Back with a bang
O’Donoghue inspires Legion to victory over Kerins O’Rahillys
KERRY’S Munster and All-Ireland titles defence was handed a timely boost at the weekend after James O’Donoghue came through 30 minutes of football with Legion as his recovery from shoulder surgery nears completion.
O’Donoghue’s last competitive match before the weekend was the All-Ireland final win over Donegal last September, but the current Footballer of the Year showed no ill-effects from his operation and long lay-off as he came on to make a winning contribution for Legion over Kerins O’Rahillys in the Senior Club Championship.
O’Donoghue kicked three points from play and converted a free as Legion snatched a 1-14 to 1-13 win over the Tralee club.
That win sets Legion up for a Round 2 match with Dr Crokes who demolished St Michaels/Foilmore by 6-22 to 0-3 (37 points) in their first round match.
Colm Cooper made another appearance with his club, scoring three points, as did Tommy Walsh in O’Rahillys’ loss to Legion.
There was positive news, too, regarding Aidan O’Mahony who played for Rathmore at the weekend, despite injuring his ankle at Kerry training last week. There was initial concern regarding the injury but having played an active part in Rathmore’s win over Milltown/ Castlemaine those concerns have been allayed.
Thirteen matches across Senior, Intermediate, Junior and Novice go ahead this weekend, including the two Senior Club Championship round two matches, and the Intermediate first round replay between Currow and Skellig Rangers.
Meanwhile, the draw for the first round of the Garvey’s Supervalu County Senior Football Championship, which gets underway on the weekend of May 24, will be made on Radio Kerry on this Saturday around 3:05pm.
The changes as a result of the County Championship Review Committee do not come into effect until 2016 so there will be 30 teams – 11 club and nine divisional – in the hat for the first round draw.