Fintan O’Toole, Maynooth

THE forbidding grey skies above Austin Stack Park seemed apt on nearing the end of the All-Ireland SFC qualifier on Saturday July 19th last summer. The action on the pitch was generating plenty of anguish and grief for the football locals as Kerry’s football world was threatening to cave in. Sligo had journeyed to Tralee to produce a brave and heroic performance, and with four minutes left were a handed a golden chance to secure an improbable victory.
Wing-back Jonathan Davey knifed straight through the heart of the Kerry defence before being felled near goal and it was left to Sligo corner-forward David Kelly to bear the responsibility of taking the penalty. But his run-up was too short and his kick was too high, allowing Kerry's Diarmuid Murphy to dive to his right and palm away. From there Kerry held out and Sligo were left with the classic underdog scenario, a moral victory and a shower of condescending plaudits. It was the seminal moment of the championship. Kerry overcame a summer of turbulence to kick for home after that and lift Sam in September, with Murphy widely hailed as the instigator of their revival with that penalty save.
Nobody thought too much about David Kelly after that. Indeed it was not until a couple weeks back when Kelly publicly revisited the hellish memories of that miss. His summation was that it was a bad penalty rather than a good save. But he declared that he was willing to take penalties again and that he was focusing on the future rather than wistfully gazing behind him.
It’s the smart move and this weekend Kelly gets the chance to share in some good times. He’ll be corner-forward on the DCU team that line out against NUI Maynooth in this afternoon’s Sigerson Cup semi-final and is part of a squad that are strongly tipped to depart with the ultimate honours in tomorrow’s final. Kelly’s not just a peripheral figure in DCU’s galaxy of stars and is offering a salient reminder of late of his abilities as a lethal corner-forward. With Cavan’s Seanie Johnston sidelined with a damaged shoulder and Roscommon’s Donal Shine suspended, it was Kelly who notably stepped up to the plate against Cork IT in last week’s quarter-final.
He popped over four points in a tight game, and coupled with the input of Dublin’s Peadar Andrews, propelled his side into the last four. Kelly is a diminutive presence but what he lacks for in size, he compensates with a brilliant eye for a score, a quick turn of feet and an intelligent mind.
Of course there have been signals before of the Tubbercurry man’s abilities. Marc Ó’Sé will be willing to testify to that. The An Ghaeltacht defender is a celebrated man-marker but at half-time in last July’s qualifier clash he was whipped off after failing to cope with Kelly’s bag of tricks. That shining play by Kelly was largely overlooked come the finish as the focus was training on his late miss from the spot. This weekend he’ll look to turn the Sigerson spotlight on his forward prowess.