The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Impressive squad could go places
CORK are the benchmark, the target. They’re the ones who hold the whip hand at this grade (and its predecessor, the Under 21 championship). They’re the reigning All Ireland champions. They’re the ones who triumphed in the John Kerins Cup earlier this year.
The Rebels loom large over the Kingdom at this level and have done so for the bones of twenty years. Since the turn of the century Cork have won this championship twelve times to Kerry’s four. The remaining four titles being shared between Tipperary (two time winners), Limerick and Waterford.
For the blue-bloods of football, for the dominant force at minor (seven in-a-row winners) and senior (against seven in-a row winners) level in the province, Kerry’s poor strike-rate at Under 21 and Under 20 level is a strange sort of anomaly.
That anomaly is two-fold. From Cork’s point of view it’s odd that they’ve not been able to convert their success at this level to a more sustainable challenge to Kerry at senior level and from Kerry’s point of view it’s strange that they’re so consistently out-gunned here.
Part of that could be put down to Kerry’s location of the periphery geographically speaking. Counties with universities – Cork, Galway and Dublin – have tended to fare better with less travel involved for their players by and large.
It’s only a rough rule of thumb though. Tyrone have three titles to Kerry’s one and there’s no university in Tyrone. Mayo have twice as many and again there’s no university there (like Tralee it does have an institute of technology, however).
Still though it’s something which was referenced by Jack O’Connor during his tenure as Under 21/20 manager and the logistics were also a challenge raised by his successor John Sugrue when we spoke to him this week so there’s definitely something to it.
Sugrue’s logistical challenges probably even exceed those of his one-time Kerry Under 21 manager with the new (the new old that is) scheduling of the competition at this time of year meaning it gets mixed up with colleges (Corn Uí Mhuirí) as well as third level football.
The new manager’s task will be to deal with all those challenges and get his players to gel together into a cohesive unit and should he be able to do so – and he’s got all the right credentials – then from what we can see of the panel they won’t be that far away at all.
There’s a hell of a lot of talent in this current Under 20 squad, even if it doesn’t quite have the same billing as some of its immediate predecessors. The flip side of that is that there’s no big controversy over the availability of a star player
– no Seán O’Shea or David Clifford saga – which is probably a help.
Probably the closest this squad gets to a star player is Dónal O’Sullivan of Kilgarvan. He’s entering his third year as an Under 20/21 footballer and was the star of the show for the Kingdom against Cork in the McGrath Cup just after Christmas.
He missed the Kerins Cup through an injury picked up in that game, but Sugrue has declared him fit for the Munster championship, citing Seán Óg Moran and Danny Hickey as the only two long term injuries in the squad.
Another guy up top who’s sure to be a key player is former Minor Footballer of the Year (2018) Paul Walsh from Brosna, along with team captain Paul O’Shea from Kilcummin.
Even outside that triumvirate there’s almost an embarrassment of riches in the front six.
Patrick D’Arcy was a real star at minor level. Dylan Geaney can shoot the lights out. Eddie Horan is made of the right stuff. You’ve got Ruaidhrí Ó Beaglaoich and Jack O’Connor. Sugrue will have a job on his hands picking a front six for the trip to Limerick or Thurles next week.
Midfield looks really strong too with the two Darraghs (Lyne and Rahilly) likely to be the first choice pairing, with Seán Horan of Scaraglin pushing them hard along with Michael O’Gara of Austin Stacks.
At the back there’s a lot of talent too with Gneeveguilla’s Owen Fitzgerald, Rathmore’s Alan Dineen, the McCarthy brothers (Dan and James) from Kenmare Shamrocks, Seán O’Connell of Cordal, Dylan Casey of Austin Stacks and Luka Brosnan of Castleisland Desmonds all vying for places from the start.
The Kerry Under 20 management team – Sugrue has Kieran O’Leary and Brendan Guiney as selectors – has no shortage of options all over the field, right down to the goalkeeping position where three will battle it out for the number 1 shirt (our money would be on Deividas Uosis at this moment in time).
Cork looked a step ahead of the Kingdom in January, but really we wouldn’t be looking too deeply into that beyond the fact that Kerry (who were splitting their resources with the McGrath Cup in a way Cork were not) showed real resolve to hang on in there with Cork (who ran out 1-19 to 3-12 winners).
They’ve got character then these boys. They’ve got the quality. They’ve got a manager with his head screwed on. Cork are the target. There’s every chance this squad will hit it.