Kerry v Cork All Ireland Final 2009

[botman]

Thank god the end of one of the worst championships in living memory. Congrats Kerry you are the cream of the crap. I genuinely think that while the GAA cannot pull of the Dublin at all costs all ireland, they will settle for second best. In the meantime everyone else has to put Kerry knavery on the field being glossed over by the ref and rte pundits. Open your eyes everyone.

Excellent Analysis.

What points do you dispute bogman

None - I think you are spot on. I wasn't being sarcastic. If I was i would put in  or something of that nature.

I will update my signature to reflect your brilliance forthwith.

It's botman btw the way 

[achtungantrim]

hope kerry kick their ass*s. didn't think cynicism could sink as low as the cork tactics versus tyrone. kerry are a shoe-in. get the money on i'm telling you. 6-8 points winning margin for kerry, or i'll eat my trunks!

well, it wasn't quite the 6-8 points, but i was close! when it comes to the big days, kerry have that know-how and  skill that no other teams seem to possess. i like tyrone, but i think kerry would have destroyed them yesterday. tyrone haven't the pace they once had. today's game is all about pace. they will need to up their game next year if they are going to do any damage.

i can't see tyrone even winning an ulster. armagh might re-group, derry need to shake themselves. and if antrim developed an inner steel to match their skill and pace, they could do some damage. i hope so anyway. i will make the prediction right here and now. tyrone won't even reach the quarters next year.

[longrunsthefox]

hope kerry kick their ass*s. didn't think cynicism could sink as low as the cork tactics versus tyrone. kerry are a shoe-in. get the money on i'm telling you. 6-8 points winning margin for kerry, or i'll eat my trunks!

well, it wasn't quite the 6-8 points, but i was close! when it comes to the big days, kerry have that know-how and  skill that no other teams seem to possess. i like tyrone, but i think kerry would have destroyed them yesterday. tyrone haven't the pace they once had. today's game is all about pace. they will need to up their game next year if they are going to do any damage.

i can't see tyrone even winning an ulster. armagh might re-group, derry need to shake themselves. and if antrim developed an inner steel to match their skill and pace, they could do some damage. i hope so anyway. i will make the prediction right here and now. tyrone won't eEven more damage than beat Donegal and Cavan?... wow!  ven reach the quarters next year.

Even more damage than beat Donegal and Cavan?... wow!   

[comethekingdom]

hope kerry kick their ass*s. didn't think cynicism could sink as low as the cork tactics versus tyrone. kerry are a shoe-in. get the money on i'm telling you. 6-8 points winning margin for kerry, or i'll eat my trunks!

well, it wasn't quite the 6-8 points, but i was close! when it comes to the big days, kerry have that know-how and  skill that no other teams seem to possess. i like tyrone, but i think kerry would have destroyed them yesterday. tyrone haven't the pace they once had. today's game is all about pace. they will need to up their game next year if they are going to do any damage.

i can't see tyrone even winning an ulster. armagh might re-group, derry need to shake themselves. and if antrim developed an inner steel to match their skill and pace, they could do some damage. i hope so anyway. i will make the prediction right here and now. tyrone won't even reach the quarters next year.

Thats a sweeping statement to make here and now achgtungantrim ! Dont write off Tyrone just yet. They still have some young talent to come through.
Anyway - back to yesterdays victory - what more can we say? This team have given us years of fantastic days out, especially AI finals - 9 this decade alone. What an achievement. Heros one and all yesterday. I think it was a case again where our boys weren't going to lose an AI final to Cork no matter what. JOC had the game plan perfect. Negate the Cork half back line which Tadgh Kennelly did a great job on Canty although Tadgh had to go off after a superb display because Canty had the legs kicked off him. Darrens superb point from his run down the wing under the Cusack stand should have been disallowed for 2 hops. Eitherway I felt at half time that we weren't going to lose this game as the seeds of doubt were planted in Corks minds late in the first half when we came back from being 5 points down to going 2 ahead. Superb display. Brilliant win again against the old enemy. Congratulations to all the Kerry players and mgt. We really are fortunate to have such great talent at our disposal and thanks for all the great days out.
P.S. the pitch invasion yesterday was how a pitch invasion should be. No big panic. Everybody that wanted to go down onto the pitch did so with little fuss or hassle. The GAA would need to wise up if they are thinking of 'fencing in' the fans from next year on.

