'Kerry haven't been winning these type of games': Jack O'Connor impressed as Kingdom show championship credentials
Jack O'Connor reflects on Kerry's 1-12 to 0-14 victory over Mayo in the Allianz Football League; Kerry are top of the table after five games, and are using the springtime campaign to shore up their deficiencies ahead of a championship assault
Monday 14 March 2022 17:42, UK
"Kerry haven't been winning these type of games."
Jack O'Connor's reflection after he watched his team edge Mayo in a hard-fought contest on Saturday night speaks volumes.
The Kingdom are on-course for a third consecutive National League crown. Eye-catching wins are nothing new for this side. But where they have tripped up in recent years is when games go down to the wire. Scars of recent championship defeats to Cork and Tyrone remain. And they will not heal until Sam Maguire returns to the south-west.
In that context, Saturday's win was as pleasing a result as O'Connor could have hoped for. His charges were pushed to the pin of their collar by one of the frontrunners for the All-Ireland, and found the answers to get over the line.
"This was the kind of game we were hoping we'd win," O'Connor noted at full-time.
"A game in which our backs were to the wall, fellas are tested as Kerry haven't been winning these type of games.
"A one-point win against a gale of wind, with the momentum all with Mayo in the last 10 minutes, you'd have to be very happy.
"[I'm] delighted with the spirit and togetherness of the team. The tackling there was heartwarming near the end."
The league is no experiment for O'Connor
Jack O'Connor knows how to prepare a team in the springtime for the championship.
On three previous occasions, he has led Kerry to a National League titles. And in each of those three years, 2004, 2006 and 2009, an All-Ireland title followed.
Saturday's victory, along with Sunday's sequence of results, means that the Munster champions are virtually assured of their league final spot with two games remaining.
But O'Connor played down their National League ambitions.
"We are just putting emphasis on winning a few matches," he said.
"Mayo have a fantastic record down here. I think I was involved the last time we beat Mayo (in the league) down here in 2009, that is 13 years ago. We knew tonight was going to be touch and go.
"We are obviously down a few bodies with the likes of Seanie [O'Shea] and Paul Geaney and a few like that. We are trying to work on a set-up where an individual drops out it is noticed really the way we play. That was pleasing.
"We wanted the league to test out a few things, play against different systems.
"This was a very different test to the games we have played against Donegal and Monaghan. This was very different. There was fierce pace in this game for the month of March and Mayo gave us bagfuls there.
"It was great to be able to stand up to that. We haven't a huge amount of training done. Just bits and pieces. Great that the lads have the resilience to stand up to that."
Kerry haven't been winning these type of games.
A new-found steeliness?
The failings of this Kerry team in recent years have been around a soft centre. With all their riches up front, defensive frailties and getting overrun in the engine room have cost them.
But so far this league campaign, they have not conceded a goal from open play. Conor McManus' consolation penalty two weeks ago is the only time they have yielded a green flag.
It was clearly an aim of theirs to tighten up from the back. Mark Keane's late goal in the 2020 Munster semi-final, and Tyrone's three strikes last August made that much clear.
The addition of Paddy Tally to the backroom team has seemingly proven a wise choice,
Meanwhile, midfield remains a work in progress.
"In the first half we struggled, I thought we did well in the second half," O'Connor said when asked about the performances of Diarmuid O'Connor and Jack Barry.
"We did very well in the second half, particularly under breaks. We were facing a stiff wind there in the second half and Mayo did a full court press on our kick-out. I thought we handled it pretty well.
"Bit disappointed with the first half, a few went astray. At one stage we'd only won four out of nine or five out of nine of our own kick-outs. We'd want to be improving on that."
Ultimately, it's another two points and Kerry march on as they build up to their Munster Championship opener against Cork.
Unlike the nine other new inter-county managers for the 2022 season, O'Connor is not using this league to experiment. He knows this is a team ready to win. They just need the final few per cent. And it looks like they are finding it ahead of the summer.
