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28 August 1997 Edition

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Sportsview: Kerry Kings swagger towards All-Ireland final

The perennially unanswered questions of the inner workings of the GAA - why do substitutes give the referee a piece of paper when they come on the pitch? What does it say on the little white slip? Is there official issue substitute paper?

Now the difficult question, why do Kerry fans never throng Croke Park like the followers of other counties? Is there some mass unconscious force at work that makes them such stay-at-home supporters?

One would think that after 11 years in the All-Ireland wilderness the GAA supporters in the Kingdom would relish the day trip the to capital to throw their voices behind the new batch of young tigers. Not so it seems. Old habits die hard and instead it was the Cavan faithful who filled Croke Park last weekend.

Cavan 1-10, Kerry 1-17


It was nice to see a team in blue at Croke Park again this year. However, with remarkably similar traits to their blue counterparts Dublin, Cavan chose this premier venue to very publicly self destruct.

Cavan were never real contenders in this semi-final. For that they only have themselves to blame. It was evident early on that hand passing out of defence was problematic and gifted the Kerry forwards a lot of scores.

The most telling aspect though was that on the three occasions in the first half that Cavan took the lead Kerry pulled them back with ease.

Swaggering winners



Kerry never looked under pressure. This had as much to do with the attitude of the team as their competence on the field. Kerry swaggered through this match running around and through the Cavan defence with a certain nonchalance as they calmly knocked over scores from all angles.

Chief swaggerer was the tanned Maurice FitzGerald whose contribution of seven points and an excellently made through pass to Michael Russell for Kerry's icing on the cake goal seemed an almost effortless contribution. This team were never at full throttle and this is fairly ominous for whoever faces them on final day.

Offaly to win


Only Offaly stand between Kerry and the reconquest of Sam. If the unthinkable happens and they capitulate to Mayo next week it will be an easy ride for Kerry. Sam Maguire will make his first trip back to Munster since 1990. It would be nice though to see Sam come back to Leinster for a third year, not to mention the possible fiscal rewards for myself having finally backed up big talk with money on the table. All bets will be collected, you have been warned.

Super Celts


Finally the season has begun and Celtic have not only managed to win two games on the trot but lifted themselves off the bottom of the premier league table while qualifying for the first round of EUFA cup.

On Saturday it was the Celtic sons Lars and Jack who provided the two goals that sealed defeat for St Johnstone and three points for Celtic.

This week Celtic recovered from a one goal deficit to FC Tirol to win 7-5 on aggregate. The first leg of this match was 2-1 to Tirol and even though Celtic's Simon Donnelly opened the scoring in the 34th minute Tirol were back in the lead five minutes later. By half time it was 2-2 on the night. Celtic scored again in the 68th and 70th minutes only for Geonot Krinner to score in the 82nd leaving it 4-3 on the night but 5-5 on aggregate with Tirol having three away goals to Celtic's one.

Never fear though as Morton Wieghorst and Craig Burley made it 7-5 overall with last gasp goals in the 88th and 90th minutes. The spirit of Lisbon lives on.

Next week sees the first Old Firm engagement of the season and then maybe we will get a better measure of how things stand for the season. But for now the bhoys are back in town.

BY NEIL FORDE


An Phoblacht
44 Parnell Sq.
Dublin 1
Ireland