Fitzmaurice: Keegan’s dirty tackle comments ‘way off the mark’

KERRY boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice has refuted claims made by Lee Keegan that the broken jaw and concussion suffered by his Mayo team-mate Evan Regan in last Saturday’s Division 1 league tie in Castlebar was in any way malicious.

Earlier this week, 2016 Footballer of the Year Keegan hit out at “a very bad challenge” by Kerry defender Ronan Shanahan on Regan, who is likely to face surgery and sit out the rest of their league campaign as a result of the injuries suffered.

While wishing Regan a speedy recovery after an injury that “nobody likes to see happening”, Fitzmaurice (right) went on to rebuke Keegan’s suggestions of a dirty tackle, describing them as “way off the mark” as he defended Shanahan.

“They were way off the mark. It wasn’t a dirty tackle at all. It was a genuine attempt to play the ball and I don’t think Lee looked back at the replay of the incident to be honest with the comments he made,” Fitzmaurice said yesterday evening ahead of his side’s clash against Monaghan tomorrow.

“There was absolutely no intent on Ronan Shanahan’s part, I spoke to him and he said the same thing. I knew it from looking at the replay of the incident myself. So no

I don’t agree with Lee and

I refute Lee Keegan’s assertion that there was any malice in Ronan’s tackle.”

Fitzmaurice has overseen back-to-back Allianz League wins for Kerry this season with many of the Kingdom’s four-in-a-row All-Ireland minor-winning brigade on board but a hamstring injury to teenage sensation David Clifford last weekend caused a major stir.

As a result, the prodigious Fossa forward missed IT Tralee’s midweek Sigerson Cup defeat to DIT with some questioning Fitzmaurice’s decision to play Clifford and other college players like Seán O’Shea and Gavin Crowley given their hectic schedule.

“We monitor the lads very closely and player welfare would be top of our lists of concerns always,” Fitzmaurice said.

“All the lads who played Sigerson Cup this week would have worn GPS units from us to monitor their load, so we are on top of where they are at, but unfortunately you do get situations where David tweaked his hamstring last weekend and it was disappointing for everyone.

“With regard to any rift or row that has been reported between IT Tralee and me, there wasn’t one. I dealt with Eamonn Fitzgerald the whole way through it, the same as I deal with Billy Morgan in UCC, the same with John Divilly in UCD, with open lines of communication.”