THIS night last week Kerry supporters squelched their way out of Fitzgerald Stadium soaked but happy after the defeat of Cork in the Munster final replay. But, for trivia fans, here are five facts from the big game that not everybody might have been aware of:
FACT 1: The rain might have come down in large buckets but, weather wise, last Saturday’s clash was still not a patch – not even a wet patch – on the 2008 Kerry v Galway All-Ireland quarter-final.
Kerry managed to splash their way to a 1-21 to 1-16 win that day but it was memorable for all the wrong reasons as a torrential downpour, complete with ferocious claps of thunder and bright blue bolts of forked lightning, forced Croke Park bosses to switch on the floodlights for the first time in a championship match at HQ and it sent fans of both sides diving for shelter.
FACT 2: When accordion maestro Liam O’Connor took to the field to entertain the crowd of over 30,000 people before the throw-in last Saturday, it wasn’t the first time the brilliant musician took centre stage on big match day.
He has also played on the hallowed Croke Park turf and, in a further link with the great game, he joined forces with the legendary Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh in 2006 to release a new GAA anthem, Morning Dew.
Liam, of course, hails from across the county bounds but he has been living in Killarney for so long now, surely he was cheering on the green and gold. Ah, surely he was.
FACT 3: The man in charge of the public address system in Fitzgerald Stadium for the Kerry v Cork replay was progressive Dr Crokes chairman Denis Coleman. And quite a good job he did too, keeping up with the action and the changes as the game progressed at a frenetic pace.
A national school principal in Tralee who grew up a stone’s throw from the stadium, former goalkeeper Denis was carrying on a great Crokes tradition as another club stalwart, Brendan Keogh snr, from St Margaret’s Road, was the top class PA announcer in “The Park” for many years.
FACT 4: HERE’S one that might come in handy for sports table quizzes in years to come. What Dr Crokes clubman was wearing the number 13 on the field of play during last Saturday’s exciting replay?
Dingle’s Paul Geaney was in the green and gold 13 jersey but keeping a close eye on the action from the sideline was a familiar cameraman wearing the official No. 13 bib allocated by the Munster Council. It was, of course, none other than former black and amber underage star Eamonn Keogh whose progress as a footballer was curtailed when his head was turned by the glamour and razzmatazz of the great American game of basketball. And he has an All-Ireland medal to show for it.
FACT 5: Is 15 Kerry’s lucky number? Goals apart, the green and gold’s tally of points in Munster Championship clashes with the old rivals has amounted to 15 on several occasions in recent years.
In the 2000 semi final, we beat Cork 2-15 to 1-13. At the same stage in 2004 the scoreline read 0-15 to 0-7 and in the 2007 Munster final it ended up 1-15 to 1-13.
In the drawn semi-final of 2010 the sides both finished on 0-15 and the following year Kerry won the provincial decider 1-15 to 1-12.
It should have come as no great surprise then when this year’s drawn final saw Kerry end up with 2-15 on the scoreboard and, quite incredibly, Paul Geaney’s crucial goal in last Saturday’s replay hit the net 15 minutes into the second half.
And given the year that’s in it, perhaps it’s time to attach the green and gold ribbons to the handles of Sam. Now, anyone prepared to offer odds of 15/1 on a tenner?
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