All-Ireland SFC Semi-Final

Dublin 0-22 Kerry 2-14

By John Harrington at Croke Park

When the story of this Dublin team is written, this thrilling All-Ireland semi-final will surely feature prominently in it.

The resolve they showed in the face of serious adversity proved once again they have serious grit to complement the outstanding ability in their ranks.

There can be no doubts now that their appetite has been in any way diminished by last year’s All-Ireland success, because they wouldn’t have survived this epic battle with Kerry if it was.

Five points down at half-time and still trailing by three with 62 minutes played, Dublin were standing on the precipice. But they dug their heels in, showed tremendous grunt and guile, and found a way to win the game without ever being at their absolute best.

In a match of very fine margins, Dublin’s mixture of fire and focus in extra-time ultimately proved to be the difference.

No-one summed up those two qualities more than the brilliant Kevin McManamon. He edged Dublin ahead with an outrageous left-footed point from a tough angle, and then put in a massive hit on Kerry’s Peter Crowley that stopped Kerry dead in their tracks as they came looking for a late equaliser.

Dublin went down the field from there and Diarmuid Connolly kicked the insurance point that sealed the victory. When the final whistle blew the emotional celebrations of the Dublin players told you just how much this victory of the nature of it meant to them.

As they fist-pumped, jumped for joy, and screamed to the heavens, all around them Kerry men fell to the ground in utter devastation.

They had given everything of themselves and were both brave and smart in terms of how they took the game to Dublin, but in the end it wasn’t enough.

As a contest, this match had everything, and there was intrigue before a ball was even kicked as both teams made a number of changes to the selections they’d named earlier in the week.

Michael Darragh MacAuley and Kevin McManamon came in for Dublin in place of Denis Bastick and Paul Mannion, while Kerry brought in Aidan O’Mahony, Anthony Maher, and Darran O’Sullivan with Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Stephen O’Brien and James O’Donoghue.

That meant Kerry lined out with both Kieran Donaghy and Colm Cooper in their full-forward line, a clear indication they were targeting the Dublin full-back line. That statement of intent didn’t translate to much conviction from Kerry on the field of play in the early stages of the match, though.

Dublin monopolised possession and came rolling forward in wave after blue wave as Kerry struggled to extricate themselves from their own half.

Their kick-passing in the first twenty minutes was sloppy, but most damaging of all was their inability to retain possession from their own kick-outs.

By the 12th minute Dublin were 0-4 to no-score ahead and Kerry were already sucking for air. It was Paul Geaney who breathed some life into their challenge by kicking some really clinical scores when the ball finally made its way up to him.

Three points from the classy full-forward by the 25th minute helped keep Kerry in touch as they trailed by 0-9 to 0-5, but you got the feeling they were only holding on by their finger-nails.

Then, suddenly, the whole mood of the contest changed when Kerry scored their first goal of the match after 31 minutes. They rolled the dice by pushing right up on Stephen Cluxton’s kick-out so they only had two men inside their own half marking four Dublin forwards.

It’s the sort of thing you see a lot in Australian Rules Football and is a risky tactic, but it paid off in a major way as Geaney intercepted a poor Cluxton kick-out and passed the ball to Donnchadh Walsh who palmed it with precision timing to the onrushing Darran O’Sullivan who roofed it to the net.

Their high-press was effective again from the following kick-out as Geaney won a free that Cooper converted to put Kerry into the lead for the first time in the match. The Kerry supporters and really found their voice by now and nearly took the roof off Croke Park when Geaney then scored their second goal.

Anthony Maher skied a shot for a point that came down on the edge of the Dublin square where Geaney was waiting to get a fist to it. Cluxton scrambled backwards to claw the ball away, but the umpire ruled it had crossed the goal-line, and rose his green flag.

Cooper kicked another free just before half-time, so in the space of six minutes Kerry had turned a four-point deficit into a five-point lead. Dublin were reeling, but the half-time break gave them the opportunity to refocus and reset.

Had Kerry managed to kick on again at the start of the second-half then they would have won this match, but instead it was Dublin who seized the initiative as they set about chipping away at Kerry’s lead. They huffed and puffed and struggled to really find their rhythm, but they were doing enough and steadily reeled Kerry in thanks mainly to the accurate free-taking of Dean Rock.

In a match of very fine margins, a few moments stood out as decisive ones. One of them came when Colm Cooper had a very kickable chance on 50 minutes to put Kerry two ahead, but Cluxton stretched ever sinew to catch it above the cross-bar and from there Dublin moved the ball down-field to Brian Fenton who kicked an equaliser.

At that moment Dublin looked like the side with all the momentum, but you have to give Kerry a lot of credit for the way they found a second-wind and moved three points ahead again thanks to some great shooting from Barry John Keane, Paul Geaney, and substitute James O’Donoghue.

When Paul Murphy landed another sweet score after 62 minutes, Kerry were still three points ahead, but they just couldn’t hold on. They visibly tired down the home straight, retreated into their own half, and invited Dublin onto them.

Philly McMahon raided downfield for a point that gave Dublin renewed hope, and Dean Rock followed up with two pointed frees to level the game before McManamon edged his team again with that special point in injury-time.

There was one last kick in Kerry when Steven O’Brien briefly brought them level with a fisted effort, but Dublin patiently worked their way down the field to create an opening for Eoghan O’Gara that he took brilliantly.

Then came the McManamon hit on Crowley that Kerry will argue should have earned them a free, and Dublin swept down the field again to seal the deal with a typically classy point from Diarmuid Connolly.

It was a seriously gutsy victory for the Dubs, but Kerry earned a lot of honour in defeat.

Scorers for Dublin: Dean Rock 0-12 (8f, 2 ’45), Diarmuid Connolly 0-3, Kevin McManamon 0-2, Bernard Brogan 0-2, Philly McMahon 0-1, Eoghan O’Gara 0-1, Brian Fenton 0-1. 

**Scorers for Kerry: **Paul Geaney 1-4, Colm Cooper 0-5 (4f), Darran O’Sullivan 1-0, David Moran 0-1, Stephen O’Brien 0-1, Paul Murphy 0-1, James O’Donoghue 0-1, Billy John Keane 0-1.

**Dublin: **Stephen Cluxton; Philip McMahon, Jonny Cooper, David Byrne; James McCarthy, Cian O’Sullivan, John Small; Brian Fenton, Michael Darragh MacAuley; Paul Flynn, Kevin McManamon, Ciarán Kilkenny; Dean Rock, Diarmuid Connolly, Bernard Brogan. **Subs: **Paddy Andrews for Paul Flynn (46), Paul Mannion for John Small (50), Eoghan O’Gara for Michael Darragh MacAuley (60), Michael Fitzsimons for Jonny Cooper (67), Cormac Costello for Bernard Brogan (71)

**Kerry: Brian Kelly; Shane Enright, Mark Griffin, Kilian Young; Aidan O’Mahony, Peter Crowley, Tadhg Morley; Anthony Maher, David Moran; Paul Murphy, Colm Cooper, Donnchadh Walsh; Paul Geaney, Kieran Donaghy, Darran O’Sullivan. Subs: **Stephen O’Brien for Darran O’Sullivan (40), James O’Donoghue for Kieran Donaghy (50), Barry John Keane for Donnchadh Walsh (52), Brian Ó Beaglaoich for Tadhg Morley (56), Bryan Sheehan for Anthony Maher (59), Marc Ó Sé for Paul Geaney (67)

Ref: David Gough (Meath)