Mayo will test the Kingdom's defensive fallibility

Gooch Cooper says O’Connor has tightened things up at the back

by John Melvin

SINCE Dublin have moved stage left – for the moment at least – the focus now seems to have switched significantly to Kerry as All-Ireland champions elect.

The Kingdom are also still in with a chance of a league and championship double as things stand.

That may change after Mayo’s visit to Tralee tonight (7.30 p.m., live on RTE 2), where the outcome will certainly have a major bearing on the destination of the league with just three games now remaining.

The return of Jack O’Connor to the helm has also increased the shares in Kerry football for 2022 and that will suit Mayo very much because the other team that is being talked up by many pundits is, yes, the reigning Connaught champions and last year’s All-Ireland beaten finalists. Mayo are back for more.

The big difference with Kerry football this year, according to Colm 'Gooch' Cooper, is the work that O’Connor has done on the defence, an area that had come in for a lot of criticism in recent years and last year in particular when they crashed to Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi-final.

"One of the biggest compliments I can pay to Kerry’s football since Jack O’Connor has returned is that they are now defending as a team. Up to this they were defending as individuals but O’Connor seems to have worked on that and they have the lowest score conceded in the league so far, 1-46," said the Kerry legend on The Sunday Game

Cooper believes Kerry have worked hard on their defensive set-up, with more man-marking by a number of players, and this approach, particularly against Monaghan, forced a number of turnovers.

Two of those turnovers led to goals and we saw the Kerry forward division in lethal form, the Clifford brothers and Sean O’Shea exacting full retribution for a number of unforced errors.

But it must be noted that Monaghan contributed to their own downfall, with goalkeeper Rory Beggan caught out for two of those goals as he strayed from home once or twice too often.

The emergence in recent years of the fly 'keeper or roving goalkeeper was another major topic for discussion on The Sunday Game and Noelle Tierney, who has brought not just a bit of beauty to the panel but a lot of knowledge too, believes teams, notably Tyrone, Armagh and Monaghan, seem to think it is a risk worth taking, but in the case of Beggan it backfired against Kerry.

Cooper too thinks the roving ‘keeper it is here to stay. "Managers will look for an edge, any percentage that will give them an advantage, and the sweeper 'keeper or roving 'keeper is here to stay. It can be risky but it is exciting to watch," he said.

TEST

It is not an area Mayo have so far ventured into, but you would have to be happy with Mayo’s defensive performance against Armagh.

However, just how much that Kerry defence has improved will be put to the test by Mayo’s forwards, an area which seems to be developing well as they turned up the heat to burn off Armagh into that blistering last 10 minutes which yielded five unanswered points.

While James Horan was not jumping for joy at his post-match press meeting after their win in Hyde Park, he was more than happy with a number of individual performances and believes many of the new players are going in the right direction, although the bench players turned that game for Mayo.

You sense Horan is in experimental mode and that will continue on Saturday night and through the rest of the league as he plans a serious shot at the championship.

Mayo have been gathering momentum since that opening drawn game against Donegal followed by wins over Monaghan, Dublin and, more recently, Armagh.

Certainly players are coming into form, none more so than Diarmuid O’Connor who has had a good league to date.

Aiden Orme continues to improve in that forward division, while Ryan O’Donoghue is turning in some big games and is now a reliable free-taker, while Jordan Flynn was another who caught the eye and looks to be heading in the right direction.

Mayo had the bench to get them over the line against Armagh and those who feel Aidan O’Shea is a declining force will have to have a serious rethink as his contribution has been significant in all the games he has been drafted into in the league.

A head injury forced Frank Irwin out at an early stage against Armagh but I suspect we will see the Ballina man get another chance, and then there is Kilmaine’s Jack Carney, who looks the real deal and was very much involved when brought in the last day.

It should be a cracking game on tonight but Kerry in their own lair of Tralee will be very difficult to beat.

Yet I have feeling James Horan will not be too perturbed should they lose this game. There are bigger fish to fry as the summer beckons.