The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Preparation disruptions
Mark Griffin to miss South Kerry’s SFC quarter-final
COUNTY Championship quarter-final preparations are proving troublesome for a few of the teams involved with a number of players out of the country over the next couple of weeks and on the weekend of the double-headers on Saturday and Sunday week.
South Kerry look certain to be without Mark Griffin as he is currently holidaying in Australia and is not expected to be back in time for their quarter-final against East Kerry on Sunday week.
Griffin’s former Kerry team mate Bryan Sheehan is also out of the country at the moment but will be back in time for the eagerly awaited showdown in Fitzgerald Stadium, but the St Marys man will miss most of the build-up to the game with East Kerry.
Killian Young (hamstring) and Brendan O’Sullivan (groin) remain on the treatment table for South Kerry and aren’t expected to be available to play.
Meanwhile, Kieran Donaghy and Tommy Walsh will be out of the country leading into their respective quarter-finals with Austin Stacks and Kerins O’Rahillys but both will be flying back on the Saturday morning for their matches in Austin Stack Park that evening.
Donaghy’s brother, Conor, is getting married in Portugal on Friday week with Kieran, his Stacks team mate John Dennis, and Tommy Walsh heading over earlier in the week for the occasion. All three will be flying back to Kerry early on Saturday in time for their quarter-finals but it won’t be ideal preparation for them.
St Brendan’s, meanwhile, are hoping to have defender Trevor Wallace available for them for the quarter-final against O’Rahillys, even though it’s understood the Ardfert man will also be attending a wedding abroad that weekend.
The county SFC quarter-finals have been scheduled as two double-headers for the weekend after next with Austin Stacks taking on Dingle at 6pm and Kerins O’Rahillys facing St Brendans at 7.45pm in Austin Stack Park on on Saturday.
On Sunday the action switches to Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney with the town derby between Dr Crokes and Killarney Legion throwing in 2pm before the big district baord meeting of East Kerry and South Kerry at 3.45pm.
The county semi-finals are fixed for the weekend of October 13/14 and the County Final will be played on Sunday, October 28.
The SFC relegation play-off between An Ghaeltacht and Kenmare Shamrocks is scheduled to take place on the weekend of the county championship quarter-finals, with the losing team to be relegated to the Intermediate Championship.
An Ghaeltacht player/manager Marc Ó Sé, who was sent off for in their Round 3 loss to Dr Crokes last Sunday, will miss that game due to suspension unless he successfully appeals what will be a minimum one-game ban.