Honours even in Tralee as Galway reel in Kerry with stunning fightback

Galway were 10 points down at the break in Austin Stack Park, and after 46 minutes, trailed by 12. Eight minutes later, with Kerry leading 2-15 to 1-8, this one looked locked and loaded for the Kingdom. But a remarkable last 15 minutes saw Paraic Joyce’s surging westerners outscore the All-Ireland champions 2-6 to 0-2 to squeeze a dramatic, and potentially crucial point from their visit to the wild south west.

Kerry will be kicking themselves and if they weren’t inclined, Jack O’Connor might do it for them. Down the stretch and against the wind, the Kingdom couldn’t get their hands on their own kickouts but worse still, they were loose around the fringes which only accelerated the Galway counter. The former offence is forgivable as it’s tricky securing possession facing the wind against marauding midfielders, but not suffocating the Galway counter was costly.

Down referee Paul Faloon was inclined to ignore pulling and grappling which added to the sense of crashorama on a wet and windy night in Tralee but it certainly raised the hoary old issue of refereeing consistency. Kerry raged when Tony Brosnan seemed to be fouled on the hour and their frustration wasn’t lessened when Cian Hernon surged through to score Galway’s second goal – with 10 minutes left, Galway were suddenly within five (2-16 to 2-11), and the comeback was on. 

Kerry will take plenty from the evening with reflection – Keith Evans was very mature for a man making his first league start and between himself and Cillian Trant, the newbies posted 1-5 for Kerry. Mark O’Shea got minutes and made a great block as Kerry sought to stem the tide but Galway were on a roll now. Shane McGrath, who finished with 0-5, and John Maher combined impressively for the latter to grab a third goal on 64 minutes, and though Dylan Casey pointed for Kerry, Dylan McHugh and then McGrath completed the comeback, McGrath’s two pointer squeezing over despite the best efforts of keeper Shane Murphy.

Kerry led 2-10 to 1-3 at the break, a lead that might have been safe enough at one point. But with the new rules and the current meteorological obsession, it was easier recall this time last year when Kerry actually carried an 11-point wind-assisted League lead into the interval against Dublin – and lost.

Nineteen minutes into Saturday’s soaking in Tralee, Matthew Tierney ghosted too unmolested past the left side of Kerry’s defence to rebut their hosts’ opening goal from the impressive Evans and reduce it to a two-point game (1-4 to 1-2).

Jason Foley had a chance to claim a second and timely Kerry goal but picked up on the week’s trend of hitting it straight at the keeper – this time the replacement No 1 Eamon McGrath, who started instead of his Claregalway club mate Conor Flaherty. Galway were momentarily into an interesting place.

It took no more than a couple of swings of David Clifford’s left boot to break things open, though. This lad has the capacity to bend games to his will like few that have come before. In as many minutes, he launched a pair of long range two-pointers – the second up with a Sean O’Shea screen – and five minutes later, he was lurking with menace when keeper McGrath got too far underneath a long-range bomb from Dylan Casey. Goal, and 1-4 in five key minutes for the footballer of the year. He finished with 1-6 and despite Galway’s surging comeback Kerry still had a moment at the death to snatch the two points, but Currow debutant Cathal Brosnan hooked the chance wide. 

Honours even.

Scorers for Kerry: D Clifford (1-6, 2 2pt), K Evans (1-2), C Trant (0-3), M Burns (0-2), D Casey (0-2 each), T Brosnan, J O’Connor (0-1 each) Scorers for Galway: M Tierney (1-4, 1 2tpf), S McGrath (0-05, 2 2pt), C Hernon, J Maher ()1-0), O McDonagh (0-2, tp), F O Laoi, D O’Flaherty, D McHugh (0-01 each) 

KERRY: S Murphy; E Looney, J Foley, D Casey; A Heinrich, T Morley, G O’Sullivan; J O’Connor, L Smith; C Trant, S O’Shea, M Burns; T Brosnan, D Clifford, K Evans.

Subs for Kerry: E Healy for G O’Sullivan (51), M O’Shea for Smith (53), D O’Sullivan for Burns (55), C Brosnan for T Brosnan (62), P Murphy for Foley (64) 

GALWAY: E McGrath; J McGrath, R Roche, J Glynn; B Cogger, C Hernon, S Kelly; K Molloy, M Tierney; S McGrath, C Mulhern, J Maher; F McDonagh, R Finnerty, O Mac Donnacha.

Subs for Galway: F O Laoi for Cogger (27); D O’Flaherty for Mulhern (41); C Power for Roche (44); D McHugh for Molloy (46), L O’Conghaile for McDonagh (61).

Referee: P Faloon (Down)