Clifford continues to show form as Kerry secure status

NFL DIVISION 1, ROUND 7 Tyrone v Kerry Sunday, March 25 Healy Park, Omagh Throw-in at 3pm Referee: Maurice Deegan (Laois)

SELDOM, if ever, has so little – or nothing – hinged on a meeting between Kerry and Tyrone, at least in modern times or under Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s management. Not, of course, that the Kerry boss will say Sunday’s trip counts for nothing. Both counties may be safe and have nothing to play for in terms of their final Division One status, save for where exactly they finish between third and sixth place. In the greater scheme of things, and despite the healthy rivalry between the two counties, no one is going to be jumping up and down with delight in Healy Park just because they end this campaign in a higher position on the table than the other.

But if this Round 7 fixture, which could have carried far more weight but for Kerry’s and Tyrone’s important wins last weekend, doesn’t have the pressure of either team needing to win, Fitzmaurice and his counterpart Mickey Harte will certainly be using the match to see their players in one last competitive fixture before they go into hiding in preparation for their respective provincial championships.

They mightn’t need to or want to knock lumps off each other on this occasion but we can be fairly sure that both managements will want their players to test themselves against the other and get the most out the game before club championships and block training takes over between here and early June (or May 20 in Tyrone’s case).

Even ahead of knowing what exactly Kerry might have needed to do against Tyrone, Fitzmaurice speaking on Saturday night, was already looking to this last League game and what he and his players could take from it.

“Next weekend is going to be a big game either way. It’s going to be our last competitive game until the second of June so it’s going to be important,” he said. “We always try, if we can, to get a bit of momentum out of the last league game and win it and kind of get yourself going into the Championship in a positive light so...we’ll be looking to go up to Omagh and play well and try and win the game. As usual we’ll look at the squad during the week and see who’s available and we’ll go from there.”

To that end we might expect to see David Moran playing from the start, while Mark Griffin and Johnny Buckley, both of whom came on against Kildare, will surely get more time against Tyrone. Darran O’Sullivan probably would have featured somewhere against the Lilywhites last Saturday but for a small set-back at training last week, but Fitzmaurice is hopeful the Glenbeigh man will be fit for Omagh. Tadhg Morley, too, is taking part in full training and the manager is hopeful the Templenoe defender will feature up North.

Seán O’Shea will not be available as the injury picked up against Dublin will keep him sidelined beyond next weekend, and there will be no League action for Gavin White, Killian Young, Donnchadh Walsh or Anthony Maher, while Gavin Crowley is still rehabbing from a wrist injury and won’t travel to Omagh.

With the pressure of needing a result off, Kerry can afford to try a few personnel and a few tactics, perhaps, that they might not otherwise have been able to, but the assumption is that the management will stick fairly close to what they’ve been doing thus far, with a few obvious tweaks.

That might extend to giving Cormac Coffey another start in the defence, playing Mark Griffin in the half back line, or trying to see if there’s another midfield option for the summer, in light of the news that Anthony Maher’s season is very much in the balance as he looks to clear up a stubborn groin problem.

Up front Killian Spillane and Matthew Flaherty might expect to start, while on the back of last Saturday’s performance - and some praise from the manager – Daithi Casey should expect to lead the attack from centre-forward.

Quite what Tyrone will bring to the match is anyone’s guess. They’ve been as erratic as Kerry have in this campaign, but they dug out a vital and impressive win last week against Mayo that sees them safe in the division. Old stagers Colm Cavanagh, Peter Harte and Mattie Donnelly continue to be the spine of the team, but Lee Brennan and Mark Bradley will punish any sloppiness in the Kerry full back line.

Don’t expect the blood and thunder of Kerry v Tyrone in their pomp, but this game should be instructive nonetheless.