Kerry 2-12 Kildare 0-11: THERE ARE several theories as to why it took Kerry 10 years to win back the All-Ireland under-21 title: maybe they weren't bothered; maybe they just weren't good enough. That's all past now.
If this is the team that represents the future of Kerry football then the rest of the country better take heed. It is a vintage crop ripe for harvesting. The conveyer belt has just speeded up, considerably. There are clear signs of natural selection of which Charles Darwin would approve.
It's a team exploding with all the talent and much of the flamboyance that made Kerry football famous to begin with. On top of that, they have pride; the hunger among these youngsters to play and win for Kerry looks greater than ever. That's no airy flight of fancy, just the simple reality.
It's not that they destroyed Kildare in Thurles on Saturday evening - though there's no arguing Kerry were the superior team over the hour - it's more that they rose so magnificently to the occasion with the best performance of their campaign, a trademark perhaps of the new generation of Kerry footballers. Kerry teams rarely fold anymore, and that's a scary prospect for anyone hoping to beat them.
Of the 15 Kerry players that started, maybe half could walk onto most senior teams in the land right now: in particular the defenders Colin O'Mahony and Aidan O'Sullivan and the forwards Kieran O'Leary, Mike O'Donoghue, Tommy Walsh and Paul O'Connor. And to paraphrase what someone once said in relation to a rock 'n' roll star, I've seen the future of the Kerry midfield, and its name is David Moran.
In fact most of those did team up with the Kerry seniors yesterday for a week-long training break in Portugal. It's inevitable that we'll see some of them on the field again this summer. Kerry manager Seán Geaney is also a senior selector.
"Sure I'd put all of them on the senior team," he joked.
"No, I mean senior is a whole other level," he added. "But I've no doubt in my mind it will be sooner rather than later. But let's not rush these fellas. When they're ready, they'll be brought in, and when they're right, they'll be playing senior football . . . they are a super bunch of lads.
"But here, commiserations to Kildare as well. They've come from nowhere, have been super for the competition, and totally deserved their place in the final."
That was a fitting tribute. Kildare made them earn their victory, but in the end there was no denying Kerry a 10th under-21 title - which brings them level with Cork on the all-time list.
Kildare's 43-year wait for a second title drags on, though perhaps not too much longer. The 7,157 crowd in Thurles were practically all Kildare folk and would do well to keep faith with this group.
Yet goals, as we all know, win matches - and the fact Kerry scored the only two on Saturday evening, one midway in each half, was decisive. O'Leary (a deserved "man of the match") set up both for O'Donoghue, and his finishing was awesome.
But stopping goals win matches as well, and O'Mahony's block on Gavin Smullen's effort with 10 minutes left was equally decisive.
"Yeah, the block there at the end by Colin O'Mahony was heroic stuff," added Geaney.
Tactically, Geaney got it all right. Kieran Brennan was soon brought in to beef up midfield, Alan O'Sullivan dropping back to the wing. O'Leary's switch to centre forward - where his tireless running was most effective - went a long toward curbing Kildare's main playmaker, Gary Whyte.
Gradually, whether they played a long or short game, Kildare were struggling. Going 17 minutes of the first half without a score was proof of that, and while they got back to 1-5 to 0-6 at the break, they never looked like winning.
And there was no hiding their massive disappointment at the finish. Manager Glenn Ryan, the former player of considerable fame, agreed Kerry were more creative with their chances, yet this was a game he always believed his team could win.
"Kerry showed a lot of style and class in the way they approached the game and the way they played," he said. "But I would still be very proud of the way our lads played . . . They gave it their very best and they stood up and tried to be men about it."
Kildare have definite prospects as well, not least in Alan Smith, Mark Waters and Eoin Ó Flaitheartaigh - who collected 0-5 on the night and probably should have got a few more.
For Kerry, there was no grand homecoming on Saturday night, not a bonfire in sight.
In certain pubs around Tralee people were hardly aware they had won. One responded with a shrug of the shoulders: "About time."
It shouldn't take too much time, however, before the likes of David Moran, Tommy Walsh and Kieran O'Leary become the next household names in Kerry. The rest of the country has been warned.
KERRY: T Mac an tSaoir; C O'Mahony; M Moloney, S Enright; G Duffy, K Young (capt), A O'Sullivan; D Moran (0-2), A O'Sullivan; K O'Leary (0-1, a free), J Buckley (0-1), M O'Donoghue (2-0); P Curran (0-2), T Walsh (0-1), P O'Connor (0-5, three frees).
Subs: K Brennan for Duffy (half-time), E Hickson for O'Sullivan (53 mins, inj), B Looney for Buckley (57 mins), J Doolan for Walsh (59 mins), E O'Neill for O'Donoghue (61 mins).
KILDARE: N McConnell; C Brophy, D Brennan, S Murphy; J Browne, G Whyte (capt), T Byrne; M Waters (0-1), N Higgins; D Whyte, E Ó Flaitheartaigh (0-5, one free), K Kelly; G Smullen (0-1), A Smith (0-2, both frees), S Fahy. Subs: N Clinch for Brophy (25 mins), J Fogarty (0-1) for Kelly (35 mins), J Cocoman for D Whyte (42 mins), M O'Sullivan (0-1) for Fahy (48 mins).
Referee: M Duffy (Sligo).
