Cute hoorism is very much a Kerry phenomenon and I’m certainly not indulging in it when I say that the pendulum is swinging very much in their favour ahead of the All-Ireland semi-final.
Indeed, given the changes in either panel over the last couple of years, you would say that Kerry’s first 20 trumps Dublin’s first 20, all things being equal, right now.
But when you strip Con O’Callaghan and James McCarthy out of that on the Dublin side, it may be more than they can cope with.
It was never likely to cost them on Saturday, but we saw during the League that the Dublin attack just doesn’t function as well without O’Callaghan.
The performances have improved considerably since the League but the strength in depth of the panel is not anything like it used to be and the loss of a player of that stature cannot be absorbed as easily anymore.
At their peak, Dublin had game-changers to call off the bench. Kerry have that over them now.
James McCarthy, the captain, brings so much strength and stability to the defence and while Sean Bugler slotted in on Saturday, the half-back line wasn’t tested like it will be on Sunday week.
Dessie Farrell said that the two lads are in “a race against time” on Saturday evening they’d certainly be a huge loss if not available, particularly Con.
If it is the case that both are in trouble with their hamstrings, then they’ll do very well to clear them up in the next couple of weeks. They were obviously well off being fit if they didn’t even make the 26 on Saturday.
Dublin will go into the semi-final having not had a serious test since March, when they lost to Monaghan in the League and the bar goes up considerably now.
Saturday’s game panned out exactly as everyone would have imagined beforehand. Cork set up with men behind the ball and caused some problems before running out of puff, with Dublin winning comfortably in the end.
Cork created quite a lot of chances in the first half and frustrated Dublin, who weren’t as slick as they had been in the Leinster final. Even at that, 0-7 wasn’t a good first half return and they were still three points down at half-time. They could barely get a shot off in the second half.
Still, Dessie would certainly have taken an 11-point victory on Saturday morning. They did what needed to be done and they’ve been impressively consistent having hit 25 scores against Wexford, 28 against Meath, 22 against Kildare and now 21 against Cork.
There was a bit of rustiness as you’d expect after a four-week lay-off but they improved as the game progressed.
Reaching a 13th successive semi-final is a remarkable feat, and eight of the previous 12 have been won, all of which is a credit to the level of performance that has been achieved under three different managers.
It was interesting to see Eoghan O’Donnell come off the bench for his debut. He looked comfortable for the few minutes that he was on the field and it’s clearly not a case of him making up the numbers.
Calling someone into the panel when the Championship is well underway can be tricky. The last time it happened was with Diarmuid Connolly in 2019 but the circumstances were different - he was tried and trusted and still one of the top forwards in Dublin. You knew he was going to contribute.
O’Donnell’s call-up was a bolt from the blue. Dessie ran the risk of alienating lads that have been there all year and haven’t been getting a look-in but he obviously looked through his panel and felt that he could add value and enhance their All-Ireland challenge. That being the case, it trumps whatever concerns that may go with it.
It was good to see Davy Byrne back in action too after suffering what might have been a season-ending knee injury earlier in the year.
Here’s hoping that his powers of swift recovery rub off on McCarthy and O’Callaghan.
The medics certainly have a big two weeks ahead of them. Dublin’s All-Ireland chances may well be in their hands.
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