Kerry's edge begins to cut deeper

THE football world came full circle with a resounding click. Yesterday's Bank of Ireland All-Ireland football quarter-final between champions Galway and their predecessors Kerry came weighed down with baggage from the recent past. Seán Moran at Croke Park

Within the past 12 months Kerry have gone from being humiliated by Meath to watching their tormentors treated similarly by Galway.

Now back with renewed appetite and some excellent additions to their personnel, trained in through the qualifiers, Kerry are this year's Galway. The champions for their part made Enron's collapse look agonisingly incremental.

Kerry footballing folk are too cute not to learn from the lessons of others so there was little take-up on the hubristic "ole"-ing that had accompanied Meath's and Galway's big wins last year. Besides there is still work to do as the county closes on its fifth semi-final in six years.

They started like a bush fire, crackling, flaring and sweeping through Galway. Two points in the first 65 seconds from corner forwards Colm Cooper and Michael Frank Russell set a pattern that would be maintained.

The young Dr Crokes corner forward and his colleague - now the senior partner in the operation - both ended up with four apiece from play, including some glorious scores.

Another echo of the past came in the sixth minute when Galway struck for a spectacular goal - just as they had in the All-Ireland replay of two years ago against the same opposition.

On this occasion it was Michael Donnellan - reduced to by-standing for much of the afternoon because of injury and eventually replaced - who ran onto a pass popped into him by Padhraic Joyce. His pace took him clear of the cover and the finish was deft and precise.

Declan Meehan, who had scored the wonder goal two years ago, started promisingly and used his acceleration to get past Liam Hassett and create havoc down the right wing - leading to two points in the first 10 minutes. But this brief spell of promise petered out as it did in 2000 and the early scores banked did nothing but subsidise extravagant waste for much of the first half.

Galway's defence was in constant disarray and gave the ball away with such feckless abandon that half of the scores they conceded had their origin in error.

Then there was the other end.

On top of Donnellan's goal Galway created another three openings that might have ended in goals.

Padhraic Joyce - reliving a little of the discomfort he suffered at the hands of his pal Seamus Moynihan two years ago - shimmied in for a clear sight at goal but blew the chance over the bar.

Matthew Clancy did something similar whereas Donnellan finished another solo by losing possession with Joyce unmarked inside. Derek Savage - who seemed to have stud problems, spent the first half slipping all around the pitch and the whole match kept in check by Michael McCarthy in another uncomfortable reprise of the 2000 replay - also took a point albeit more justifiably when Joe Bergin was in on goal.

Where did all of this leave the match? Did it mean that Galway would be punished for not making hay or that the door to the hay barn was in fact wide open?

Kerry manager Páidí Ó Sé had a point when he said afterwards that Kerry had missed a skipload of chances themselves and had equal reason to feel relieved by the half-time margin of three in their favour.

His team kicked eight wides, as opposed to one for Galway, in a telling commentary on how the play was flowing.

One of these, a fisted effort by Donal Daly in the 29th minute, was also a good goal chance so the view that Kerry could also do better was well founded.

Daly's chance was within seconds of Kerry's first goal - a rampaging solo and cannonball reminiscent of Eoin Brosnan's last week against Kildare - from Seán O'Sullivan and would surely have killed the match by the interval.

Ó Sé's opposite number, John O'Mahony, wasn't panicking and felt that the match was still within their grasp at the start of the second half. But again they conceded early scores.

Cooper had a white flag up within 40 seconds of the restart and straightaway Galway were living dangerously.

As in the first half, the losers' sluggishness afflicted them at both ends. Good chances were wasted in attack and the hapless generosity continued at the other end.

Eoin Brosnan, gifted both ball and safe passage, in the 45th minute somehow managed to put his shot wide. Kerry seemed diffident about driving home their advantages.

But the price was paid, just as it looked as if Galway had moved onto Kerry's shoulder, by trimming the deficit from five to three, 1-10 to 1-13 with 12 minutes left.

Instead it was Kerry who got the vital score. Dara Ó Cinneide's perseverance succeeded in overturning a dispossession by Richie Fahey and he set up substitute Aodán MacGearailt for a crisply taken goal.

Six points up, the winners were able to relax and with game gone, Galway were stripped of even the pretence of competitiveness.

All-Irelands are becoming increasingly difficult to defend successfully. Yesterday Galway had all the signs of a team that had lost its edge.

Loose in defence and wayward up front the crucial question isn't so much how Kerry won this match rather than how did it take them so long.

But aside from Galway's disimprovement, Kerry have improved their situation.

Compared to last year's wipe-out by Meath, there have been five changes.

Two of the newcomers, Marc Ó Sé and Cooper have been outstanding and the Liam Hassett will get better as the miles are clocked up.

Of the top three teams entering the quarter-finals, Kerry, Galway and Armagh, only Kerry will hit the semi-finals with growing momentum.

There they will find themselves up against Mayo or the one team, Cork, that has beaten them this year.

HOW THEY LINED OUT

KERRY: 1 D O'Keeffe; 2 M Ó Sé, 3 S Moynihan, 4 M McCarthy; 5 M Ó Sé, 6 E Fitzmaurice, 7 J Sheehan; 8 D Ó Sé (capt), 9 D Daly; 10 S O'Sullivan, 11 E Brosnan, 12 L Hassett; 13 MF Russell, 14 D Ó Cinnéide, 15 C Cooper.

Subs: 18 A MacGearailt for Daly (45 mins), 17 T O'Sullivan for Fitzmaurice (46 mins), 19 J Crowley for Russell (52 mins).

Yellow card: E Brosnan (41 mins).

GALWAY: 1 A Keane; 2 K Fitzgerald, 3 G Fahey, 4 R Fahey; 5 D Meehan, 6 T Mannion, 7 S de Paor; 8 K Walsh, 9 M Donnellan; 10 P Clancy, 11 J Fallon, 12 J Bergin; 13 D Savage, 14 P Joyce, 15 M Clancy.

Subs: 22 T Joyce for Fallon (40 mins), 18 T Meehan for de Paor (50 mins), 24 L Colleran for Donnellan (57 mins), 19 M Colleran for Fitzgerald (57 mins), 23 J Donnellan for M Clancy (62 mins).