The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
O’Neill: Improvement needed for footballers to beat Monaghan
LADIES ALL-IRELAND SFC QUARTER-FINAL Kerry v Monaghan Saturday, August 20 Birr, Co Offaly at 2.15
TEAM manager Alan O’Neill says the Kerry ladies will have to improve on their Qualifier win over Waterford, but he is quietly optimistic that if that improvement is found then Kerry can advance to an All-Ireland semi-final at the expense of Ulster champions Monaghan.
O’Neill is pleased to announce a clean bill of health among the squad after Kerry’s 3-19 to 3-10 win over Waterford two weeks ago, beyond the “usual bumps and knocks” but he knows his team faces a much tougher test in Birr this weekend, against the reigning Ulster champions. Monaghan, despite a poor National League campaign that saw them finish the campaign in seventh place and barely avoid relegation, have been much improved in the Championship. After a comfortable win over Armagh in the Ulster semi-final they claimed the provincial crown with a harder fought win over Cavan. O’Neill appreciates that the Ulster championship - much as in the men’s game - is the most competitive of the four provincial competitions and Monaghan, therefore, command respect despite their poor NFL result. Indeed, Kerry enjoyed a 1-14 to 0-6 win over the Farney county in the spring, but O’Neill knows only too well that League football and Championship are two completely different entities.
“Championship is a different ball game, it’s as simple as that, so we know what we’re up against on Saturday. Cavan are still in the championship, Donegal gave a very good account of themselves against Dublin. It’s a very tough province to come out of. Monaghan still have a very strong core or experienced players, and since the League they’ve really improved,” the Kerry manager said.
After a round-robin Munster Championship that saw Kerry beat Waterford and then Cork, only to lose to Cork in the provincial final, Kerry had to face the Deise women a second time also in their Qualifier match. In the end Kerry had nine points to spare over Waterford - two better than their Munster Championship win in Brosna - but O’Neill says his team have much to improve on from that performance.
“We were actually very wary of them second time around. They had two goals to spare over a decent Armagh team, but we knew if we performed to out potential we should have the measure of them. The first game after a defeat [Munster final] is a tricky fixture, and my main concern coming away from that win was that we conceded 3-10. That’s a big number. We actually started poorly enough too, giving them a very early goal, but the main focus has been to shore up the defence and keep that number down the next day,” O’Neill says.
A couple of pleasing aspects for O’Neill - aside from the injury-free buildup - is that Emma Sherwood and Denise Hallissey made their return from injury with solid games against Waterford, which O’Neill says will stand them in good stead for Monaghan.
The other is that Sarah Houlihan’s scoring exploits continued with a nine- point haul against Waterford in Birr, with seven from play, something that pleased O’Neill, even if he rued a couple of missed goal chances in that game.
Kerry will again look to seasoned Championship campaigners like Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh and Bernie Breen for leadership and scores, while O’Neill name checked Cora Courtney, Grainne McNally and Ciara and Aoife McAnespie as Monaghan players that Kerry need to be wary of.
Saturday’s venue, Birr, is a familiar ground for Kerry, and while O’Neill has no issue with the facility or the standard of the pitch, he’s a little put out by the 2.15 starting time, which means Kerry will have to be on the road at about 8am.
And the manager’s expectation about the result?
“Any day we get a performance out of ourselves we know we’ve a super chance of winning any game. But this is a big step up on the Waterford game. They’re up from Division Three this year, Monaghan are a seasoned Division One team and are Ulster champions. We have to get a performance. If we do I’d say we’ve a good chance of winning.”