Kerry boss Jack O’Connor says he hopes Sunday’s All-Ireland triumph is the “start of something good” after admitting he did not think the county would go eight years without a title.
Galway led Kerry by two points early in the second half but a strong Kingdom finish saw the Munster champions claim a four-point win in a thriller.
“I finished up (a second spell) with the seniors in 2012 and I knew a group needed to come because the great team from ’04 to ’09 had come to an end here 11 years ago,” said O’Connor.
“Stephen Cluxton (the Dublin goalkeeper) had put an end to them (in the 2011 All-Ireland Final) and a new group had to be developed.
“That began in 2014 and we didn’t think it’d take eight years to go the distance. We won one in ’14 but this is the five-in-a-row minors that have come through today. I’m just hoping it’s the start of something good.”
It was Kerry’s 38th All-Ireland Football title but they were made to work for it with Galway, who were searching for a first success since 2001, leading 0-8 to 0-7 at the break after an energetic first-half display.
Shane Walsh, who hit nine points, and Cillian McDaid led the Tribesmen’s challenge against Kerry and O’Connor admitted that his side lacked composure in the first half, which led him to introduce Killian Spillane and Adrian Spillane as half-time substitutes.
“This is was never going to be an easy game,” added O’Connor, who has now managed Kerry to four All-Ireland wins across three spells.
“I’m not sure what the odds were but we never took Galway lightly and I thought Galway played very, very well.
“Maybe the tag of favourites rested heavily on our shoulders, particularly in the first half. I thought we were a bit jiggy and not composed on the ball.
“I think we had seven wides kicked before Galway registered their first wide. They were nailing everything towards Hill 16 and we were wasteful at the other end.
“Generally we were doing OK. We were turning Galway over and doing well on their kick-out but we lacked a bit of composure and just needed to be more clinical – that was the message at half-time.”
With Galway having booked their spot in the final with a convincing win over Derry, Kerry joined the Connacht champions after a riveting semi-final win over Dublin.
Sean O’Shea’s last-gasp free snatched a dramatic win for Kerry and O’Connor feels his players were able to draw on the experience of toppling the Dubs to get them over the line in the showpiece.
“Our fellas showed a lot of mettle in the second half,” said O’Connor, who returned for a third reign after Peter Keane’s departure last year.
“We had the experience of the Dublin game to fall back on. Dublin came back to within two points of us with 20-25 minutes left with the wind behind them and all the momentum, so that probably stood to us in the final 15-20 minutes that we had that to fall back on.”
