I was in Parnell Park. They were taking cask at the turnstiles. There were empty seats in the stand. That surprised me.
It was a grand game played in a very good spirit. The only ugly tackle was a nasty elbow by Galvin. Kerry played with great heart and determination. Over the 70 minutes thay probably had 60% of the play. The finishing was poor............... at least 2-8 went abegging.
The major plus from this game is that Padraig Reidy is here to stay. He looked totally at ease and is class....... great anticipation and first to the ball. Bohane will make it too in my opinion. He did enough to show that.
Gooch was simply unplayable. His foot passing was perfectiion and was responsible for about 1-6.
Quike played midfield and caught a lot of ball. Not much of a jumper. He seems to wand to offload it straight away. I admired quirke today. Dublin scored 1-1 to draw the game with 5 minutes left. It was set up for dublin. Quirke caught the crucial kickout and swung the initiative.
Scanlan roamed everywhere and is a great linkman.
Sheehan tried hard and his workrate was very good. He missed about 4 scorable frees though....... He wouldnt put your house on him as a freetaker.
All the usuals played well....Tomas, Marc, Aidan, Tom Sull. Galvin played well in the second half.
O'Leary is smallish and I dont think we can have him, Quill and MRF on at the one time. Darren tried hard but he just puts the head down and goes for goal. He is going to end up like Mickey Ned is he keeps it up.
Dublin dont look to be better than last year. The main attacking option they have is to release a player on the burst thru the middle. They need a big number 14. Jayo was their best forward.
With Dara, Donaghy, Declan to come back....... we will take beating.......
Brosnan tried hard but his shooting let him down.
The main things as I say are that........REIDY HAS ARRIVED and BOHANE IS ON HIS WAY!
Mickmack
At the end the players warmed down and then a load of Dublin kids and whatever Kerry kids were there surrounded Gooch for his autograph. He is a superstar.......