The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
County Championship gets back underway
COUNTY SFC ROUND 3
Kerins O’Rahillys v Legion
Sunday, July 10 Fitzgerald Stadium, 3.30pm THIS year was always likely to be a tough one for Legion, such was the manner of their defeat to South Kerry in the county final. Regrets? They have more than a few.
The Direen outfit have yet to hit the heights they scaled in 2015 and they’re quickly running out of time to find their stride. That they’ll have James O’Donoghue back for this game will, no doubt, help the Killarney men get closer to that level than they were in their opening two fixtures.
He’s that kind of a player. A talisman who raises the bar for everybody else on the team, a player whose high standards others strive to reach. Legion weren’t a one man team last year don’t get us wrong we’re not suggesting that for a moment, but by the same token without O’Donoghue they wouldn’t be nearly as effective.
Think back to their quarter-final game with Sunday’s opposition for evidence. O’Donoghue ran the show that day and, along with Conor Keane, blitzed the Kerins O’Rahillys’ defence.
It was a day of deep regret to Strand Road. They played some great stuff in attack, but those defensive frailties, the failure or inability to deal with O’Donoghue cost them a place in the county semi-final.
From the evidence of their opening two games O’Rahillys seem to have improved quite a bit from last year – which in itself was an improvement on the year before – as Morgan Nix and Micheál Quirke look to reap a harvest from last year’s County Under 21 triumph for the club.
The Tralee men have been playing an at times scintillating brand of attacking football, as they certainly did against South Kerry in the first round. The constant movement and self-less running of Barry John Keane is central this.
To get the better of Legion they’ll have to replicate that again. If they do and if they manage to contain O’Donoghue – a big if we’ll give you that – then they can triumph.
Verdict: Kerins O’Rahillys