The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Egan could prove the difference for the Saints
COUNTY SHC ROUND 2B (losers) Abbeydorney v St Brendans Sunday, July 1 Austin Stack Park, 4pm
IF there’s a bit of shadow-boxing possible in the winners’ round there’s none of that in the losers’ round. Here it’s do or die, which tends to be a great way to focus minds. As Abbeydorney and St Brendans prepare this week for Sunday’s game, they will know exactly what’s at stake and exactly what they need to do.
How that manifests itself on the pitch we can’t be quite certain. We’d imagine there will be a degree of caution to the way both sides set up, but equally with everything on the line they could just cut loose and go for it. We’d be leaning towards the former rather than the latter.
It probably won’t be until the final quarter of the match that this one is decided. On paper you’d think it’s a clear win for St Brendans. They lost their first round game by a four, whereas Abbeydorney lost by fifteen.
The flip side of that is that O’Dorney showed a capacity to score goals – albeit in a game that was gone from them – that St Brendans never did in their first round game with Causeway.
A goal at the right time on Sunday afternoon would be hugely telling and, with O’Dorney set to welcome back Michael O’Leary to the fold for this weekend, the black and amber do look the more likely to get one.
Overall, however, St Brendans wouldn’t have been too disappointed with how they performed against a hotly fancied Causeway side in the opening round. They showed their typical grit and determination.
They also have a pretty decent spread of scorers – four of their starting six forwards got on the scoreboard last time out – and should have improved from the experience and the fortnight’s training in between the first and the second rounds.
The same will, of course, apply to Abbeydorney but we just feel that St Brendans have that little bit more potential to evolve and improve. As ever, the hugely talented John Egan could provide the difference here in a close run contest. Verdict: St Brendans