Despite all the talk, Kerry still in the hunt

ALL-IRELAND SFC QUALIFIER ROUND FOUR Kerry 2-12 Antrim 1-10: THEY WERE pronounced dead at 2.30. They were buried at 3.15. At 3.30 they rose again and headed back to The Kingdom with an air of transcendence. It's no small miracle but Kerry have at least one more chapter to write in this year's championship and there's still no predicting the outcome of it.

They may be still a long way from the top, but they’re where they wanted to be, back in Croke Park for an All-Ireland quarter-final. Once again they staggered over the finish line, but unlike the recent Longford and Sligo shows, they at least finished on something of a high, hitting 1-4 in the final 10 minutes to finally halt Antrim’s courageous march to get some glory of their own.

For 60 minutes prior to that it seemed Jack O’Connor would be writing his own epitaph. Dropping Colm “Gooch” Cooper and Tomás Ó Sé. Starting Sean O’Sullivan and Tadhg Kennelly. Allowing Declan O’Sullivan take the frees. Throw in all the talk of discontent and it seemed the Kerry manager was staring the unbearable in the face.

“Do you think so?” he asked afterwards, his back so far to the dressingroom wall that it seemed like he was stuck.

O’Connor is no stranger to the dangers of management, particularly Kerry management, but he’s plenty cute to deal with it, and anyone expecting him to raise hell afterwards, to start casting stones, was left disappointed.

“I think we’ve parked that one now lads today,” O’Connor said of the mid-week rumblings. “Sure it was you that were saying that stuff, anyway. We didn’t say a word . . .

It actually wasn’t a worry, believe it or not. The only thing I was worried about was that the squad would stick together. That’s all that matters, really. The stuff that you fellas write doesn’t affect us as much as you think it does.”

O’Connor certainly looked worried for the first hour. For the third match in succession Kerry were shockingly ragged, giving away ball like loose change and running down dead-end streets.

Tommy Walsh’s goal on 12 minutes gave them an early cushion, but once Antrim started running at them, the obvious weakness in Kerry, it appeared there was an upset in the air. Tony Scullion had acres of space to finish Antrim’s goal on 23 minutes, and they deservedly went into the break a point ahead – the only surprise there being it wasn’t more.

The Kerry supporters defied their reputation for not travelling and dominated the 8,500-crowd, but there was precious little to cheer about. Kennelly clearly wasn’t match fit, and Declan O’Sullivan summed up the mood when sending a simple 20-metre free wide as a gate. Antrim’s ultimate downfall may well have been decided at that point in failing to punish Kerry to the level they deserved.

“They were playing a sweeper back,” added O’Connor, “and he was making it hard on us, but I think in the second half we came to grips. We just needed to keep the head. That’s what we kept telling them. Because there is a lot of experience in this team, and if it was going to come down to a close finish, we had the bit of experience that would pull us through. Look, everyone thinks we should be steam-rolling teams like Antrim, but they gave a great account of themselves.”

The Gooch was promptly forgiven and called in before the break, but it took a while for his steadying influence from the frees to take effect. Instead it was Paul Galvin and the revitalised Mike McCarthy who lead by example, the former steadying Kerry’s game with some incisive passing, and the latter making some amazing runs from the half back line that forced Antrim to foul, and thus allowing Kerry a way back. The Gooch converted three of those frees in quick succession to put Kerry back in front on 50 minutes. But they weren’t out of the battle yet.

Antrim’s Michael McCann got on his scoring boots and brought Antrim back level on 60 minutes. So to the potential turning point in Kerry’s season; Michael Quirke, just introduced, caught a superb ball and set up a lightening passage of play that ended with Galvin scooping in Kerry’s second goal, after Donncha Walsh’s first strike. Paul O’Connor, another substitute, hit two more late frees and so Kerry were alive again, and kicking.

So have Kerry turned that corner, found their feet, at last? “I honestly don’t know,” said O’Connor. “All I know is we’ve got three very, very competitive games the last three weeks and, if anything is going to stand to us, those three games will.”

For Antrim manager Liam Bradley there had to be some regret, but he didn’t show it: “I’m proud of the players. I thought they put up a tremendous effort, but in the end it just wasn’t good enough. That lack of experience cost us a second goal. When we went in at half-time we probably should have been three or four up, instead of the one. But everybody was saying Kerry were a poor side. I don’t think they are.

“We knew teams can test Kerry if they run at them and, so it proved, in the first half. But we just fell up short in the end. That’s the way it goes. But when I took over this job at the start of the year I said the first thing I wanted to bring to Antrim football we was respect, and hopefully we’ve gained that, throughout the country. But it’s no good unless we build on this.”

The question now, of course, is can Kerry build on this? Sooner rather than later the truth of where they lie will be known. But they’re still alive and for now that’s all that counts.

KERRY: 1 D Murphy; 4 T O'Sullivan, 21 K Young, 3 T Griffin; 7 A O'Mahony, 6 M McCarthy, 2 M Ó Sé; 8 D Ó Sé, 9 S Scanlon; 10 P Galvin (1-2), 29 T Kennelly, 15 S O'Sullivan (0-1, free); 17 Darren O'Sullivan, 11 Declan O'Sullivan (0-1), 14 T Walsh (1-2). Subs: 13 C Cooper (0-4, frees)for S O'Sullivan (31 mins), 5 T Ó Sé for O'Mahony (43 mins), 12 D Walsh for Kennelly (43 mins), P O'Connor (0-2, frees)for D O'Sullivan (55 mins), 20 M Quirke for Scanlon (57 mins). Yellow-carded: Griffin (35 mins), M Ó Sé (38 mins).

ANTRIM: 16 J Finucane; 2 C Brady, 3 A McClean, 4 K O'Boyle; 5 T Scullion (1-0), 6 J Crozier, 7 J Loughrey; 12 N McKeever, 9 A Gallagher; 10 T O'Neill, 19 C Close (0-1), 15 T McCann (0-2); 13 P Cunningham (0-3, two frees), 14 K Niblock, 8 M McCann (0-4, three frees). Subs: 20 A Douglas for O'Boyle (12 mins, inj), 24 C Murray for Close (50 mins), 11 K Brady for O'Neill (54 mins), 17 S Burke for Niblock (65 mins). Yellow-carded: McCann (35 mins), O'Neill (38 mins), Gallagher (40 mins), McCann (50 mins), Brady (67 mins).

Referee: Jimmy White(Donegal).