Kerry lose out in style

All-Ireland Hurling Qualifier rd.1 2003

Kerry 1-14  Limerick 0-24         (Tralee 28th June)

The profile of Kerry hurling received a huge boost following the County's Senior hurling team's heroic efforts against Limerick on Saturday evening. Played  before the biggest attendance in years, this game had everything one would expect from a Munster championship match, but certainly not one involving a Kerry team. Not even that, but for long periods of the game Kerry looked the class outfit of the two teams on display. People who attended the game have been speaking ever since about Kerry's brilliant display and how unlucky they were to lose in the end by seven points. It was only in the final eight minutes that Limerick started to open up a gap, and it was possibly a combination of the fact that Kerry's match against Derry six days previous was telling and Kerry were content at that stage to have given Limerick a good run for their money. All in all though there was an awful lot to be proud of and it is certainly a great starting block for 2004 and a huge step forward from 2002.

Kerry opted to play with the slight wind advantage in the first half, so as to avoid a recurrence of events in the Waterford game when the match was effectively over at half time. Limerick actually opened the score after forty seconds with a Conor Fitzgerald free. (He was to score a total of ten points on the night). But Kerry responded well with three unanswered points, and after Limerick had regained the lead, Kerry once again responded with two more points to lead by five points to four after 15 minutes. Ballyduff's Liam Boyle scored some magnificent points at this stage off none other than Mark Foley. But Kerry also had to call on keeper John Healy to pull off an excellent save albeit with the help of the upright to stay ahead. It was obvious at this stage that Kerry were playing with great gusto and enthusiasm while Limerick struggled to find any form. Once again Limerick regained the lead with two points from Conor Fitzgerald and Brian Begley, but Billy Brick (who had switched positions with brother Shane at this stage) equalised with a great point almost immediately. Kerry rallied for the last five minutes of the half and added four  more points, two from Shane Brick to lead at half time by 11 points to 7. The reception that Kerry received at half time was truly memorable,but also thoroughly deserved. Who would have believed that the same Kerry team that had  been defeated by Waterford by seventeen points was now leading Limerick by four. Limerick of course had taken Waterford to a replay in the Munster semi-final.

On the resumption Kerry immediately conceded a soft free but Conor Fitzgerald was wide with the effort. A couple of minutes later though, wing forward Niall Moran missed a great opportunity with only the keeper to beat when he shot just over the bar. They added another before Austin Stack park erupted when Shane Brick sent an unstoppable shot to the net after good work by Colin Harris with half a hurley. Unbelievably Kerry was now five points to the good with thirty minutes of hurling to go. But Kerry would only add three more points to its tally for the remainder of the game. Slowly, Limerick began to wake from its slumber and two more frees reduced the gap to a goal. By the 53rd minute Limerick was level and to many the outcome looked inevitable when Donnacha Sheehan edged them ahead. But Kerry had not given up hope as Shane Brick pointed a '21 which was tipped over the bar from a ferocious shot. There were further exchanges with Kerry scoring again through Liam Boyle and Shane Brick.  But Limerick finished the stronger with sub Clem Smith making a telling contribution and further points were added to leave them seven points to the good in the end. Kerry lacked  a strong subs bench and this was vital in the end as both Kerry corner forwards were poor on the night, with Steve McDonagh possibly the best player on show. However in the end, it was a great Kerry performance for sixty one minutes and this experience will certainly stand to the team next year. Well done to all.

Kerry's third win in Championship

All-Ireland Hurling preliminary Qualifier round 3  2003

Kerry 2-15  Derry 1-16         (Tullamore 22nd June)

In previous years if Kerry were to lose the services of players such as Shane Brick and Michael Conway for a game, the only thing that would be certain for Kerry would be defeat. But Kerry have shown this year that there is a big squad to choose from, and while the team is still weakened considerably, there are other players there who are willing to pick up the pieces. It is also an indication of Kerry's progress this year, that they can afford to play as poorly as they did against Derry, a team that played Division One hurling the last number of years, and still come out with a victory. Kerry hurling has indeed made progress, in terms of results at least.

The game itself was a poor one from the spectator's point of view and the referee Eamon Morris from Dublin certainly did not help proceedings with the amount of frees awarded. Saying that, Kerry were guilty of poor tackling and poor indiscipline to allow seventeen frees to be awarded against them from scoreable positions. Kerry raced into a three point lead to nil within five minutes (Derry having won the toss opted to play into the breeze in the first half). But Derry drew level through Oliver Collins' free taking due to poor defending. Kerry added three more points but Derry replied with frees to leave the teams at six points each with five minutes to go to half time. But Kerry scored two crucial goals before the break through Mike Slattery and John Mike Dooley to leave Kerry leading by eight points at half time, a lead they hardly deserved.

