A DETERMINATION to redress historic failures was patently etched deep into the young minds of a skilful and courageous Laois team at Croke Park yesterday. They deservedly gained the county's first All Ireland minor football title, atoning for the defeats in the finals of 1932 and 1967.
The quality of this Laois performance, so worthy of All Ireland victory, if not without a supplementary ingredient of luck, was not lost on Mikey Sheehy, the Kerry selector. "They were a battling team full of spirit with exceptionally good skills," he said.
The whole of Laois would settle for that and are unlikely to dwell on the good fortune that led to their two decisive match winning goals.
The first came as early as 90 seconds and, not for the first time in the opening exchanges, showed an alarming weakness in the first line of the Kerry defence.
The ball delivered by Laois midfielder Noel Garvan was nothing more than a speculative lob and the only excuse Kerry goalkeeper Kenneth O'Keeffe could possibly have was that the sun blinded him at the precise moment when the ball sneaked under his bar.
Moments earlier O'Keeffe failed to deal with a harmless looking Kevin Fitzpatrick lob, but fortunately for Kerry the ball was whipped off the goal line in quite spectacular manner by corner back Kenneth Leen.
The cool way Kerry recovered from this demoralising start was so impressive that they began to shape like winners.
Laois's second goal was just reward for putting their opponents on the rack from the outset of the second half. Yet it cannot be denied that a miskicked free by Seamus Kelly from some 40 yards out fashioned the score.
When Kelly's low free reached the fringe of the square 16 year old Brian McDonald - met the end of the delivery with a spectacular diving effort, boxing the ball to the net. McDonald's effort resembled a diving header in soccer. In fact, as someone remarked in the Laois dressingroom, it was a classic Frank Stapleton job.
"It was my first goal of the summer, said a happy McDonald, who was being hailed as the man of the match. But of course, he is only a boy. "I am under age for another two years," he said.
Kerry's general performance lacked the hunger of the Laois side. Yet they fought back from a six point deficit in the final quarter to earn parity with three minutes remaining.
Even though he was coming into form far too late for Kerry comfort, Noel Kennelly's huge equalising point was a big relief for the struggling Munster champions, who made more defensive errors in this game than they had committed throughout the summer,
"When they drew level I thought we were gone," admitted Laois manager Gabriel Lawlor. To Lawlor's credit, he used the word "flukey" when describing his team's goals.
However, had Laois not secured those goals, it would have been a shame had their midfield and half back dominance not been rewarded in some other way.
However, after Kerry had drawn level in the 57th minute, the response from Laois was clinical and forced Kerry defenders to resort to petty fouling, which Stephen Kelly and Chris Conway punished with frees of pin point accuracy. And it was no surprise that McDonald shared in that late flurry with a point from play.
Full forward Danny Doogue was switched out to the forty in a shrewd move by the Laois mentors to help inspire their strong finish.
But Laois pressure had been exerted on the Kerry backs from the outset of the second half. It resulted in Kerry's two midfielders, John Lynch and John Sugrue, retiring. Once this happened Laois midfielders Martin Delaney and Noel Garvan were seen to even better effect. An the confidently given support from half backs Niall Collins, Derek Conroy and Colm Parkinson was always forthcoming.
An amusing moment in the tunnel after the match was when a jubilant Parkinson, thinking that Meath were in a nearby dressing room, roared "come on Meath too".
Kerry's best moments came when they were responding to the shock early goal for Laois. Thanks largely to the brilliance of Ian Twiss and the free taking of Kennelly and Liam Murphy, they were ahead after nine minutes and beginning to show a greater tactical awareness than Laois.
Perhaps it was only fitting that a grand nephew of the legendary Bill Delaney, Owens Delaney, shot Laois into the lead again three minutes after the restart.
Mikey Sheehy's words summed it up from this point: "We were happy enough at half time, but died in midfield in the second half."
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