[orangeman]

hope kerry kick their ass*s. didn't think cynicism could sink as low as the cork tactics versus tyrone. kerry are a shoe-in. get the money on i'm telling you. 6-8 points winning margin for kerry, or i'll eat my trunks!

well, it wasn't quite the 6-8 points, but i was close! when it comes to the big days, kerry have that know-how and  skill that no other teams seem to possess. i like tyrone, but i think kerry would have destroyed them yesterday. tyrone haven't the pace they once had. today's game is all about pace. they will need to up their game next year if they are going to do any damage.

i can't see tyrone even winning an ulster. armagh might re-group, derry need to shake themselves. and if antrim developed an inner steel to match their skill and pace, they could do some damage. i hope so anyway. i will make the prediction right here and now. tyrone won't even reach the quarters next year.

What was that one about grannys and balls ?

[muppet]

hope kerry kick their ass*s. didn't think cynicism could sink as low as the cork tactics versus tyrone. kerry are a shoe-in. get the money on i'm telling you. 6-8 points winning margin for kerry, or i'll eat my trunks!

well, it wasn't quite the 6-8 points, but i was close! when it comes to the big days, kerry have that know-how and  skill that no other teams seem to possess. i like tyrone, but i think kerry would have destroyed them yesterday. tyrone haven't the pace they once had. today's game is all about pace. they will need to up their game next year if they are going to do any damage.

i can't see tyrone even winning an ulster. armagh might re-group, derry need to shake themselves. and if antrim developed an inner steel to match their skill and pace, they could do some damage. i hope so anyway. i will make the prediction right here and now. tyrone won't even reach the quarters next year.

What was that one about grannys and balls ?

Was the answer a hermaphrodite?

[talktothehand]

well done to kerry! just showed how things might have been different in the semi final if big sean had been on and made canty do a bit of defending. was men against boys in the end. congratulations again!!

[Mack the finger]

Took a friend from Australia to the match.
Everytime the big screen flashed, she asked if all Cork people were black!

In fairness your friend sounds kind of silly. Like she could have looked around and saw plenty of people in Cork jersey's who were white. I think around 25,000 Cork people went.

Of course she noticed. She just found it odd that the Cameras seemed determined to pick
out every person in a cork jersey that wasn't white. Guess with a 'worldwide' audience RTE
wanted to show how multicultural we've become.

[tyroneman]

i can't see tyrone even winning an ulster. armagh might re-group, derry need to shake themselves. and if antrim developed an inner steel to match their skill and pace, they could do some damage. i hope so anyway. i will make the prediction right here and now. tyrone won't even reach the quarters next year.

People said the same in 2004 and 2007. How did that go then? Idiotic post of the highest order.

Anyhow - the game:

1. Duffy bottled it completely. Kenelly's dirty hit was a stright red, no more, no less, but as Pat Spillane commented - it's hard to get sent off in the first couple of minutes.
2. Cork were a shadow of the team that played Tyrone.
3. Can't argue that this Kerry team deserve thier place among the greats, stats prove it. 5 AI this decade. Well done.
4. Always thought Cork would be in trouble if they got a referee who was a bit more fussy than Bannon. If Tyrone had recieved the same number of (soft) frees Kerry got yesterday....who knows.
5. The way to beat Cork was clear - keep thier half backs, esp Canty up in thier own half of the field and run the sh*t e out of them

Bring on 2010

[Cúig huaire]

2. Cork were a shadow of the team that played Tyrone.

Absolute bollox. Give Kerry the credit they deserve, they had a game plan, didnt panic when they went 5 points down and dominated the game when they needed to. Kerry were the best team in Ireland when it matters. 5 All Irelands this decade and 36 in all says it all.

[paddypastit]

2. Cork were a shadow of the team that played Tyrone.

Absolute bollox. Give Kerry the credit they deserve, they had a game plan, didnt panic when they went 5 points down and dominated the game when they needed to. Kerry were the best team in Ireland when it matters. 5 All Irelands this decade and 36 in all says it all.

You know what I'd suggest that Tyrone were actually the shadow - of the team that they were.  The world generally overrated Cork on the basis that they topped Tyrone but realistically Kildare with a bit of composure should have taken Tyrone (and indeed Dublin) - Tyrone were the overrated ones this year and we had a false read on Cork as a consequence

[tyssam5]

i can't see tyrone even winning an ulster. armagh might re-group, derry need to shake themselves. and if antrim developed an inner steel to match their skill and pace, they could do some damage. i hope so anyway. i will make the prediction right here and now. tyrone won't even reach the quarters next year.

