By Mark Jones
Kildare 1-12, Meath 0-10
The good things in life are worth waiting for. Just ask the thousands of long-suffering Kildare supporters. Once again they found themselves in a Leinster football final and once again it seemed as if the fates would conspire to deprive them of a title they last won in 1956. But this time the famine ended and for a joyous half hour Croke Park turned white.
To call this a sweet victory for the province’s perennial bridesmaids would be an understatement. Crushed by the weight and skill of Dublin and Meath for so many seasons, there were plenty of doubters who thought the promised land would remain out of reach.
And even when last Sunday Kildare had moved into a 3-point lead with 8 minutes left, no one was getting carried away. Remember the opposition were Meath, kings of the comeback. Sure enough, Tommy Dowd pointed, then substitute Jody Devine tacked on another and with a minute left, Ray Magee leveled the scores.
So, were Kildare going to be floored by the sucker punch yet again? Going into injury time, you would have bet your mortgage on Meath at least salvaging a draw, but the men in white at last showed they had learned something from the years of frustration.
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Instead of folding, they surged upfield and another substitute, Brian Murphy, somehow found himself unmarked in front of the Meath goal. To Martin Lynch’s eternal credit, he picked out Murphy with a perfect pass and the former Cork player smashed the ball into the net.
That was the moment. Forty-two seasons of playing second fiddle gone and forgotten and such was Kildare’s swagger in the closing moments that they were able to celebrate with two more points from Willie McCreery and Eddie McCormack.
Meath’s highly respected manager, Sean Boylan, caught the mood when he came into the Kildare dressing room after the game. Boylan paused and asked the hushed players a question. “Lads,” he said graciously, “can you think of a better place to be?”
It was a vintage Boylan. A true sportsman who would have been acutely aware of Kildare’s deprivation for all those years. “The better team won on the day,” he admitted later. “We certainly wouldn’t deny Kildare their day in the sun. Nobody deserved it more.”
More than anything, this was a triumph for persistence. When Kildare’s defense was at its miserly best, the attack would misfire. When the forwards were in tune, the backs would give scores away. They never got it quite right and when the pressure was at its greatest, Dublin and Meath would invariably come out on top.
But the players have assimilated the hard lessons. This Kildare team is more experienced and more streetwise than any of recent seasons. A semifinal date with Kerry, who eased past Tipperary in the Munster final, is a tall order, but with the monkey off their backs, who knows what Kildare can go on to achieve?
The upcoming clash with Kerry brings Mick O’Dwyer’s role into perspective. Brought in to eventually work the miracle in Leinster, O’Dwyer is still best known for his exploits with the great Kerry teams of the 1970s and ’80s. Now Kildare’s manager is out to beat his own folk.
“I’m not looking forward to that,” he said afterward. “Number one, I’m a Kerryman and I’ll always be a Kerryman, but my allegiance is to Kildare and this is one of the greatest days of my life. We played great football and we did what a lot of people didn’t think we were capable of doing.
“This compares very favorably to the All-Ireland final in 1978 after Kerry had been beaten by Dublin in 1976 and ’77. I had a feeling when we drew with Meath last year. I had a feeling we could do it, I knew if we could bring them that close again we could do it.”
Meath’s typically gritty challenge wasn’t helped by an injury to Trevor Giles, who limped off with 15 minutes to go and just before Giles’s departure, Brendan Reilly had been sent off for a reckless elbow on Declan Kerrigan.
But that was the end of the excuses. Kildare had the edge, especially in defense, where the white jerseys shut out Dowd and company to great effect. Martin Lynch was outstanding, Padraig Gravin took his frees well and when it was 0-5 apiece at the interval, the prospects for an off-color Meath were not good.
Kildare continued to hold sway in the second half despite the best efforts of Meath’s John McDermott and then were able to withstand the late onslaught. Murphy’s goal, Glen Ryan lifting the trophy and O’Dwyer’s beaming face — snapshots of memorable day for football.
Kildare had laid the bogey and they had beaten Dublin, Laois and Meath on the way. No one was arguing.
Kerry 0-17, Tipperary 1-10
It wasn’t particularly pretty and it wasn’t that convincing, but Kerry did enough at Semple Stadium to win their third straight Munster football final. Maybe a few years ago, Kerry would have been bowled over by Tipperary’s stubborn challenge. However, this team is now made of sterner stuff.
Without the experience of last season’s All-Ireland triumph, the players might have panicked when sub James Williams thumped in a goal off the crossbar 8 minutes from the end, which reduced the lead to a precarious 3 points.
But come the moment, come the man. Troubled by injuries, Maurice Fitzgerald has made little or no impact on this summer’s championship, yet he was largely responsible for extracting Kerry from a potential mess.
First, he clipped over a superb point with his left foot after three Tipp players had failed to gain possession from a kick-out, and then he rode a couple of attempted tackles to score a spectacular point with his right foot.
That intervention as good as settled the contest and Tipp knew it. Declan Browne had given it his best shot, but there was no getting their hands on the trophy they last won in 1935 and no spoiling Kerry’s semifinal tilt against their old mentor, Mick O’Dwyer.
Browne finished the game with 0-7, and although his excellent play gave Seamus Moynihan some difficult moments, it was the unobtrusive Fitzgerald who calmly contributed 10 points to Kerry’s cause. They needed his genius because Tipp gave a fine performance, which only lost impetus in the second half when Kerry were able to open a 6-point gap.
However, a fourth Munster championship defeat to Kerry in as many seasons was hard to take. “They showed what a good team they have become,” said Kerry’s manager, Paidi O Se, “but we were clever enough to take our points and that gave us a cushion when they got the goal.”
Galway 1-17, Roscommon 0-17
(After extra time)
It wasn’t too surprising that, toward the end of an exhausting, pulsating Connacht football final replay at Hyde Park last Saturday, a mistake decided the destiny of the trophy. Roscommon’s goalkeeper, Derek Thompson, had caught a shot and was about to clear his lines when he somehow lost the ball and Michael Donnellan pounced for the match-winning goal.
So, Galway were champions again and now go on to meet Derry in the All-Ireland semifinal, but it was cruel luck for Roscommon and Thompson. In fact, the keeper had earlier made two superb saves and his general play was top class.
Rated as the weakest team in Connacht at the start of the season, Roscommon had given their supporters four exhilarating games (two draws) and their new-found determination was clear for all to see when a point from Sean de Paor gave a Galway the lead with 2 minutes left in regulation.
However, in injury time, Galway captain Ray Silke was penalized for a foul and Eddie Lohan calmly struck a perfect free from 40 yards to send the match into extra time.
Galway, with Donnellan and Jarlath Fallon in inspirational form, then took a 2-point advantage going into the second period of added time before disaster struck for Roscommon and Thompson. They refused to buckle and responded with two frees by Lohan, who finished with an impressive 0-8, and a Nigel Dineen point.
Overall, Galway were the more accomplished team and they wrapped matters up with a Donnellan point in the final minute.
“We got the break when we needed it,” said manager John O’Mahony, “but credit to Roscommon, they never let up and even when we seemed to be outplaying them, they kept coming at us.”
When a group of Roscommon players walked dejectedly out of their dressing room late on Saturday evening, they were applauded by a few hundred supporters who had stayed in the ground. Maybe a sign that Roscommon could be on their way back to better times.
Other games
In the two provincial minor finals up for grabs last weekend, Kerry were comfortable 2-11 to 0-8 winners against Limerick in Munster, while Laois kept up their impressive underage record in Leinster with a 2-9 to 0-12 victory over Dublin.