All-Ireland SFC semi-final: Kerry (holders) 1-17 Derry 1-15
THE KERRY cap was clamped firmly to his head, but you still believed Kingdom boss Jack O’Connor when he declared: ‘Hats off to Derry’.
The veteran manager doffed his cap as well, metaphorically at least, to his captain David Clifford, after another tour de force display from the Fossa star helped the holders retain their crown.
Dublin will undoubtedly provide a huge test in the decider but O’Connor acknowledged that his team had been pushed incredibly hard by the Ulster champions.
Managing a brief smile, the relieved Kerry boss said: “Now, it wasn't a great game for the heart.
“But I'd say as regards, you know, the way the crowd got into it there in the last quarter of an hour, it felt like it was a great battle and it was a great battle.
“I mean you'd have to take your hats off to Derry. They played some football out there. I just said to the boys at half-time that Derry had played most of the football in the first half, but there was still only a score in it and it was important that we hit the ground running at the start of the second half.
“I think that got us back in the game with a chance, but, you know, Derry kept coming. They didn't lie down. They were a serious team today and, on another day they could easily have won that game.”
Read more:
- Derry devastation as Kerry come back to reach All-Ireland final against Dublin
- Kevin Madden: Kingdom scalp was there for the taking for Derry; Dublin showed their old ruthlessness in seeing off Monaghan
- Are Ulster's arm-wrestles holding it back?
Indeed, Derry were ahead for most of the hour’s play from the seventh to the 68th minutes, apart from trailing briefly after that man Clifford converted a 23rd minute free.
The Oak Leafers went in at half-time leading by 1-11 to 1-8 and were two points up, 1-14 to 1-12 in the 65th minute.
At that point referee Joe McQuillan awarded Kerry a very soft-seeming free for an apparent foul on substitute Stephen O’Brien. Sean O’Shea accepted that gift and the Kingdom then added four more scores to turn this semi-final around.
Yet O’Connor insisted that he never relaxed until the match was over: “I was worried until McQuillan blew the whistle! I was worried at plenty of stages during that game.
“Jesus, there was times when we went down the field near the end, and all we needed to do was kill the ball and you felt that the referee might blow. There was a ball knocked into the goalie; there was another that someone tried to pass across and it was intercepted.
“And you’re saying, ‘Jesus, wouldn’t ye just kick it wide, like?’ At least then you could regroup, because the last thing you want to do with Derry is give them a counter-attack score. So, yeah, I was worried plenty of times.”
In the end, the character and experience of his players saw them through – and also the special qualities of David Clifford:
“An incredible second half performance… It was like he was willing the team. The way he played in the second half that he was willing the team to get over the line.
“This is a man that’s playing under pressure with all the expectation on him - double, triple marked and he still finds a way, so hats off to him, what a great performance.”
