MAN OF THE HOUR: PAUL WALSH IS NAMED THE MINOR FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR
Marc O’Connor plays key role in Dingle win
KERRY’S 2015 All-Ireland winning minor team captain, Marc O’Connor, made an unexpected appearance for Dingle in their county SFC quarter-final win over Austin Stacks, and the Geelong Cats AFL player is expected to stay around for Dingle’s semi-final against East Kerry the weekend after next.
O’Connor had trained with Dingle last week after arriving home to Kerry after finishing the Australian Football League season with Geelong, but his inclusion in the starting team in Austin Stack Park on Saturday came as a surprise to many.
O’Connor wore no.18 but was deployed in a sweeper role where he essentially cut off the supply of ball into Kieran Donaghy.
O’Connor played very well in the first half, helping to keep Donaghy scoreless, but his involvement ended early when he was black-carded in the 46th minute for an off the ball body check. Nevertheless, the 21-year old will be tasked with another big defensive role when Dingle face East Kerry in the semi-final.
O’Connor will probably be asked to perform another sweeper role, this time against another All-Ireland winning minor team captain in David Clifford.
The semi-final will be a repeat of the Round Two match between the team, which East Kerry by 6-16 to 2-10.
The other semi-final is also a repeat fixture, with defending champions Dr Crokes taking on Kerins O’Rahillys, after their respective quarter-final wins over Legion and St Brendans.
The clubs have already met in the Championship with O’Rahillys causing an upset when they overturned a nine-point deficit to beat Crokes in Round Two.
The semi-finals go ahead the weekend after next with dates, venues and times to be confirmed by the CCC.
Meanwhile, next Monday night the proposed new Kerry senior football management team will put to club delegates for ratification.
It remains unclear whether or not Maurice Fitzgerald has accepted the position to succeed Eamonn Fitzmaurice, though sources close to the St Marys man suggest he will be the next manager. Peter Keane and Jack O’Connor remain viable candidates in the race.