Kerry seem keen

T’S almost as if John Egan doesn’t do lost causes. It must be the Ardfert in him. In hurling and football both there’s a never say die spirit about the place.

Five minutes into Sunday’s game and a Kerry move has broken down. A Clare man is in possession of the sliotar near his own end line. In a pre-season fixture such as this you don’t necessarily expect something like what happened next to occur.

John Egan, an elegant skilful corner-forward, did what a gnarly corner-back might be expected to. He took man, ball and all and drove them out over the end line for a Kerry sixty five. Here was Egan making a point about himself about his team. He was here to compete and so were they.

For a good fifty five minutes the Kingdom did just that. Against a Clare team absolutely bristling with potential – twelve of the fifteen which started are All Ireland winners at Under 21 level – Kerry showed themselves to have plenty potential of their own.

Alongside Egan up front young Jordan Conway made a telling contribution. At midfield Paudie O’Connor carried on the form he displayed during Kilmoyley’s run to the Munster intermediate club final. At half-back John Buckley looked well at home in the inter-county game.

Granted the majority of the team were experienced hands like Bryan Murphy or Daniel Collins. Experienced yes but with an age profile that suggests there’s more to come, that hints at a bright future for this team.

There’s room for this Kerry team to grow further still. Unlike other teams who have burned brightly for a time before flaming out – Laois and Carlow spring to mind – this Kerry team have unexplored depths and staying power.

Year on year for the last three or four years they’ve improved on the previous year and at this point in time there’s no reason to doubt 2017 will be any different. Managerial upheaval hasn’t held them back before, why would it this time?

It’s important to note too that in Fintan O’Connor the County Board seem to have found for themselves an ideal candidate to replace Ciarán Carey. There’s only so much you can judge from two early season games, but there’s something about the Kingdom’s approach to the games that’s heartening.

Kerry are up for the games in a major way, see the evidence of John Egan’s monster hit on the Banner defender. Kerry are playing for their manager and, more importantly than that, they’re playing for themselves.

In the wake of a reported