Former Tyrone footballer Joe McMahon was on Wednesday’s OTB AM and tipped Dublin to become the first team to complete the ‘Drive for Five’.
While the two-time All-Ireland winner complimented the quality of Kerry’s young guns he felt that taking the Dubs head-on would end in tears for the Munster champions.
“I think [Dublin] could seriously punish them. Kerry are a proud county. They’re a footballing county. They may feel they can go out and match Dublin man to man.
“That could be a dangerous ploy because as I’ve mentioned that one-on-one situation. Those fellas have the power and the pace, the sidestep and the dummy to go past.
“It’s more often than not that the cavalry arrives coming in behind that with McCarthy and Fenton. It could be a case of the floodgates opening,” McMahon said.
While Kerry overcame Tyrone in the semi-final, McMahon felt that his native county found a weakness in the Kerry defence that Dublin would be more than happy to target.
“I think Dublin will be looking at the ball inside and the space [Kerry] have been leaving.
“Kerry were quite naive and Tyrone were also quite naive in their inability to kick in so many balls when it was on. For me, that’s something Dublin will be looking at and trying to exploit,” McMahon commented.
Tyrone managed to put the Dubs under serious pressure in the opening 20 minutes in last year’s final before Dublin retained control.
The Omagh man felt that Kerry would have to maintain those high standards for the full 70 minutes if they hope to beat Jim Gavin’s men.
“I mean, there’s a lot of fires to put out there. You need to be at the top of your game.
“The skill level needs to be so high… I think teams need to have the confidence and the belief to take them on,” McMahon said.
Kerry take on Dublin on Sunday, September 1st in Croke Park at 3.30pm in what is set to become a historic day.
The Dubs haven’t lost a championship game since 2014 and will become the first side to win five All-Ireland’s in-a-row should they triumph over the Kingdom.
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