On the restart, Derry added two quick points but Kerry replied to extend their lead once more. The Kerry defence was more disciplined  at this stage and sufficient pressure on the Derry forwards saw them shoot nine second half wides. But the breeze meant that Derry could now shoot for scores from further out and the deficit was reduced to five points with ten minutes to go. From a long puck out Derry scored a goal through M Conway who deceived the Kerry full back Aidan Healey, who had been playing an excellent game to that. With the deficit now down to two points Kerry had to batten down the hatches and the Boxer was brought to half forward and Pat O Connell brought back as an extra defender. Kerry managed to hold out mainly because of Derry's lack of scoring power up front. It would have been a bad way to go out of the championship for Kerry, but if they had lost they could only have had themselves to blame.

It must also be mentioned that a few "die hard" supporters from Kerry travelled to the game notably the "Dubs" Micheal Foley and Gene Griffin who have travelled to many of Kerry's games this year, David Brick, Christan Lyne and two other noisy supporters from Killarney , and Tom Flahive and his family from Ballyheigue who travelled to all of Kerry's games this year.

Kerry's second win in Championship

All-Ireland Hurling preliminary Qualifier 2003

Kerry 3-15 Carlow 3-7             (Thurles 8th June)

For the second game in a row, Kerry scored 3 goals and 15 points and in doing so, made history by being the first Kerry team to win two championship matches in the one season since they first won the the All-Ireland in 1891. Kilmoyley again had six players in the starting line up and all six were very influential in this victory. The Thurles pitch was, as expected in fantastic condition. The hurling in the early stages was sluggish however but Shane Brick fired a twenty metre free to the net after five minutes to put Kerry four points ahead. Kerry's defence held strong in the first half, only conceding three points (from frees). Kerry must have been pleased at this stage for Carlow were expected to give Kerry a serious challenge having already defeated Meath in a qualifier. But Kerry hurled much better in the first half and finished with another goal to lead comfortably by 2-8 to 0-3.

As had been the case in their games since their League final defeat to Antrim at Croke Park, Kerry had an excellent start to the second half scoring a goal inside thirty seconds to finish off the game. This would have been an ideal opportunity for Kerry to demonstrate their skills to the ever increasing crowd at this stage, but instead they sat back and allowed Carlow to dictate matters for the remainder of the half. While Kerry were never in danger of loosing the game, it must be a worry that they just "switch off" as they did in this game. Kerry even had numerical advantage for a period after Carlow were reduced to 14 men when their fullback was red carded for a foul on Shane Brick. Carlow scored three second half goals and Carlow players were coming through in droves especially after Darren Young was sunstituted late on (he was to be playing for the U-21s against Clare the following Wednesday). But in the end an eight point victory for Kerry and after watching the poor game after between Waterford and Limerick, Kerry can be happy enough with their performance.

Kerry easliy defeat Westmeath

All-Ireland Hurling preliminary Qualifier 2003

Kerry 3-15 Westmeath 0-13    (Nenagh 31st May)

It was an historic day in many ways for the Kerry hurlers despite only a handful of supporters travelling to see the game. It was Kerry's first time competing in the qualifiers and it was also Kerry's first win in the championship since the victory over Waterford ten long years ago. Kerry must have been apprehensive facing into the game for attendances at training had been poor since the defeat to Waterford, a number of players who were playing had only just finished their exams and a few more players decided not to travel to the game. Westmeath have always been tough opponents for Kerry and there is never too much to chose between the teams. However, after this victory, the Kerry players can truly say that progress has been made in 2003, and Kerry have leapfrogged a number of counties this year in terms of hurling.

Once again the Kilmoyley players showed that Kerry hurling can be a force to be reckoned with them on the team. At an EGM on the night before' the club decided that the players would not be withdrawn from the game in protest over the farce of the North Kerry League final. Just as well for Kerry, because without the Kilmoyley players defeat was certain. The game was even enough for the first twenty minutes with Kerry maintaining a slender lead for this period. But a mistake by the Westmeath keeper put Kerry 1-5 to 0-4 ahead and up to the break Kerry continued to dominate and led at the break by six points.

It was important for Kerry to re-inforce their position on the restart, and they did this comprehensively by scoring 1-2 without reply inside two minutes. The game was effectively over as a contest at this stage. Darren Young was picking up a lot of loose ball around midfield and Billy Brick was working hard at centre forward. The Kerry defence was never really tested in the second half and never looked like conceding a goal. Shane Brick added a third goal later on to put the icing on the cake to leave Kerry winners by eleven points. It was however a very poor performance by Westmeath, but Kerry will just be thankful to have got over this one.

