As the Kerry faithful draped in Green & Gold meander their way up O’ Connell St and head towards Croke Park, I can’t help but reminisce about the great days we’ve all enjoyed supporting this great Kerry team. At 4pm this afternoon, they face a new threat, a Donegal side who have turned the game of Gaelic Football on it’s head and are hell bent on claiming their scalp and God knows there’s no greater scalp than the Kingdom of Kerry.
Win, lose or draw today, this team has nothing to prove, they’ve played in ten All-Ireland finals in the past fifteen years, winning six of them including four in the space of six years between ’04 and ’09 as well as back to back titles in ’06 and ’07. Simply put, they are the greatest team of the modern era
As Kerry supporters, we almost take them for granted, they’ve given us more days out than I can remember and have afforded us a level of self-assurance as a result of their achievements on the field. Only a Kerry man will understand the importance of going to his boss in April or May and booking the Monday and Tuesday off work ahead of the All-Ireland that September.
It’s the memories on the field that we cherish too, certain players over the past ten, twelve, fifteen years that you grow to love because of what they are willing to do for their county. I can remember Colm Cooper kicking four of the best points from play that I’ve ever seen in the first twenty minutes of the All-Ireland semi-final against Cork in ’05. There was fellas stood next to me in the crowd bowing and paying homage to man. I’ll never forget his goal in the All-Ireland final against Mayo in ’04 and his goal against the same opposition in the semi-final just last year.
The Gooch is the greatest player to ever play the game, his ability is there for everyone to see, balance, agility, accuracy and unrivalled vision but above all bravery, the man doesn’t hide from the ball and never shirks responsibility.
Of course, other players evoke similar memories, Maurice Fitzgerald’s goal against Armagh in ’00 and his equaliser from the sideline against Dublin in Thurles a year later as well as Seamus Moynihan’s two block downs and all round performance in the semi-final replay with Armagh back in ’00. I couldn’t tell you how many balls Darragh O’ Se has plucked from the clouds over the years, his display against Armagh in the All-Ireland Quarter final in ’06 will live long in the memory. God help you if you were in Darragh’s way that day, he was throwing Armagh lads out of his way and kicking them up the arse the whole game.
Darragh’s brothers Tomas and Marc are heroes as well, Marc an absolute Rolls Royce of a defender, stopping forwards at one end and showing them how it’s done up the other end, selling dummies and putting the ball over the black spot. I’ll never forget Tomas as well, sallying up the field with that iconic toe to hand solo, whipping the ball over the bar and sprinting back into position, lapping up the approval of the crowd like Shergar in his heyday.
I can remember Darran O’Sullivan roaring onto a loose ball against Armagh in the ’06 Quarter Final and smashing it into the back of the net, he did something similar against Cork in the first half of last years Munster final in Killarney. As for his namesake Declan, what enjoyment he has given us, we all love it when the Dromid man is confronted by a defender, my friends and I say the same thing every time, “Go on away Declan boy, take him for a run”
We’ll never forget Paul Galvin, a fearless competitor, as proud a Kerryman as you will find, my abiding memory of him is watching a league game between Kerry and Tyrone on a sun drenched day in Killarney in ’05. Don’t ask me who the Tyrone player was but Paul absolutely rattled him with a shoulder half way through the first half, the ref waved the play on and as Kerry broke up the field, a pumped up Galvin turned towards the Tyrone player lying in a heap and told him to get up. I can still feel the roar of the crowd that day and that will always stick with me.
It’s great memories like this that make this Kerry team so special and furthermore it’s what makes Kerry such a proud county. We love our footballers, we have the utmost faith in them and while this trip down memory lane may seem as if I’m writing them off, that is not the case. I’m merely pointing out that these boys have proven themselves time and time again and have made us Kerry supporters so happy and proud over the years. They’re not done yet though and perhaps there is still a sting in the tail of this Kerry team.
The big movie out at the minute is the new Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises”. In the lead up to today’s match there’s a scene from that movie that I can’t get out of my head. It involves Batman himself and Selina Kyle (Catwoman). Catwoman is questioning Batman’s desire to save Gotham City and it’s people from the evil terrorist Bane, she says, “You don’t owe these people anymore, you’ve given them everything” To which Batman replies, “Not everything, not yet” Given the achievements of these great Kerry men over the years, perhaps they are thinking the same as the caped crusader.
Fair enough, Gary Cahill isn’t much better but what gives him more of a chance of playing is his familiarity with John Terry and Ashley Cole from his club football at Chelsea. Even a central defensive partnership of Terry and Lescott or Terry and Phil Jones gives England a slightly more solid look than if Ferdinand was paired with either.
danoneill1986 