Kerry through on another poor performance

posted: 31-Aug-2009
Disappointingly dull
I don’t know if it was the weather, the field or teams but both games in Croker yesterday gave very little entertainment on any front. It must have been very disappointing from a neutral point of view as either game delivered anything to get anyway excited.

Concert was a mistake
Croke Park’s decision to remove the field for the U2 concert and replace it with a new sod is baffling. Yesterday time and time again we witnessed players slipping and sliding which was akin to playing on ice.

On the way down from Dublin yesterday I was listening to Jimmy Magee’s radio programme and they were on about the types of boots players are wearing. Look, certainly it is not the boots that are the problem. No player with any common sense will wear multi stud boots on a wet day but will opt for blades or six stud.

These boots are proven to be effective in wet and dry conditions for all professional sports people. You don’t see Ronaldo or Rooney slipping consistently in Old Trafford. Mind you Man Utd don’t dig their field up for a concert even if it is U2.

Croke Park owe all players and Management and spectators alike a huge apology for this blip, time to put players and county teams' priorities first as opposed to always looking at the profit books.

Bad match , good result for Kerry
On the main game against Kerry and Meath, well lets say it was a terrible match (being nice) but a good result for Kerry. It was junior football at best and it completely lacked the intensity everyone witnessed last week in the Cork/Tyrone match.

Kerry were anything but impressive and our forward department drifted back in the same bad habits we witnessed against Sligo and Longford – no hard runs, playing behind defenders, pot shooting, and workrate off the ball was well below par. If our forward line decide to do this against Cork well we can kiss our chances goodbye.

For me up front Tadgh Kennelly had a very consistent 70 minutes and ran himself into the ground with his lung bursting cross field runs. These runs were the perfect pressure release valve for Kerry’s wing back and midfielders to kick the ball.

Paul Galvin had an excellent 1st half but drifted out of the game in the second half and did not register a score over the 70 minutes. All the other 4 forwards were well below par with 3 of them substituted. Seamus Scanlon once again had a super game and for me was my MOTM (FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY T O SE).

Darragh had a quiet afternoon in the miidle of the park and a bit lethargic throughout. However he did manage to keep Shane Crawford out of the game who was subsequently substituted.

Defence was outstanding
For me the winning of the match was Kerry’s defence. all 6 backs won their individual battle with Tomas, Mike Mac and Griffin outstanding throughout. Marc, tom and Killian did enough to cancel their opponents out of the game and sure what more does a defender have to do.

Murph in goals was terrific with some brilliant saves in the second half. I felt he did not hit Darragh with too many kick outs yesterday but in fairness Scanlon and Tomas were cleaning up in the far side.

Kerry will know there is load of work to be done to get up to the required level. They have played 7 games with one good performance against Dublin - this is not good reading or good form coming into the biggest game of the year. Cork have played 6 games with one average performance against Limerick, much nicer graph to look at.


Tommy Walsh was the difference yesterday, his 1-02 killing off the game. Yesterday was made for Tommy and he almost has booked a starting place for the All Ireland. However this team still needs Star and lets hope he is fit for the rebels.

Disappointment for the Meath squad
What of Meath. Well outside of Ward and Sheridan to an extent, all the other players will be disappointed with their performance. But in truth this Meath team were fighting well above their weight and are no way close to the Meath team which won in 1996 and 1999.

They lacked the leaders from that era – Fay, Mcguinness, Giles, Gerathy and Murphy. That is why Kerry’s performance was so disappointing. Meath played very poorly and yet we only won by 4 points.

Meath’s full back line were seen as a weakness but none of our starting line bothered them and it took Tommy Walsh’s introduction to expose their aerial weaknesses.  Dublin and Kildare are still well ahead of this Meath team and I cant see them win Leinster for another 4 or 5 years.

And on to face Cork...
So the final that all the Kerry/Cork people wanted. Right now you would have to say that is Cork’s title to lose but Kerry have a few weeks to get their house in order and no doubt will love to throw a spanner in the rebel’s dream of lifting Sam.

If this is to happen Kerry will have to match Cork’s running game and have the legs to do so. They will have to match Cork’s physicality and power in the middle diamond and we need so much more from our forward division.

1 or 2 players playing well is not good enough – we will need all 6 playing if we are to keep the rebels backs pinned back in their half, our side having enough to do to mark their man as opposed to running up the field like a free agent which they have done all year.

Exciting few weeks ahead

Regards

The Pony 
 
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  • Sep-7 - Iansupportsrugby — Nice one Seamas but who honestly do you think will win and are they the tow best teams in the country at the moment? Ian
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SeamusMoynihan

Described as a 'one-off player' Seamus  'the pony' Moynihan was one of the greatest Gaelic football stars of his generation.

 

The Kerry centre-back has won four all-Ireland medals for his county, three national leagues, nine munster championship medals, two GAA All-Stars, one Railway medal and one Division 2 title.

He was scouted as a young teenage player and only retired from the Kerry Senior Football Panel in 2006. He still plays football for his local Glenflesk team in Kerry where he lives with his wife and children.

So whether you're a Kerry fan or not, do not miss The Pony every Friday and Monday on Ireland.com ! 

 

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