At 3:25pm today, here on Balls and on TG4, you can watch an all-time classic game: Dublin vs Kerry in the 2013 All-Ireland semi-final.
On the sidelines were two men both in their first years as senior team managers: Jim Gavin for Dublin and Eamonn Fitzmaurice for Kerry. Neither team had reached the All-Ireland final a year previous and a change of management followed.
Looking for their second title of the decade, Dublin had not yet developed the efficiency and total killer instinct which would win them so many All-Irelands in the six years which followed.
Kerry had moved Colm Cooper to centre-forward, a brilliant move by Fitzmaurice which allowed Gooch to display unrivalled vision and sensational passing skills.
The mix produced a game full of artistry and drama.
The two teams lined out as follows:
Dublin: S Cluxton; K O’Brien, R O’Carroll, J Cooper; J McCarthy, G Brennan, J McCaffrey; MD Macauley, C O’Sullivan; P Flynn, C Kilkenny, D Connolly; P Mannion, P Andrews, B Brogan.
Kerry: B Kealy; M O Se, M Griffin, S Enright; T O Se, P Crowley, F Fitzgerald; A Maher, J Buckley; P Galvin, C Cooper, D Walsh; Darran O’Sullivan, Declan O’Sullivan, J O’Donoghue.
Picture credit: Paul Mohan / SPORTSFILE
