The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Minors set for a most stern examination
ON the outside it might appear like any other year with the Kerry minors in a third consecutive All-Ireland Minor semi-final and a fourth in five years.
However, their manager Peter Keane insists that previous success is not being taken as granted by the set-up ahead of their All-Ireland semi-final meeting with Kildare this Sunday.
“This is pretty much a new team that want to write their own bit of history. What happened before counts for nothing at this level and we’re very hopeful that they can give a good account of themselves again this Sunday and give it their best,” he said.
The team received a lot of praise for the nature of the performance in their All-Ireland quarter-final win over Derry, drawing plaudits from no less a figure than a certain Joe Brolly.
Keane says he is playing little attention to what others are saying about their performances and is only focussed on what’s in front of them. Indeed deciding on a match day panel is once again a tough assignment for the Kerry Minor management team.
“Since the Derry game a lot of players have stepped up in terms of staking a claim for a place. We attended all the County Minor Championship games and were impressed with what we saw. I hear it said sometimes at senior level that you can lose momentum when you go back to the club after an inter-county game but I don’t see it that way.
“We’ve the lads for two full weeks before this game so I feel that is adequate enough for us to prepare for a game like this.”
His thoughts on Kildare are much shaped by a challenge game the Kerry Minors had with another Leinster county in Meath earlier in the year.
“Meath really impressed when we played them that time and I had them marked out as contender for later on in the year,” he continued.
“To hear that Kildare had actually beaten them knocked me back a bit but when you look at Kildare’s record at Minor level in recent years it really shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.
“They have won three out of the last four Leinster titles and I’ve head their manager speak about some of the players they have coming through so it appears to be a good underage set-up that they have in the county at the moment.”
With the novelty of some of the panel only experiencing Croke Park for the first time now gone with the win over Derry, Kildare can be treated like any normal game, but Keane speaks highly of the attitude throughout the panel in general.
“They are usually here about an hour before training is due to start getting their stretching and warm-ups done and I would probably say that their greatest attribute is that they are good, honest hard working bunch of lads.”
Looking at the game, Keane agrees that while the scoring totals that the Minors are putting up are very impressive, they need to be a bit tighter at the back.
“If you look at what Kildare have put up in their games so far, that’s enough to win a lot of matches. Both Derry and Cork scored high totals against us as well so while the forwards can get a lot of praise for what they are scoring you still can’t afford to lose sight of the work that you have to do in defence.”
Something to be mindful of indeed ahead of the second meeting between the two counties in three years at Minor level with Kerry having won the 2014 All-Ireland quarter-final in Thurles.