Gaoth Dobhair needed a score and Kevin Cassidy was mad for the ball.
Naoise Ó Baoill raced down the sideline and opened Corofin up. Kevin Cassidy was ready for road.
Eamon McGee had a look and his full forward was out in front of his man, absolutely begging for the ball.
McGee played the perfect pass into Cassidy’s path and Gaoth Dobhair looked in business. But Cassidy uncharacteristically fumbled it and both Kieran Fitzgerald and Dylan McHugh came in hard from behind.
The chance looked gone and the Donegal champions were in for one of those snappy, ruthless Corofin breaks now. But you can’t write Kevin Cassidy off until the ball is 100 mts away from him and McHugh wasn’t going anywhere on Cassidy’s watch.
Just as McHugh looked up to play it out of defence, Cass slapped down on the ball with a flick of the wrists to put a professional basketball player to shame. Somehow it evaded Fitzgerald and McHugh – Cassidy knew what he was doing – it bounced back into his path like it was scared of what would happen if it went anywhere else – and the men of the north west were in control now.
He steadied himself, laced Lundy with a shoulder and Niall Friel was sent through into the open Páirc Sean Mac Diarmada grass. Cassidy was pumped and he was ready to go again in support.
No player in Ireland wants to get their hands on the ball as much as Kevin Cassidy does. If he makes a mistake, he’ll make up for it twice as fast. He’s so driven, aggressive and drawn to the ball that nothing in this world is going to stop him getting it. He’s the ultimate target man.
In the end, Gaoth Dobhair lost by four points but you could make a fair argument for Cassidy being the man-of-the-match. He scored 1-2 off scraps, brought so many of his teammates into the game and always encouraged and drove his teammates on – this was especially notable in the second half when Eamon McGee hit a poor pass in over his head – but Cass applauded the effort and so passionately asked for the same type of idea again.
Having watched both games back this eve it’s fair to say that we are in for a cracking final on Paddy’s day. Two excellent teams who play a great brand of football👏👏
— Kevin Cassidy (@KCASS7) February 18, 2019
He’s had some year at full forward – for every single game of Gaoth Dobhair’s year of years, the 38-year-old has been the main man, winning balls, giving passes and causing wreck.
He’s 38 now, and has previously said that this could be his last hurrah, but GAA Hour Show host Colm Parkinson spoke for every GAA fan in the country when he pleaded with Cass to come back not just for one, but for a few more years.
“I still think Kevin Cassidy is massively underused. His two points were right out of the top drawer, two proper full forward points…genuinely if Kevin Cassidy is thinking of retiring… don’t!”
“In that role, there’s another three or four years for him – easily – he’s a ball of energy, when he get the ball, you’re thinking something is going to happen here…”
“Their game-plan should be get the ball into him – and have Cian Mulligan – who’s a great runner, bursting past him.”
“He’s got so much fire in his belly that if the ball hits the ground, he’s going to win it, he’s going to win his own break…H”
You can listen to this discussion from 45.30, the David Brady criticism from 23.30 and much more from Monday’s GAA Hour Football Show right here.
