GAA: ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE: Kerry 1-14 Monaghan 0-11SOMETIMES THE league can totally confuse you, leave you with no idea of where you are, or where exactly you're going. It's all part of the experience, naturally, but if they'd only told us to follow the signs for Kavanagh's birthplace we might have found Inniskeen a whole lot easier.
Indeed it’s tempting to say this was a game of two halves, the first of which I could easily have missed were it not for some decisive directions, finally, from a friendly farmer, attending to some stony grey soil. But by half-time it was actually over, as Kerry had raced into an 11-point advantage, and after that Monaghan were “playing for pride”, as manager Eamon McEneaney admitted.
And yet, having sat through this painfully one-sided and unexciting game, there’s still no telling where Kerry or Monaghan actually are right now, or indeed where they’re going – except to say only one of them is going in the right direction. Instead it comes down to next Sunday’s final round: if Kerry can beat Down in Killarney they can possibly make the league final, and if Monaghan can beat Mayo, back in Inniskeen, they can possibly avoid relegation. (Note to Mayo supporters: leave early).
That will also depend on results elsewhere, but at least it gives both teams something to play for in the last round. “Sure that’s what the GAA want, isn’t it?” said Kerry manager Jack O’Connor.
It would be unfair to describe the Grattan club grounds at Inniskeen as out in the middle of nowhere, but it’s certainly out in the open, and largely unsheltered, and with a strong breeze blowing across the pitch conditions weren’t ideal. At least it was dry.
Unfortunately Monaghan had a far harder time adjusting, and by the time they managed to kick their first ball between the posts, on 33 minutes, Kerry had scored eight. Declan O’Sullivan added a gem of a goal before half-time, and so Kerry were up 1-9 to 0-1 at the break. Game over.
That also seemed to be the end of Monaghan’s Division One status, until word came through afterwards of some surprising results elsewhere – namely Mayo’s two-point win over Cork, and Galway’s even more unexpected win over Armagh. It means Galway, Monaghan and Armagh have an anxious week ahead of them, although if it does come down to a three-way tie, and therefore points difference, Armagh currently have the edge.
Based on this performance, however, some Monaghan supporters must be wondering if they really are good enough for Division One. They started without several first-choice players, but still, were hopelessly out-classed by Kerry in the opening 35 minutes, particularly around midfield. Paul Galvin and Declan O’Sullivan marked their first starts of the league with a typically high-octane performances, and David Moran added to his reputation as the midfielder of the future, before retiring early with a worrying knee injury.
The only positive thing for Monaghan in the first half was Kieran Duffy’s decent handling of Kieran Donaghy.
“Well we’d 13 chances in the first half, and converted one of them,” noted McEneaney, as if that fully explained their poor performance. “We played for pride in the second half, and the boys did that. The reality now is that this takes us to next Sunday, and we’ll see where that leaves us. Relegation; you deal with that when it comes along. But people only want to see you do well in the championship. That’s the reality of it.”
Time will tell on that one, and certainly Monaghan do have some big names to come back. In fact Darren Hughes and Tomás Freeman were introduced at half-time to help halt Kerry’s dominance, and made an immediate impact, with four frees from Conor McManus putting some respect on the scoreboard. Kerry, inevitably, took their foot off the gas, but still O’Connor had lots to be pleased about. Resting players such as Colm Cooper and Tomás Ó Sé, he got a further insight into the strengths of his panel, and it is serious: Kieran O’Leary and David Geaney impressed in the forwards, as did sub Niall O’Mahony; Adrian O’Connell and Daniel Bohan are further options in defence and Anthony Maher did well at midfield too, before picking up a second booking on the hour mark.
“Obviously Monaghan were missing a few key players,” noted O’Connor. “And they wouldn’t have as big a pool of players as some counties. We played well in the first half, were a little disappointing in the second half. Still won by six points. And there’ll be fair competition now to make the championship panel, with only 26 in the panel. It will be very competitive, but that’s what we want.”
KERRY: T Mac A tSaoir; M Ó Sé, P Reidy, A O'Connell; A O'Mahony, K Young, D Bohan; D Moran (0-1), A Maher (0-1); Declan O'Sullivan (1-2), Darran O'Sullivan, P Galvin (0-1); K O'Leary (0-3, 0-2 frees), K Donaghy, D Geaney (0-4, 0-2 frees). Subs: S Scanlon for Moran (53 mins), S Enright for O'Connell, B Maguire for Bohan (both 55 mins), G O'Driscoll for O'Leary (66 mins), N O'Mahony (0-2) for Darran O'Sullivan (66 mins).
MONAGHAN: M Keogh; C Brady, K Duffy, C Walshe (0-1); C Galligan, D Mone, D Hughes; D Clerkin, N McAdam; D Malone, M Downey (0-1), J Turley; C McGuinness (0-1), O Duffy (0-1), C McManus (0-4, all frees). Subs: T Freeman (0-1) for Turley, D Hughes for Malone (both half time), B O'Brien (0-1) for Duffy (55 mins), D Morgan for Brady (60 mins), S Smyth (0-1) for McGuinness (65 mins).
Referee: C Reilly (Meath).
