A calmness and belief among players

ALMOST impossible to sum a game like it up into such a short summation but Jimmy Keane said that he never lost hope that the Juniors could turn it around in Pairc Uí Rinn despite the odds they were facing early in the second half.

“When you are nine points down you have it worry but the only consolation was that there was still time for a turnaround and we felt that if we could get enough of decent ball into the forwards something might happen,” the Kerry Junior boss said.

Liam Carey’s introduction appeared to have the desired effect in that sense but after coming back kicking and screaming into the contest then a different set of emotions had to be overcome when the game went into extra-time.

“The one thing that amazed me was how upbeat the players were in the dressing room despite Cork getting the equaliser to force extra-time. There was a calmness and belief that we could win amongst the players despite everything that had happened in normal time. There was a sense they had let it slip after going in front late on and that if they got the opportunity to go ahead again they wouldn’t let it slip again. That was evident when they scored the two goals in extra-time and were focussed on not letting Cork back in from there,” Keane said. The Brosna native agreed it was a great advert for the competition despite some questioning its future.

“I suppose you generally don’t get excitement like this at senior level too much with how defensive the games have become. This is the sort of stuff you expect at underage level but while it feels great after you certainly don’t set out to win a match by allowing the opposition to score 3-20 on you,” he said.

With that in mind you feel the Juniors have a basis for their preparations against Leitrim, a novel encounter for sure but one Kerry will have to refocus for in their efforts to reach a fourth consecutive All-Ireland Final at this level.

“We know that we need to improve if we want to make another All-Ireland Final. Leitrim proved they are capable of scoring in the Connacht Championship and you can’t concede what we conceded tonight and expect to win all the time. Once we all come back down to earth we will have to prepare for the match with that intention in mind.”