THEY MIGHT BE putting in the hard slog in training at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney but according to tireless half-forward Donnchadh Walsh, Croke Park is Kerryโs โhome patch.โ
Walsh was superb in Sundayโs All-Ireland senior football semi-final victory over Tyrone, receiving the man-of-the-match accolade from Sky Sports, as RTร plumped for Johnny Buckley.
It appears that Cromane colossus Walsh is now finally getting the recognition that he deserves and another hard-working display on Sunday was capped with a point against the Red Hands.
Speaking to RTร Radio after the game, Walsh admitted that this one meant a lot to Kerry after big-game defeats against Tyrone in 2003, 2005 and 2008.
It was Kerryโs first championship victory over Tyrone at Croke Park since the 1986 All-Ireland final success.
And for Walsh and his teammates, it was nice to buck the recent trend of defeats against Mickey Harteโs charges at GAA HQ.
โWe knew it was going to be tough against Tyrone, the history is there,โ Walsh said.
โThe GAA has a funny way of replaying history over and over again.
โWe had to make history today โ they were one of the two teams that Kerry (this team) havenโt beaten at Croke Park and now thatโs put to bed but Iโm sure Tyrone people wonโt be letting that to bed.
โWe still havenโt beaten Down in Croke Park. This is a new Tyrone team, this is a new Kerry team. People were bringing up the history of the previous decade โ weโre just absolutely delighted that we won.โ
Kerry will regroup and get back down to business ahead of next monthโs All-Ireland final against Dublin or Mayo.
But for now, Walsh is pleased that the Kingdom have managed to slay an old foe.
โWe knew people would be talking about it (history) but weโre trying to block it out.
โPeople will talk about it now but this is a different team, that Tyrone team is a different team as well.
โA lot of this Tyrone team, we donโt really know much about them but if they won today, youโd be talking about them and theyโd be in an All-Ireland final on merit.
โBut this Kerry team, weโre a new team under Eamonn Fitzmaurice.
โWeโre All-Ireland champs and weโre trying to create our own history.
โItโs hard down in Kerry trying to create your own history because thereโs so much history before you.
โBut we like to back ourselves. We are the champs and we were coming up here to our home patch. Weโre delighted to be in an another All-Ireland final.โ
Walsh set the tone with his incredible work ethic and that graft was replicated all over the pitch by Kerry.
โThere were a few moments in the game where they (Tyrone) rallied โ and we knew they would,โ Walsh added.
โEvery time they turned over a ball, every time we missed a shot, every time they kicked a score they rallied and the crowd love that โ thatโs their oxygen.
โWe tried not give them as much oxygen but itโs still hard enough to take it away.
โPaul Geaney made a massive difference, Johnny Buckley there and James (OโDonoghue) buzzing inside. Midfield did well and we snuffed them out in the end.โ
3 18 from open play with 14 different scorers. Very impressive.
Manus breathnach must have done nothing all day only kick the ball out
Were there any backs playing?