Keane edge is keeping minors sharp

Jason O’Connor got the final thoughts of Peter Keane ahead of what is his third All-Ireland Minor Final as Kerry team manager

THE earliest of the treks a Kerry Minor side has made since 2014 to play an All-Ireland Final but arguably the most significant as the chance to win a historic milestone beckons for the

2018 side with ‘five-in-a-row’ looming in the Kerry public thoughts at large. Peter Keane is quick to dismiss the historical significance associated with Sunday’s lunchtime meeting with Galway however as he patrols the sideline himself for the third straight year.

“There’s no talk by any of the players or us as a management in viewing it that way (five-in-a-row). These players were only 11 or 12 years old in some cases when this (the recent success) all began and all they want is their own medal which is something none of them hold at present,” Keane said, repeating a mantra he has constantly stated throughout his time as Minor boss.

No denying that is a sound view to take at a micro-level but the macro-level will only look at statistics in cold numbers especially with last year’s four-in-a-row possibly being usurped almost instantly. Keane decided to take on another two-year term over the winter period in the wake of the change from U-18 to U-17 as he said the management were still motivated by the desire to be involved with the Kingdom at developmental level.

“I agree there is a kick out of guiding players towards something you want them to achieve and then seeing them pull it off afterwards. Everything we have done this year have involved a different stage to it. Obviously the first night in Thurles when they put on the Kerry jersey for the first time and experience playing in a major stadium and travelling to a game like it. The Munster semi-final in Tralee was another step with the stakes they were playing for and having a large crowd for it.” “Then when you take them to a Munster Final in a new stadium as a curtain raiser for the first time that is new along with it being in front of a bigger crowd. The Roscommon game at Limerick was the first game at All-Ireland level while the Monaghan game was the first in Croke Park with a massive crowd supporting Monaghan to contend with as well,” Keane said of the campaign in general terms.

The drop in age grade made the decision to also have last year’s U-17 side included in the Minor management’s remit a wise one for giving the 2018 setup an idea of what to expect in coping with younger players.

“Whatever about what people might have felt about the profile of that U-17 competition last year we took it very seriously and were very disappointed that group of players didn’t get to experience Croke Park like the others,” Keane said of the side who lost to Roscommon in the U-17 Semi-Final last year.

The Cahersiveen native and Listry clubman is conscious that he is probably repeating himself in getting across some of the messages he wants to state but his general view of the need for any Minor side to make their provincial decider arguably shone through again in 2018.

“The two things making a Munster Final does for a Minor side is give them two extra games and three months more preparation to develop a side as you should be involved until July and if you are lucky enough you might end up in Croke

Park in your All-Ireland Minor quarter-final like we did in 2016. It’s frightening to think you could have none of that if you lose a Munster semi-final and are done for the year,” Keane believes.

No county has suffered as much in that front as Cork as has been well-documented but while Keane agreed the tightness of the Cork game did allow the Minors draw on some experience to cope with Monaghan’s late comeback in the semi-final.

“We were expecting questions to be asked of us by Monaghan in the Semi-Final. Obviously you don’t ever really know if they are going to be answered until you see how it pans out for a finish but what stood out for me is how the lads stood up in that period in the last five minutes of normal time when the Monaghan supporters really got behind their team and there was that sense they could go on and beat us,” Keane said in comparing and contrasting the two tight battles with the Rebels and the Farney county this campaign. The Minor boss feels that three weeks is the ideal time for the periods between games at this level as opposed to some of the longer and shorter gaps encountered in the five games played since April as Galway are the opposition like they were for Keane’s first Minor decider in 2016.

“They play good football like Galway teams traditionally have done and like the side we faced two years ago did as well. We don’t see too many weak spots and obviously there is a desire for a double there with the Minor Hurlers having won their All-Ireland. We played Meath in a challenge match earlier on this year and very impressed by them, the sort of side you marked down as one you could meet again down the line. When Galway beat them it tells you a lot and they have had huge second periods in their games against Clare and Meath winning them by double figures and without Paul Kelly (main danger man) for the Clare game.

Thoughts about the senior vacancy are still far from Keane’s mind as he prepares for what he terms the most important football matter on his mind at present in this upcoming decider.

“This is what a lot of these players dream about when they are three or four years old and start kicking a Football in trying to play in a Kerry jersey and be part of a winning one. We as a management team put in our own work and hope you get the best out of them in bringing them to that point.”