People said the same in 2004 and 2007. How did that go then? Idiotic post of the highest order.

Anyhow - the game:

1. Duffy bottled it completely. Kenelly's dirty hit was a stright red, no more, no less, but as Pat Spillane commented - it's hard to get sent off in the first couple of minutes.
2. Cork were a shadow of the team that played Tyrone.
3. Can't argue that this Kerry team deserve thier place among the greats, stats prove it. 5 AI this decade. Well done.
4. Always thought Cork would be in trouble if they got a referee who was a bit more fussy than Bannon. If Tyrone had recieved the same number of (soft) frees Kerry got yesterday....who knows.
5. The way to beat Cork was clear - keep thier half backs, esp Canty up in thier own half of the field and run the sh*t e out of them

Bring on 2010

Yeah normally a ref will give one or two for jersey pulling etc., seemed to me in real time that he was giving Cooper a very nice amount of protection, but maybe all the frees were deserved, I haven't seen any replays yet. Between yesterday's frees and the penalty in the semi-final (less of a foul BTW than a non penalty call on Eoin Mulligan at the end of the '08 final) Kerry appear to have enjoyed the favor of the Men in Black (except the one on here!), but sometimes you deserve what you get.

This Kerry team however, has shown they have insatiable hunger and they have amassed a vast collection of 5 winners and 3 losers medals to prove it. Their defence played a risky game in attacking the ball courageously, but it paid off for them eventually, they broke a very good amount of ball away from the Cork forwards, the only way to play big, skillful forwards really.

I'm sure Kerry will enjoy Sam as always, hopefully Tyrone will can regroup to regain it next year.

[ONeill]

That Kerry team gave me renewed confidence that there's life in the '03 brigade left. The Kerry average age is probably even older than our own. To see the likes of Tomas O'Se and O'Sullivan hare down the turf gives some hope to the over-30s.

[In the Onion Bag]

P.S. the pitch invasion yesterday was how a pitch invasion should be. No big panic. Everybody that wanted to go down onto the pitch did so with little fuss or hassle. The GAA would need to wise up if they are thinking of 'fencing in' the fans from next year on.

I noticed that too.  I don't think I have ever seen the pitch so full of fans after the final.  That image plus the ecstatic reactions of the Ky players on the final whistle dismisses the old argument that this was simply another AIF for KY.  It is evident that they wanted it big time perhaps even more so than usual given that Cork were the opposition.  You got to admire the Ky hunger for success even though it comes to them so often.

[spectator]

That Kerry team gave me renewed confidence that there's life in the '03 brigade left. The Kerry average age is probably even older than our own. To see the likes of Tomas O'Se and O'Sullivan hare down the turf gives some hope to the over-30s.

Those Kerry boyos put Lazarus in the ha'penny place ... tis the greatest miracle since football began   


http://www.irishnews.com/irishnews/597/5764/2009/7/28/623611_388890678322Dubscanp.html

A few months ago, this column caused some civil unrest in the deep south when it dared to suggest that we, as a nation, are hopelessly deluded about Kerry football.

The column was written on the eve of the Championship and it was largely in response to the overwhelming majority of pundits, journalists and ex-players who had selected Kerry as the team most likely to win this year's All-Ireland title.

Against the Breeze argued that these people were just plain wrong. It said these people were still living under the spell of the magical green and gold jersey. It said they were allowing tradition and nostalgia to cloud their judgement.

A few months later and the cognoscenti who were telling us why Kerry were going to win this year's All-Ireland title have dramatically changed their tune. At that time, we were told that Jack was back to conquer Tyrone. His team had just cruised to the National League title and, with his squad bolstered by Tadhg Kennelly and young David Moran, he was perfectly-positioned for September glory.

Now, the same people are telling us that Kerry are in total disarray. It turns out Jack was wrong to go back. His book was a mistake. It rubbed the O Se brothers up the wrong way.

Apparently, Jack has now lost the changing room. We are also being told that the players have too many miles on the legs. They are weary and worn.

Ironically, much of the analysis outlining what is wrong with Kerry is as fundamentally flawed as the articles written to explain why they would win this year's Championship.

