The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
New Inter-county football season gets underway with McGrath Cup
THE 2017 inter-county season gets underway on Sunday next when Kerry play Tipperary in Round 1 of the McGrath Cup in Tralee’s Austin Stack Park at 2pm.
While this is a senior fixture, Kerry will be represented on this occasion by a team drawn from the Under-21 panel who are training for the Munster Under-21 championship that commences on March 8 with a home game against Clare.
Jack O’Connor and his management team will be in charge on the sideline and the Kerry U-21 side this year is very much along the same lines as the 2016 side. Indeed eleven of the team that started last year’s provincial final against Cork are eligible again in 2017 with the exceptions being Jack Savage, Dara Roche and Eanna Ó Conchúir who are overage and Mark O’Connor who is trying his luck in the Australian Rules game.
So we look forward to seeing up and coming young prospects such as Shane Ryan, Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Jason Foley, Matthew Flaherty, Andrew Barry (who did not start last year’s Under-21 final due to injury) Gavin White, Michéal Burns and Killian Spillane to name but a few and no doubt Kerry senior manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice will be a very interested spectator in the stands as he contemplates life without Marc Ó Sé and perhaps others such as Aidan O’Mahony and Kieran Donaghy who are expected to make a decision on their future in the green and gold jersey in the coming weeks.
The second game in the McGrath Cup sees Kerry travel to Mallow on Sunday week to take on Cork.
The Kerry senior panel recommenced training on Tuesday night of this week but one man who will not be part of the panel this year is Padraig O’Connor of Legion who has emigrated to America. Kerry will be without players from Dr Crokes, Kenmare and Glenbeigh-Glencar until their respective club championship campaigns have finished and the likes of Gavin Crowley (Templenoe), Jack Savage (O’Rahillys), Ronan Shanahan (Austin Stacks), Kevin McCarthy (Kilcummin) and Shane Murphy (Dr Crokes, once his club commitments are ended) will be training with Fitzmaurice’s side.
Dr Crokes, as county champions, have the honour of naming the new Kerry senior football captain for 2017 but they have chosen to delay that announcement until their Club Championship campaign has been completed. Until then, Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice will appoint an interim captain.