DOWN 1-16 KILDARE 1-14
BEFORE they went to work Dermot Earley shook Daryl Flynn’s hand on the sideline. It was time. Only on this occasion Flynn would have to lead from the front. The chief would not be with him this afternoon.
Earley’s look said it all - he had complete faith in the man entrusted to parole the crucial midfield area in his absence. Little did he know that just half an hour later his trusted understudy would be alongside him in the dugout, less able for action than his own injury-ravaged body.
Flynn had begun well, a tank to run over Down in the middle as his partner Hugh Lynch stood aside and waited in the wings to deliver lethal blows. After 30 minutes Flynn could steamroll no more, he was concussed and unfit to continue - Kildare would not only have to win a match but overcome a five point deficit armed with a second choice midfield.
Kildare needed a magic potion but all they got were cruel twists of fate. Despite their character and fighting spirit, there could be no healing in defeat.
From a long way out the omens were not good and yet Kildare fought back the evil spirits that conspired against them, desperately trying to banish Down’s genie back into it’s lamp. And just when they thought this strange semi-final disappeared, Rob Kelly struck a phenomenal shot off the cross bar in the game’s last act - a Down hand making the slightest but most vital of touches to deny Kelly a match winning score.
Kildare came and saw but they never surrendered. And when they look back on the performance they’ll know that it wasn’t good enough to conquer.
Down played with all the ease in the world even though it was never easy for them. They didn’t overwhelm Kildare in the first half but when they had their period of dominance they made the most of it. Even when they weren’t on top they made the most of things.
There is no need to debate Benny Coulter’s 13th minute goal at this stage. It shouldn’t have stood, he was clearly in the square, and what’s more the umpires had no excuse for getting it wrong.
The debate is whether Down would have taken control without that precious boost. The way they
played in the latter stages of the first half you’d find it hard to argue that Kildare were their equal - for every rushed wide and spurned pass, Down seemed to respond with unerring shots and poise in possession.
They looked the real deal but if it wasn’t enough that Kildare were already deflated in midfield, they were handicapped by an illegitimate goal and subdued by an Alan Smith point that was waved wide. These things have more impact on a team than the simple mathematics of the scoreboard.
Now we’ll never know. When Down ended the first half five points in front - the final score an artistic vision from Benny Coulter on the right wing when he pounced for a point in the tightest of spaces - it changed the nature of the contest.
Kildare had overcome worries about their poor starts by taking a 0-3 to 0-1 lead after 10 minutes. Now they had a new problem. They were starting the second half five points in arrears.
Once Down got a foothold in midfield, not even the most disciplined of defending from Kildare could halt the menace of the team in black and red. Blazing forward with abandon, their jerseys screamed danger and yet all was not lost at half-time.
Even so, it was hard to picture a way back for the Lilies. Every time they encroached on Down’s lead in the second half, their opponents stymied their progress with a point here and a point there. A Karl Ennis free in the 52nd minute left four between them but then Down rattled off three points in a row.
Eight minutes after the restart Eamonn Callaghan hit the post and the rebound was put wide by Eoghan O’Flaherty. None of this seemed to register with Down, they kept playing their own, graceful way and with four minutes left they held on to a four point advantage, even after Callaghan finally found the net in the 58th minute.
It was a shoot-out to the finish. Down had only erred three times in front of goal during the second half but Kildare were on their way to seven wides in the same period as a shot from Rob Kelly hit the left hand upright before ricocheting wide.
Even that would have meant John Doyle could have tapped over the final free that Kelly had to try and score a goal with. The margins were too tight in this game to endure Down’s brilliance as well as their large slice of fortune.
Kildare had faith, just like Dermot Earley, but when push came to shove they couldn’t survive without him.