County v College dilemma for Kerry

Kerry midfielders on a collision course with Sigerson Cup final

THE Kerry football management are facing a selection headache ahead of Sunday’s rescheduled NFL match against Monaghan, as four senior panellists – including the midfield pairing selected for last Sunday’s postponed game – are involved in Sigerson Cup semi-finals today (Wednesday) and potentially a final on Saturday, 24 hours before Kerry take on the Monaghan in Inniskeen.

Jack Barry and Barry O’Sullivan were named as Kerry’s midfield partnership for last Sunday’s round 3 game against Monaghan, which was postponed that morning due to a snow-covered pitch, but they are expected to be the UCD midfield partnership for their Sigerson Cup semi-final (which incidentally goes ahead in Inniskeen) with UU Jordanstown this afternoon (Wednesday).

Brian Ó Seanachain, who played a few minutes against Donegal in the opening league match, is also on the UCD panel.

Should 2016 Sigerson Cup champions UCD, who are bidding to reach a third consecutive final, reach Saturday’s final it would leave Barry’s and O’Sullivan’s availability to Kerry the next day highly improbable.

In the other Sigerson semi-final Ronan Shanahan will be in action for Dublin Institute of Technology against NUI Galway in Portlaoise, and the Austin Stacks player would also be a major doubt to feature for Kerry against Monaghan if he’s involved in the Sigerson Cup final on Saturday.

Brendan O’Sullivan would be an obvious midfield starter for Kerry in the absence of Jack Barry and Barry O’Sullivan, but an obvious partner for the Valentia man isn’t so clear.

Dáithí Casey, who was named at centre-forward for last Sunday’s match, is one viable option, while Adrian Spillane, who was due to travel north with the squad last weekend, is another who could play at midfield.

The Kerry team selected to face Monaghan last weekend showed three changes from the team that started the week previously against Mayo with Gavin Crowley, Seán O’Shea and David Clifford – all carrying slight injuries – giving way to Andrew Barry, Casey and Jack Savage respectively.

Peter Crowley, Michael Geaney, Tom O’Sullivan and Adrian Spillane were new additions to the Kerry panel for last weekend’s match.

KERRY’S postponed NFL game against Monaghan last weekend will have cost the County Board about €7,000, but the Board is hoping that all expenses incurred last weekend will be covered by the Croke Park.

A travelling party of players, management and back-room staff of about 42 travelled north last Saturday for Sunday’s match in Inniskeen, costing Kerry GAA about €7,000 in bus hire, overnight accommodation, meals and other expenses, which is a standard enough amount for such a fixture.

Kerry GAA treasurer Dermot ‘Weeshie’ Lynch explained that coach hire, overnight hotel accommodation, meals and other costs average about €7,000 a game, but given the circumstances of last Sunday’s cancellation he doesn’t foresee that Kerry GAA will have to incur the cost of going to Inniskeen but not playing the game.

“It was nobody’s fault at the end of the day. The weather caused the postponement of the game, it wasn’t something Monaghan GAA or Kerry GAA had any control over. Under the circumstances I couldn’t see how we should be out of pocket for the trip, and I would expect that we’d be looked after by Croke Park,” Mr Lynch told The Kerryman.

“It’s the Kerry supporters who travelled up and who are out of pocket that I’d feel bad about. Some made an overnight trip out of it, and between that and driving up and all the bits and pieces – time as well – you’d feel bad about those people.”

Last year Kerry GAA spent €35,000 on travel, meals and accommodation for NFL games, up from €28,000 in 2016 and €21,000 in 2015.

For Kerry’s recent game against Mayo in Castlebar the team spent the night before the game and the Saturday night of the game in hotel accommodation.