McShea's Say: The Allianz League finals contained real quality

All the Allianz League Finals at the weekend provided top class entertainment, with a very high standard displayed across all four divisions.

The buzz that was evident among the four winning teams was obvious and those who are of the opinion that the League doesn’t matter are very far off the mark. In winning their Division 4 final against Tipperary, Cavan picked up their first silverware in Croke Park since 1952 and they were fortunate to beat a game Tipperary outfit by one point.

Louth impressed in beating Limerick in a very enjoyable Division 3 decider and the two Tyrone men at the helm in Louth - Mickey Harte and Gavin Devlin - have done well in their time in the Wee County.

Roscommon and Galway was also a most enjoyable battle with both teams playing a refreshing brand of football, with some great scores from distance. The absence of lateral football in all those encounters and few short kick-outs meant that the special skill of high fielding was back in evidence at Headquarters.

In the Division 1 final, Mayo once again left their House of Pain after yet another chastening day in Croke Park. Mayo were certainly not good enough to cope with Kerry who beat them easily by 3-19 to 0-13.

Kerry played like a side who are now at the peak of their awesome powers. They have such a strong panel to choose from and they could afford to be without one of their top stars Sean O Shea and still cope quite comfortably.

Kerry clicked quickly into an impressive momentum, and they were very comfortable leading by 1-10 to 0-7 at the interval. The difference in the style and quality of the football played by both teams was remarkable, Mayo continually carried the ball into a tenacious Kerry defence, and were disposed with incredible regularity, while Kerry’s performance was so impressive that if I were team manager I would be most anxious to get a tape of this game which clearly shows how the game should be played.

Mayo’s performance clearly was an expression of naivety, and what not to do. Mayo were also short two or three of their better performers, but such was the power of Kerry that I don’t believe that being depleted was a factor in their defeat.

This was clearly illustrated when Kerry lost midfielder Diarmuid O'Connor to a black card but in the 10 minutes he was off the park Kerry outscored Mayo by four points to one. It is difficult to say if this defeat is a sign that Mayo are losing a little altitude, but their manager James Horan must be concerned that none of the players that he introduced made any real impact on proceedings, while his team were more than a little fortunate not to cough up two or three goals in the first half.

There is speculation in Kerry that David Moran, their long serving midfielder,will regain his place on the team after injury, but pace is not David’s forte and Kerry played with electrifying pace in this final.

Even for a manager of Jack O’Connor’s ability, the dilemma of when to discard the loyalty card is always a problem. Watching David Clifford in action for Kerry against Mayo was an absolute threat.

With David, football is instinctive. He doesn’t have to think about what to do. He is a footballing artist with the green canvas spread out under his feet. He was giving his marker Padraig O’Hora a difficult time. When O Hora decided to engage in some sledging Clifford went up a gear and showed his marker that sledging is only engaged in by inferior footballers and never ever works.

Clifford for one so young is already right up there with some of the game’s best forwards like Offaly’s Matt Connor, Tyrone’s Peter Canavan and Kerry’s Maurice Fitzgerald.

Kerry for some time in the recent past as evidenced by Tyrone hitting them with three goals in last year’s semi-final, were brittle in defence but Paddy Tally their Ulster coach has done a remarkable job in sorting out their defensive difficulties even though his manager has not quite got round to acknowledging his excellent input,

So are Kerry a shoe-in for Sam Maguire? I will share a chat I had with the late Eugene McGee some time after the 1982 All-Ireland final. Eugene was the Offaly manager at that time, and he told me he had decided to go to London on the Monday after that final if his team had lost.

The prospect of heading into another round of endless post-mortems did not appeal to him. At face value it was odds on that he would be heading to Heathrow on Monday evening. Kerry were heading for the historic five-in-a-row. Eugene never played county football but when it came to coaching, he believed he could match anybody. Offaly won that All Ireland by one point with Seamus Darby’s late goal and McGee never went to London.

So, while Kerry are now red hot favourites football is littered with major upsets, and here in Donegal hope springs eternal. I was delighted to see Aodh Ruadh win their league game in Kilcar on Sunday where the home side were somewhat depleted but it is never easy to get out of Towney.

This was an encounter where Aodh Ruadh’s Peter Boyle once again confirmed his standing as one of the top goalkeepers in Donegal and Ulster football.

The news that Rian O Neill has joined his three Armagh teammates on the list of suspensions for their championship game against Donegal is a devastating blow to his team’s prospects of victory. O Neill is not only his team's best forward but is one of the top forwards in the game today, O Neill and Aidan Nugent are their team's most prolific attackers, and their loss to their team could be equated to Donegal lining out without Michael Murphy and Patrick McBrearty.