Páidí Ó'Sé has insisted that yesterday's mauling by Meath at Croke Park was not his worst experience in charge of Kerry. He believes that their narrow 1-9 to 0-12 defeat against Kildare in the 1998 All Ireland semi final was more disappointing because they had come so close. "Last time I was in here after losing a game was in 1998 and that was to the bold Micko. That was a fairly difficult one, much more difficult than today. Today was simple, lads, we were beaten in every sector of the field, outclassed everywhere. You made this journey very easy for me today. What can we say? We were beaten," said Ó'Sé.
His term as Kerry manager came to an end yesterday, but it is expected that Ó'Sé will not want to bow out on such a low note with the worst result since he took over in October 1995. It has been a successful period, with Kerry winning five of the last six Munster championships, two All-Ireland titles and a national league title.
Meath were sympathetic to Kerry's heaviest championship defeat since 1990, and their worst All-Ireland series defeat since 1912, with manager Seán Boylan simply saying: "Things like that happen in football sometimes." Ollie Murphy sensed that Kerry knew that it was not going to be their day. "They knew themselves. You could see it in their eyes. They were just going through the motions. It was like a training match for a long, long time out there in the second-half. Just one of those days. The expectation was so great for both teams and, unfortunately for Kerry, they just fell asunder," said Murphy.
Filed by Greg McKevitt
