Team of the Decade. . . Until Next Time
Talking Balls Comments
The Tyrone lads here in the office are sick as parrots. They think if Tyrone had beaten Cork they would have taken Kerry again. The Cork lads in the office think if they hadn’t had to play Tyrone in the semi-final they would have been better prepared for Kerry. The Kerrymen in the office don’t give a toss about Cork or Tyrone, they just sit there with a self satisfied grin.
And well they might. After a season that threatened to implode with Gooch looking off colour and on the beer; Donaghy injured; Darragh O Se written off, no full back; no centre half back until Mike McCarthy came back, Jack O’Connor under pressure; rows in the camp. . . need we go on?
Imagine telling a Kerryman last winter that they would need a last gasp penalty save to avoid defeat to Sligo; that they would struggle against Antrim and would beat Meath in one of the worst games in recent memory? Not even the most pessimistic oul hoor from the back end of Ventry would have believed you.
Credit has to go to Jack O’Connor, to Mike McCarthy, to Tadgh Kenneally, to Declan O’Sullivan, to the Gooch, to Diarmuid Murphy and the rest of them.
Credit must also go to Paul Galvin. Talking Balls gave Galvin a quare slaggin’ last year, but if ever a fella re-invented himself it was old devil eyes himself. Sent off for tangling with Noel O’Leary we thought ‘Oh, Oh, here we go again!’ Not so Galvin, his leadership on the pitch showed us he has great character and he’s a damn good footballer at what he does. So fair play to you Paul, redemption is at hand.
Kerry, the team of the decade. . . at least until next season.
