A major setback for football in Dublin

FOOTBALL ANALYST:Dublin football needs to look at improving the underage level, where real skills are learned, writes JOHN O'KEEFFE.

WHO COULD possibly have predicted that? For a game that promised so much it turned out to be a complete non-contest – and one very harsh lesson for Dublin. Truth is Dublin needed to win here more that Kerry, or were at least craving it more. And they had every right to be confident. They’d gained a lot of self-belief from their Leinster campaign, and I felt were worthy favourites.

Instead Kerry came out far more focused than at any point in the season so far, right from the throw-in. It was key that they got the good start, stamped their authority early on. Obviously they would have expected Dublin to meet them head on, but that never materialised.

Kerry’s intent was everywhere: Mike McCarthy, willing to make the hard runs again, setting up Gooch’s goal; Declan O’Sullivan, and Darran O’Sullivan, who both excelled in the space they were allowed; and all three Ó Sé brothers. And of course Paul Galvin.

You can’t give these kind of players time on the ball, or they will destroy you. No one ever doubted the quality of these players, but there were genuine doubts whether they still had the hunger, the pace. Like a lot of people I was one of those doubters. Well they answered all those doubts loud and clear.

It was quickly obvious Dublin had no answer to this. In some ways not having the so-called twin towers of Tommy Walsh and Kieran Donaghy worked to Kerry’s advantage this time, because they opted instead for the quick interchange of players, the quick passing and movement of the ball, and finished it off with some great scoring.

As a result Dublin’s backs were all over the place. David Henry, who was a class act in Leinster, couldn’t cope, and Denis Bastick and Paddy Andrews were way off their men as well. Also, Dublin simply didn’t track back on to the likes of Mike McCarthy, Killian Young and Tomás Ó Sé. In total contrast, the Kerry defenders stayed very close to their men, and also attacked the ball.

There was something inconceivably flat about Dublin, all over the field. It was as if they just thought things would happen for them. They should have been the fresher team, but instead Kerry were the ones bouncing with energy.

But then go back to last year, when they suffered a similar humiliation against Tyrone. It appears that when the pace of the opposition is stepped up, and with the collective skill of that team, the Dublin footballers simply can’t cope. Bernard Brogan, for example, who was a star in Leinster, was comfortably held by Tomás Ó Sé.

So overall this has to be seen as a major setback for Dublin football. Where do they go from here? They can’t keep going back to the same players. They really have to start from scratch. It’s going to be very difficult for Pat Gilroy to make sense of it all, but I do hope he stays with the job.

This will be some shock to the system, but he’ll have to start searching far and wide now for the type of player who has the basic skill but also the pace to live with the likes of this Kerry performance. Right now Dublin simply don’t have those players.

You could say Dublin were a little unlucky early on, missing those couple of goal chances that might have sparked their game. But the reality is they were struggling in every position, so Gilroy would have been lost as to where to make the changes.

So many of the Dublin players were also late into the tackle, which is a clear sign they are off their game.

It seems quite clear to me Dublin won’t win an All-Ireland if they keep going about things the way they are. Given the huge population, they need to look again at improving the underage level, colleges level, because that’s still where the real skills are learned.

Maybe they need to start investing in a few more football academies, the way they are with hurling. They also have the increasing problem of youngsters at age 15 or so crossing over to rugby or soccer, and that has to have a detrimental effect. In Kerry every footballer aged 15 is thinking about making the minor team, and nothing else.

It’s a sad reflection on Dublin football that at this level the skill just isn’t there to cope with Kerry or Tyrone. It’s not enough to just say Kerry caught them cold. You have to ask the question, are these the best 15 footballers in Dublin? It may be that the quality of this team was inflated, but they’ll have to take a good, hard look at themselves.

The really disappointing part is that they seem to be going backwards again.

The GAA needs Dublin to be doing well. They bring so much to the game, and the atmosphere in Croke Park before the throw-in yesterday was proof of that.

Anyway, all this certainly augurs well for the rest of Kerry’s season. They’re definitely peaking at the right time. I felt it was important, too, they brought Tadhg Kennelly on so early.

Tommy Walsh wasn’t doing too bad, but Kennelly offers a different dimension to Kerry’s game with his sheer energy. He’s getting better with every game, and will be a key player for Kerry from here on. It’s all coming together for them, epitomised in the way Darragh Ó Sé has come back into form. Their season is not just alive again, but kicking.