Kerry 1-17; Derry 1-15
To Kerry the spoils once again, but to Derry, the heartache of being so near but yet so far in this All Ireland SF semi-final at Croke Park on Sunday.
While Monaghan put it up to Dublin in the first semi-final, Derry looked to have the holders' measure for all but the last six or seven minutes of this game. Indeed, had they taken even one more of their goal chances, we could be talking about the Oak Leaf county preparing for their first Sam Maguire showdown since 1993, when they went on to beat Cork and record their only outright victory in this revered old competition.
Kerry had played second fiddle and only the brilliance of Footballer of the Year David Clifford stood between them and oblivion. Manager Jack O'Connor asked them to show leadership at half-time and they answered his call by becoming a better performing outfit for the entire second half.
Finally too, they got to Odhran Lynch's excellent restarts and by winning three of those late in the game, they managed to turn a two-point deficit around to win by a similar margin.
They say semi-finals are for getting across the line and the men in green and gold managed to do this without showing too much of their hand as they prepare for a showdown with archrivals Dublin on Sunday week.
That they got there was due to some lucky defending, little midfield impact, and an attack where only Sean O'Shea managed to play a supporting role to Clifford the younger until Stephen O'Brien was introduced at the break and helped win much more possession as well as scoring a gem or a point to nudge the game agonizingly out of Derry's reach.
The Ulster champions had one “Hail Mary” chance to force the game into extra time when three points behind in the last seconds of added time, but talisman Shane McGuigan's attempt to lob the ball into the danger area was too strong and went over the bar as the final whistle then sounded.
It was relief all round for Kerry players and. mentors with O'Connor looking to find positives in what was a less than emphatic display. "There were several times during that game when we could have thrown in the towel. We were struggling badly in certain areas; they were getting through us too easily in the first half.”
"They [the players] showed leadership and really went after it in the second half; they showed the hunger and the desire that you need to show to get over these tight games. Derry played very well, you can't take anything away from Derry, they were fantastic for huge parts of that game and had us in big trouble. This was the test we expected and it will hopefully bring us on another bit and steel us for the final.”
The big difference between displays in either half was their decision to drop off the Lynch restart and assemble further down to try to successfully ambush the Northern game plan. "In the second half we adjusted and tactically we dropped off their kick out a bit and formed a better defensive line a bit higher up the pitch.
"They didn't make the same amount of incursions into the scoring zone as they did in the first half. They were getting scores too easily in the first half but the leadership fellas showed. What David Clifford did was unbelievable; the man was doing everything; he was back in his own full-back line.
"The name of the game in semi-finals is to get over them; it doesn't have to be a champagne performance. We've two weeks to work on it, you'd expect that game to bring us on. It was an intense game. That was a ferociously intense game; Derry have some serious footballers," he stressed.
Derry's plan was to confound their opponents by not setting up as negatively in defense as would have been expect and instead to counter attack at pace at every available opportunity.
They started with blistering intent and if Ethan Doherty's pass had to go to hand to Niall Loughlin Shane Ryan's first action might have been to retrieve the ball from the back of his own net.
However we were still in the game's infancy when that is precisely what he had to do as after six minutes Centre back Gareth McKinless reacted quickest to hoof the ball home after Brendan Rogers' shot was blocked on the line.
Kerry's response was immediate as they drove up field and Gavin White passed to Dara Moynihan, who swiftly transferred it inside to Sean O'Shea iwho found White again to flick the ball into an empty net. Yet as the half progressed it was Derry who looked the better team, particularly when Diarmuid O'Connor was black carded for a trip on Rogers, who immediately shot over a point to rub salt into the wounds.
By half-time the Oak Leaf men were 1-11 to 1-8 to the good with O'Connor deciding he needed change with Adrian Spillane pulled off for O'Brien while the sweeper was ditched in favor of man to man marking.
There were no immediate signs of dominance from either side as they swapped scores time and again. However, the Derry reluctance to take scores, notably a goal chance from McGinless again, saw them convert three out of 14 chances and you just knew the old dogs for the hard road would emerge.
As Kerry's energy began to ebb, Kerry kept their foot to the metal and finally got the scores which brought an end to the Derry dream of a rare All Ireland final appearance.