Kerry defeated by Waterford

Guinness Munster Hurling Championship 2003

Kerry 1-12 Waterford 2-26 (Walsh Park 11th May)

The Kerry hurlers went into this first round championship match knowing they had nothing to lose. Following a defeat to Antrim the previous week in the final of the Allianz National Hurling League Division 2, Kerry were certainly travelling more in hope than in confidence. It was a pity that the game itself was not played at a Kerry venue as this would certainly have helped Kerry's cause. As it was, Walsh park in Waterford city was the venue and about 7,000 supporters travelled to the game, with an estimated 100 from Kerry. This included bus loads from Kilmoyley, Causeway and Abbeydorney (with some supporters making sure they weren't going to miss the match by leaving on Saturday afternoon).

The forecast for the game was poor but as it turned out there was only a strong breeze blowing down the field from corner to corner, with a light shower before the start of the game. Waterford's captain Tony Browne won the toss and elected to play with the breeze in the first half, severely denting any hopes Kerry had of keeping the contest alive. Waterford made wholesale changes to the official team announced with Tony Browne and Peter Queally partnering at midfield, Dave Bennet switching to the forty with Andy Moloney moving to fullforward. Seamus Prendergast went to the corner with Paul Flynn switching to top of the left. Was it that Waterford wanted to upset Kerry with these changes and was all the pre-talk of injuries a load of nonsense? It seemed to be Yes to both for within two minutes Kerry found themselves in arrears with Ken McGrath and Andy Moloney pointing. Kerry captain Ian Brick was switched to Moloney and Conor Flaherty was switched to McGrath. But after nine minutes Kerry were 0-5 to 0-0 in arrears (three from McGrath). The Kerry forwards were making some headway at this stage but couldn't score.

Kerry's first score came from Shane Brick in the 14th minute who was excellent on the night. Dave Bennett scored a number of frees in the first half, mainly because of  the Kerry player's lack of pace and as a result their need to foul. But also Kerry were being severely punished by poor refereeing and this was typically so when Waterford scored their first goal on 23 minutes with Paul Flynn pulling at the helmet of HF Twomey. Saying that, Waterford had missed a couple of easy goal chances before that but John Healy made one great save and Paul Flynn struck and upright from ten yards. Kerry did rally briefly, with JM Dooley goaling after good work from Garry O'Brien and another point from Shane Brick. However at half time Kerry found themselves another four points behind to leave the score at 1-16 to 1-2. Surely 14 points was too big a deficit to reduce....or was it.

Kerry scored two points inside the first minute and for a very brief period it looked as if a comeback was possible. But the closest Kerry got to Waterford was 11 points and this was mainly because Shane and Billy Brick were fighting lone battles up front with little support coming from any where else (although Garry O'Brien was upsetting the Waterford defenders). The contest ended as a spectacle when Paul Flynn scored a second goal five minutes from time despite being surrounded by three defenders. Kerry could have conceded a few more goals only for John Healy's great save and some poor finishing by the Waterford forwards. Kerry introduced a number of substitutes including Kilmoyley's Colin Harris who impressed for the 15 minutes he played. So in the end it was not to be for Kerry. 1993 was never going to repeat itself - Waterford made sure of that beforehand ! But it was a brave and gutsy performance by the Kerry players with the three Bricks, John Healy and Conor Flaherty playing well.

Overall though, the contest did show that there is a huge gulf in class between these sides and between Division 1 and Division 2. Kerry's lack of pace and ability to react faster to the breaking ball were the two biggest factors in them losing this game. It can also be said that Kerry were very poor to win ball in the air (as they have been all year). However, it could also be said that if the Kerry players had shown the same hunger against Antrim as they did against Waterford they could now be Division 2 champions and playing Division 1 Hurling next year. But I don't think Kerry are ready for that yet. Still there is a qualifier against Westmeath to look forward to on the 31st May in Nenagh with the winners going on to meet Carlow in the next round. So who knows, if Kerry can learn from their defeats and put these lessons into practice, it may yet give them another opportunity to play against top class opposition in the Championship qualifiers. For as yet the only two teams to beat Kerry this year are the Ulster champions and the Munster champions ! We'll see what happens.

Kerry's 2003 Championship run

(Click on team for match report)

Waterford

Westmeath

Carlow

Derry

Limerick

Kilmoyley players on the day

Ian Brick (captain), James McCarthy, Colin Harris, Shane Brick, Billy Brick, Darren Young (sub)

Kilmoyley players on the day

Ian Brick (captain), James McCarthy, Colin Harris, Darren Young, Shane Brick (1-3), Billy Brick

Kilmoyley players on the day

Ian Brick (captain), James McCarthy, Colin Harris, Darren Young (0-1), Shane Brick (1-1), Billy Brick(0-1)