Kerry call for Savage

Another O’Rahillys player called into Juniors

KERINS O’Rahillys’ Jack Savage has been called into the Kerry senior football panel ahead of Kerry’s All-Ireland quarter-final in just over two weeks.

Savage put in a star turn for O’Rahillys in their county SFC win over Legion on Sunday, and that performance, along with a consistent run of club form of late has earned the 20-year old a senior call-up by Eamonn Fitzmaurice.

Savage, who was a prominent forward in the Kerry U-21 team this year, which lost out to Cork in the Munster Final in March by a point, was due at Kerry training yesterday evening (Tuesday) after getting an invitation from Fitzmaurice.

It’s reasonable to assume that Savage, who scored five points for O’Rahillys at the weekend, won’t make Kerry’s match-day panel for their All-Ireland quarter-final on the August Bank Holiday weekend, but his call-up is a further indication of the management’s willingness to keep the squad freshened up with young talent.

Meanwhile, Kerry Junior team manager, Stephen Wallace, has also dipped into the talent back at Strand Road and called up John C O’Connor to his squad in advance of the Juniors All-Ireland semi-final against Lancashire in two weeks.

Wallace told The Kerryman that O’Connor was on his radar since before the Munster Final, adding that he “was excellent” against Legion at the weekend, and will be a welcome addition to the squad.

Wallace was in England at the weekend to see the Lancashire beat London in the British Junior Championship final. He will be back there on Saturday week for the semi-final in Manchester, and said the opposition are a very impressive side with several former county minor and U-21 players from several Ulster counties.

“Logistically it’s a tricky tie. There’s a lot of organising, flights, fellas getting off work, all that. We have to concentrate on the football. We have our homework done on them. The day of just flying over knowing nothing is gone,” Wallace said.