Kerry and Dublin are back for the final with neither happy with their own game. Expect to see a few changes in personnel and set-up and Dessie Farrell and Jack O'Connor seek to create a whip hand for Sunday week's denouement.
Kerry: S Ryan (0-1); G O'Sullivan, J Foley, T O'Sullivan; P Murphy, T Morley, G White (1-0); D O'Connor (0-01), Jack Barry; Dara Moynihan, Seán O'Shea (0-04, 1f), Adrian Spillane; Paudie Clifford (0-01), David Clifford (0-09, 4f, 1m), Paul Geaney Subs: Stephen O'Brien (0-01) for Spillane (35), Brian Ó Beaglaíoch for Murphy (55), Tony Brosnan for Geaney (55), Micheál Burns for Moynihan (58), Ruairí Murphy for Paudie Clifford (73)
Derry: O Lynch (0-1); C McKaigue, E McEvoy, C McCluskey; C Doherty (0-1), G McKinless (1-0), P McGrogan (0-1); C Glass, B Rogers (0-2); N Toner, P Cassidy (0-2), E Doherty; C McFaul (0-2), S McGuigan (0-6, 0-3f), N Loughlin Subs: P Cassidy for McGrogan (8), B Heron for P Cassidy (51), L Murray for Toner (59), B McCarron for McKinless (75)
Ref: J McQuillan.
Dublin 1-17; Monaghan 0-13
Dublin Manager Dessie Farrell chided the experts who had written off Monaghan against his team, claiming he had nothing but the utmost respect for the way the Farney County put it up to the Dubs in this gripping semi-final clash at Croke Park on Saturday afternoon.
His sense of relief in breaking a third successive loss at the All Ireland semi stage was palpable as was his praise for an opponent who had prepared professionally to cause an upset - and nearly did.
"I couldn't understand the narrative around this game," Farrell said. "It wasn't making sense to me. We knew the type of game that Monaghan were going to bring today and we knew it was going to be a really tough encounter and it took all our grit, determination and experience to get over the line. Anyone doing proper analysis on Monaghan would have seen that," he emphasized.
In a tribute to his direct managerial opponent Vinnie Corey, in his first term in charge at this level, he went on: "I've never seen an improvement in a team like it in my time being involved in management. I know they had some poor performances earlier but the adjustments they made all the way through. Very cohesive. Everyone is really comfortable with the game plan.
"They use their goalkeeper Rory Beggan really well in trying to create overloads and mismatches and you have to be so careful in how you set up against that because they can expose you at the front of your defensive line through those overloads and mismatches.”
That said and out of the way, it was easy to reflect on the difference between two sides who were very evenly matched for over an hour before Dublin got a nose in front to go on to win by a couple of lengths. Monaghan had stayed with their Leinster opponents stride by stride but crucially for the outcome, they never managed to edge in front, although were level six times over the encounter.
It was a case of the old hands on the Dublin front coming to the fore with midfielder Brian Fenton, average up to this hour mark, leading the charge with two points. Cometh the hour, Paul Mannion and sub Jack McCaffrey also cut loose and their four points prized daylight between the combatants with five minutes left. Then another seasoned old pro, Dean Rock, entered the fray and within a few minutes had contributed 1-1 on the scoreboard, which now showed seven points between the teams. A gross injustice to Monaghan but such is the ability of a serial winner like Dublin to inflict punishment, if they get an inch or space or a demi-second of time to create game-changing moments.
With Con O'Callaghan having also contributed two second-half points, many Dub fans left Croke Park wondering if he and Mannion, and McCaffrey had been available against Kerry in last year's semi-final, would they have suffered a one-point loss or gone on to beat Galway in the final as the Kingdom did.
That was without contemplating the role of Stephen Cluxton in goal who once again kept a clean sheet and brought a lot of calm to the winners’ defense, despite one slip which luckily went outside of his post instead of nestling in the back of his net as an own goal.
Famously, neither McCaffrey nor Mannion were available to Dublin in the titanic semi-final against Kerry 12 months ago.
Corey too was magnanimous in defeat, saying that the winners “know-how” had proven too much for his squad at the end of the day.
