Inside Track
Keeper Durcan in the dock as Kerry return to summit
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IT may not have lived up to all the hype and expectation, but last Sunday’s first ever All-Ireland football final meeting between Kerry and Donegal still proved a fascinating affair. This was a showdown where the rival team managements were never going to adopt a free-flowing approach with the result that the capacity crowd in Croke Park and the huge television audience instead had to witness a largely negative, tactically strangled encounter.
Defending in numbers was the manta of the day, especially after the way Donegal had ransacked a too attack-conscious Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final. Eamonn Fitzmaurice and his mentors would have forensically taken apart that match video and given that they are fast learners in Kerry when it comes to football, they were not going to fall into Dublin’s trap of all-out attacking only to leave themselves lacking cover at the back.
Yet, for all the tactics and planning, sometimes all it takes is one calamitous error to swing a big game one team’s way. Unfortunately, Donegal goalkeeper Paul Durcan was the player in the dock afterwards after his shocking stray kick out into the hands of the grateful Kieran Donaghy in the 52nd minute turned what up to then had been an extraordinarily tight contest Kerry’s way.
Donaghy, the renaissance man of the football summer, accepted the gift to put Kerry four points and though Donegal bravely responded with three unanswered points of their own from substitute Patrick McBrearty (two) and full back Neil McGee, the Munster champions had struck a huge psychological blow and were always going to find extra reserves down the home stretch, especially as the game had begun to open up somewhat.
Kerry couldn’t have hoped for a better start when Paul Geaney, isolated one on one with Paddy McGrath, tucked his shot neatly into the far corner of the net after just 52 seconds and when Donaghy fired over a fine point in the fourth minute, you wouldn’t have believed then that the Kingdom would only add a mere two points to their tally by half-time.
They were taking on Donegal at their own game, but after that explosive start Kerry were still determined to keep it tight and though the Ulster men were also running into heavy traffic, they gradually wiped out the deficit with Michael Murphy’s accuracy from frees helping to settle them down. Donegal only managed their first score from play when midfielder Odhran MacNiallais fly-kicked the ball over the bar in the 29th minute, but they were still level (1-3 to 0-6) at the break.
They had recovered well from that nightmare start and appeared to be wearing down Kerry. Much of the third quarter was largely unforgettable, however, as both teams spurned several routine chances. Kerry had just edged ahead when Durcan, who had only conceded two goals on Donegal’s way to the final and was outstanding against Dublin, got his wires crossed with his short kick out going astray. It was a schoolboy error and must have really rocked Donegal, but they had the margin back to one only for Kerry to kick on again with points from Johnny Buckley, Barry John Walsh (free) and Donaghy.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
SOMETHING very odd happened to Tyrone in the Ulster championship in early April. On their home turf of Healy Park, they were doing nearly everything expected of them when leading Monaghan by five points at half-time. You couldn’t say for definite that the match was done and dusted, but the 2021 All-Ireland champions were in pole position.
You would have expected them to drive on against an honest if limited Monaghan outfit. Instead, Tyrone didn’t score for the opening 16 minutes of the second-half and in an enthralling finale, were left stunned by defender Ryan’s Toole’s stoppage-time goal snatching the honours for the Farney men on a 2-17 to 1-18 scoreline.
A couple of weeks later, Monaghan themselves had exited the Ulster title race when Derry comfortably got the better of them (1-21 to 2-10), leaving us more puzzled than ever by Tyrone’s dramatic decline since overcoming Mayo to claim Sam barely 20 months previously. Last year, they crashed out of Ulster by 11 points to Derry and subsequently came up six short against Armagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Against that background, their recent loss to Monaghan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Tyrone may have made a shambolic defence of the All-Ireland title, but there is still a lot of quality in their ranks. They have an adventurous ‘keeper in Niall Morgan, while the long-serving Peter Harte, Darragh Canavan, Darren McCurry, Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Mattie Donnelly, and Conn Kilpatrick are all top-class performers when in the mood.
There’s hardly been a word about them for the past six weeks. Tyrone are lying low, desperately trying to rediscover the verve and cohesion which took them all the way in 2021. Their pride is on the line. It makes them dangerous opponents for Galway in the opening round of All-Ireland group matches at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Inside Track with John McIntyre
GALWAY footballers won’t get much credit for their easy victory over Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht Final in Castlebar, but when a team achieves something that hasn’t been done for 20 years, perhaps we should be a little more appreciative of the Tribesmen retaining the JJ Nestor Cup for the first time in two decades.
To be honest, if Galway were to live up to their standing as serious All-Ireland contenders, they needed to be doing a number on Sligo. In this year’s National League, the counties were three divisions apart and though Tony McEntee’s team achieved promotion and were on a nine-match unbeaten run, a serious rise in class faced them at MacHale Park.
Granted, Sligo made a bright start with three points in the opening five minutes from Pat Spillane, Sean Carrabine and the accurate Darragh Cummins, but they would only manage two more by the break despite having the wind behind them. Though wing back Luke Towey was catching the eye with his runs up-field, Galway rarely looked under pressure.
Sligo were bravely committing numbers to the middle third, which meant they were a little light in numbers around their own posts. They couldn’t afford to lose possession coming out of their own half, but that’s what happened in the build up to Galway’s second goal. Damien Comer overturned Cian Lally and from his counter-attack, Matthew Tierney expertly finished to the net at the near post.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IS the Leinster hurling championship something of a sham compared to its Munster counterpart? Everybody knows who will end up in the provincial final in the east, but nobody knows the two teams who will feature in the ultimate battle for supremacy down south.
All-Ireland champions Limerick aren’t guaranteed to even make it out of the province, never mind reach the Munster final, after their narrow loss to Clare in Saturday evening’s epic at the Gaelic Grounds. Everything is still on the line for the five counties involved, although Waterford are again under serious pressure after losing their opening two matches.
In Leinster, there is little of that drama. Galway and Kilkenny are miles ahead of the rest; the only thing at stake is whether Dublin or Wexford – they meet in Croke Park on Saturday – will be the third team to emerge for the All-Ireland series. It’s a game which is hard to call. Wexford are going backwards while Dublin look callow as Micheál Donoghue is trying to build the nucleus of a new team.
Though Antrim are improving – they held the Dubs to a draw and only lost to Wexford by four points – the men from the Glens would be out of their depth in Munster; while Westmeath are proving cannon-fodder for everyone else. Since Galway headed east in 2009, they have clashed with Kilkenny in seven Leinster finals and another showdown is inevitable next month.
In contrast, every match in Munster is virtually do-or die. When Clare rolled into Limerick last Saturday, they knew another defeat after losing to Tipperary in the opening round would leave them on the precipice of exiting the championship. There’s a real dog-eat-dog appeal about all the games. In Leinster, there are two big hounds, and the rest are chihuahuas.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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