of a full-back line that was pin-pointed as an apparent weakness for the Dubs, but has yet to be found wanting.
Bryan Sheehan was interviewed this week and he stated there is no chance Dublin will be hungrier than Kerry. He may be right but, unfortunately, being hungry doesn’t always guarantee you will be fed. And even though I will regress to my early teens, watching and hoping Kerry will once again produce another display similar to the worn-out video cassette I was engrossed in in many years ago, I still feel Dublin’s athleticism, aggression, quality and inherent belief will once again prevail.