"In the last seven or eight minutes they put the squeeze on us at that point and we didn't have the answers. But listen, I don't think the margin is a fair reflection on the game and the effort the boys put in.
"They punished us badly all day on turnovers. They could have hit 1-10 off turnovers. We might have only scored 0-4 from Dublin turnovers. Every time we made a mistake, they just pounced and away they went. A few of those were forced by Dublin and they earned the turnover. And a few of those were carelessness on our part.
"They punished us badly all day on turnovers. They could have hit 1-10 off turnovers. We might have only scored 0-04 from Dublin turnovers. Every time we made a mistake, they just pounced and away they went. A few of those were forced by Dublin and they earned the turnover. And a few of those were carelessness on our part."
Monaghan fans were proud of their heroes - none more so than Conor McManus, the 36-year-old who kicked five points and was a real leader for his team.
Afterwards, there were images of the corner forward embracing his family after the game with the big worry for Farney followers that he may be about to announce his retirement after a truly stellar season and career.
Speaking in general terms of his own old brigade, Corey said: "Darren Hughes, Karl O’Connell and Conor McManus played the 70 minutes plus and some of them played against Armagh, 70, plus extra-time. I wouldn't be rushing to judgements there, I think there’s more in the tank in them boys. Absolutely!”
Farrell will have time to reflect on a mediocre performance and whether his team needs a shake-up to beat Kerry. Certainly his own decision to omit Ciaran Kilkenny again backfired as he had to turn to the Castleknock all rounder to help bail him out of a sticky wicket. Niall Scully never got going and added to his poor showing was a black card which meant Dublin had to play with 14 men for 10 minutes at the end of the first half.
With Seán Bugler not lining out due to a calf niggle, Paddy Small came into the attack and also failed to shine. Colm Pasquel, the star turn with two goals against Mayo in the previous round against Mayo, failed to see any ball and was called ashore. Luckily for Farrell, Cormac Costello led the attack superbly with seven points while out of favor Dean Rock scored 1-1 in his cameo role at the very end of the game.
So aside from blitzing Derry in the second half of the Div. 2 League final and similarly rousing themselves in the second moiety to dispense of Mayo in the All Ireland quarter-final, Dublin's form has been very patchy all season. If Monaghan had even got one of the three good goal chances, it may have added to the pressure but lady luck sided with the metropolitans and the seven-point win was more than they deserved.
Monaghan were in control in the first 35 minutes but this didn't translate onto the scoreboard as they trailed 0-8 to 0-7 at the interval. We waited for a Dublin “third quarter surge” but it never came. Indeed the Ulster men went past the hour and into the final straight looking full the equal if not the better of their foe.
That's when the experienced Dubs took over and in a few fleeting minutes the complexion of the game changed utterly - and Monaghan's chance of getting to an All Ireland final for the first time since 1930 was postponed - at least for another year.
Dublin: S Cluxton; E Murchan, M Fitzsimons, D Byrne; J McCarthy, J Small, L Gannon (0-1); B Fenton (0-2), B Howard; P Mannion (0-2, 0-1f, 0-1m), P Small (0-1), N Scully; C Costello (0-7, 0-3f, 0-1m), C O'Callaghan (0-2), C Basquel Subs: C Kilkenny for Scully (29), J McCaffrey (0-1) for Basquel (43), L O'Dell for P Small (62), D Rock (1-1, 0-1f) for Mannion (68), T Lahiff for Costello (71).
Monaghan: R Beggan (0-3, '45); D Hughes, K Duffy, R Wylie; K O'Connell, C Boyle, C McCarthy; K Hughes, K Lavelle; S O'Hanlon (0-1), M Bannigan (0-1), R McAnespie (0-1); C McManus (0-5, 0-3f, 0-1m), G Mohan (0-1), D Ward Subs: K Gallagher for Ward (44), J McCarron (0-1) for K Hughes (45), C Lennon for D Hughes (blood sub, 50), D Hughes for Lennon (54), R O'Toole for Boyle (59), S Jones for McAnespie (66), Lennon for Lavelle (69).
Ref: S Hurson (Tyrone).
