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BASKETBALL

KIERAN DONAGHY’s Tralee coach Mark Bernsen has hit out at the Super League’s start which clashes with this weekend’s All-Ireland football final.

The American could have been without the star forward on court as the basketball season gets under way had the Kingdom made it to Croke Park.

“We’re starting (the league) a week earlier, and I’m not privileged as to why. That’s always difficult with us in Kerry because of the football. We always tend to have a player or two from Micheál Quirke to Donaghy,” he said.

“It just makes the first game a little bit rough around the edges and makes it a little hard for us to shake the rust off.”

Donaghy has returned to training with Bernsen’s charges since the Kingdom’s semi-final defeat to Mayo – during which the Austin Stacks clubman was red-carded for his strike on Aidan O’Shea. Bernsen, however, cast doubt over Donaghy’s involvement in any case as his wife is pregnant.

“If he’s having a baby that night, I’m sure he’ll be in the hospital with her. It’s any day now,” he said.

“There are other duties asides basketball sometimes and I might not understand that being an old man and being where I am in life but people do have other things to worry about obviously.”

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors and Donaghy get their season under way against UCC Demons in the Mardyke arena tomorrow night – where they also opened their season last year. “I hope it’s not a case of (deja vu) It wasn’t a good result (last year). Again, I was surprised that it was scheduled that way,” added Bernsen.