For the benefit of those now suffering from selective amnesia, it's necessary to point out that Jack O'Connor was welcomed back with open arms. The players and the public applauded his appointment.

Furthermore, there was no mention of tired legs or mental fatigue when Kerry collected the League title in cruise control.

The real problem facing this Kerry squad centres on its dependence on individuals.

Last year, 'Team Tyrone' beat 15 Kerry players.

The trouble with individuals is that they put themselves first, which is the long way of saying 'indiscipline'.

And indiscipline explains the red card that ruled Paul Galvin out of action for much of last summer.

It explains the three yellow cards that Kerry picked up when they lost their composure before half-time in the All-Ireland final.

And if we delve deeper, there is further evidence to demonstrate why Tyrone's collective emerged triumphant.

Last year's final essentially turned at the start of the second half. Darragh O Se, who was imperious in the first period, found himself standing beside a fresh-legged and determined Kevin Hughes for the second throw-in.

Darragh had just completed 35 minutes of hard graft. Kevin was pawing at the ground. Tyrone's goal came when Hughes came bounding through the centre of the pitch and took a pass from Stephen O'Neill. Darragh hadn't the legs to keep up with his younger, fitter rival.

Watch a replay of last year's All-Ireland final and witness the number of times Darragh is chasing back, valiantly trying to catch a player that is leaving him for dead.

Jack O'Connor will have watched last year's final on countless occasions. Darragh's performance was not lost on him. At the start of the year, he set out to establish a new midfield partnership.

Anthony Maher, Michael Quirke and David Moran were all given ample game time in the League, but they were exposed against Cork in the Championship.

This meant O'Connor had to go back to Darragh. Of course, there is no doubt that Darragh O Se can make a huge contribution, but last year's All-Ireland final provides clear evidence that his ageing limbs can be exposed over the course of 70 minutes.

The obvious solution is to keep Darragh in cold storage, then introduce him at half-time for the crucial phase of the game.

But, by all accounts, Darragh doesn't like these new-fangled notions. He wants the number eight on his back and he wants to start.

Now, consider the contrast with Tyrone, where everyone submits obediently to the gameplan. The collective comes first.

Both Kevin Hughes and Brian McGuigan wanted to start last year's final. But Mickey Harte believed they could make a more telling impact as substitutes.

A fit Hughes could run the legs off a tiring Darragh O Se. McGuigan could provide composure and intelligence during a frenetic finish.

Like the rest of the Tyrone squad, Hughes and McGuigan learned a long time ago to accept the wisdom of the man who manages them.

A different dynamic exists in Kerry. The players hold more sway because they've won All-Ireland titles under three different managers.

Kerry's success over the last decade has stemmed from brilliant individuals with big, powerful, resilient egos. But the cause of that strength is now their greatest weakness.

Jack O'Connor is now trying to wrest that control from the players.

His decision to drop Tomas O Se and Colm Cooper for drinking before a round four Qualifier would appear unavoidable to anyone with the faintest knowledge of management.

Yet, the reaction in Kerry to O'Connor's decision neatly demonstrates their current subservience to the talented individual rather than the team.

The real crisis for Kerry would be if two players could escape punishment for such a breach of discipline.

The fact that Jack O'Connor could make that call, and Kerry's radically improved conduct on the pitch provides evidence that he has more authority over his changing room than he is currently being given credit for.

But, O'Connor is fighting an uphill battle.

Whereas Mike Frank Russell and Eoin Brosnan recently quit his squad, the absolute unity and dedication that Jack needs can be found in the changing room of his next opponents. Dublin's Ciaran Whelan, Bryan Cullen and Shane Ryan have all been prepared to sit on the bench.

Nevertheless, Kerry's grip on the public imagination is still incredibly strong. For all their failings and fall-outs, it's amazing how few can identify the symptoms of a dying team.

There is a nationwide inability to dismiss Kerry. Despite the evidence presented in recent games, there are many who still insist that 'you write Kerry off at your peril'.

What cautious drivel! Against Longford, Sligo and Antrim, we witnessed a once fine team in the death throes. Proud, strong and noble, it's fitting that Kerry are gasping for every last lungful of air.

It's a relief they weren't beaten in the Qualifiers. These players deserved a better send-off than to be laid to rest in a remote outpost in the midlands.

Better for them to return to the capital, and Croke Park, the ground they consider home, and the place where this Kerry team will receive their last rites.