What a kick
May 15, 2006
Long-time Faithful County 'keeper Paraic Kelly had a lot on his mind in mid-September last and while the weekend in question brought mixed fortunes, he did end up being an All-Ireland champion for his troubles!
Paraic won his second successive All-Ireland MBNA Kick-Fada competition at Bray Emmets ground in great style but says his relaxed frame of mind about the event had a lot to do with his win.
"It was a great honour to compete again but, to be honest, in the run up to it, I was focussing more on our county final clash with Rhode which was on the following day.
"I didn't do any specific training for the kick fada and on the morning of the competition I just went to Bray and, after getting there a bit late, did my normal warm-up.
"Luckily I had seven kicks on the day and got seven points which ultimately was good enough to land the title again," the defending champion reflects.
For the second successive year, Paraic proved the most proficient in terms of accuracy and distance.
While each contestant was allowed to kick the ball from the hands, kick the ball from the ground or drop-kick it, Paraic's skill from the placed ball worked the oracle again
In company with each of the other contestants, Paraic was obliged to shoot from various distances and angles, beginning from 35 metres out from goal; then 45 metres, 55 metres, 60 metres and finally 63 metres towards a target twice the size of a regulation GAA goal.
Against such Gaelic football luminaries as Mattie Forde (Wexford), Fintan Rooney (Mayo), Mark Vaughan (Dublin) and the 2004 runner-up Joe Sheridan (Meath) were among Paraic's rivals on the day but came up short in trying to rest the crown from the Offaly man's head.
Did he know beforehand who he was going to be competing against?
"No but I had a fair idea that a couple of the same lads from previous years would be competing," says Paraic who starred in front of the 1,000-strong crowd.
"I thought Mark Herbert, who won it every year it started up until I won it last year, would be in the frame but he was injured and didn't take part."
Did the absence of the original kick fada champion take a wee bit of the gloss off his achievement?
"I don't think so because you can only beat the opponents that are up against you on any particular day.
"Mark has been a great champion nad it was a pity he couldn't compete this year but it would have been different if I hadn't beat him in 2004 but I did."
Most of the contestants, like Paraic, opted to take their shots off the ground but none of them could - from the three attempts allowed - match Paraic's achievement in rifling the ball over the bar from 63 metres," says Paraic whose brother Seamus also played in goal for Offaly and who also boasted a powerful drive of the ball.
"I was last to go in trying to score from 63 metres so I might have had a wee bit more incentive once the other four or five missed out," says the long-time Offaly netminder.
"My first kick from 35 metres dropped short of the goal after kicking the ball out of my hands but that was probably the wake up call I needed.
"I had arrived a bit late at the Emmets' ground and I hadn't warmed up or prepared properly before my first kick and it showed," explained the eventual champion.
Interestingly Paraic's winning punt fell well short of his 72 metres personal best, one metre short of record holder Mark Herbert's (Kildare) top score.
Paraic explains that he gave up on beating his record after slipping the first time and then falling short of the 73 metre target.
"I had won the competition so I wasn't that bothered really about the record. After making a mess of the first two tries, I decided not to tempt fate with the county final on.
"I was hoping that I could make it a weekend of double celebration by winning a county medal the following day."
As things panned out, Paraic and his clubmates fell short of making the mark in the Offaly SFC final, conceding two crucial goals at the beginning and end of the game.
So how does a body acquire the skills necessary to conquer Ireland in kick fada competition?
"Plenty of bacon and cabbage or steak and onions," quips Paraic, thirteen years a county senior footballer.
"Seriously, there's no great preparation that you can do because you really either have the ability to kick a ball a long distance, with accuracy, or you haven't.
"I've always had a long kick of the ball, maybe since minor age. Maybe it's something in the genes, in your make-up.
"Having said that, you still need to have the right technique and have the necessary physical power to be able to kick the ball the required distance.
"To kick 45s consistently over the bar, you really need to be able to kick the ball a minimum of fifty metres," Paraic opines.
Not that the successor to Ken Furlong as the holder of the Offaly number one jersey reckons he knows the secret of perennial success from free-kicks.
He recalls the misery of missing a last minute effort from around the 50 metre mark for Offaly in the 1999 Leinster SFC semi-final against Kildare at Croke Park.
"Ciaran McManus would normally have taken those kicks but he was suspended.
"It was a desperate feeling, missing it, but I would have taken one the next day if I was asked to step up to the mark again."
Will he step up to the mark again in the MBNA kick fada competition?
"Absolutely. Even without the incentive of going for a hat-trick of wins, I'd be interested.
"It's a great honour to have won it and I'll definitely be competing again next year, all going well."
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