Red Card appeal
Kerry hurling manager Fintan O’Connor confirmed that Fionan Mackessy’s controversial red card picked up on Saturday last against Antrim in the Joe McDonagh Cup is being appealed to Croke Park.
The hearing will be held tonight (Thursday night) before the CCCC via video link with the relevant footage of the incident being used as evidence to try and get the red card rescinded, so that Fionan Mackessy can play against Carlow on Saturday in Kerry’s vital Joe McDonagh Cup clash.
O’Connor also confirmed that his fullback and captain Bryan Murphy suffered a broken hand and will miss out along with Jordan Conway. Michael O’Leary is also rated as extremely doubtful with a back injury.
Kerry need to be more ruthless
The fall-out from Mark Keane’s last gasp intervention on Sunday week last has seen a lot of questions asked and opinions given on the Kerry set-up in the wake of a shock result to those on this side of the county bounds. Many have questioned whether Kerry are in the midst of another famine since 2009, with 2014 the exception rather than the rule. For the captain of Kerry’s 2009 winning side, there is a fear that the longer the Kingdom go without winning an All-Ireland, the harder it will become.
“We have to accept that Dublin have been the dominant team since 2011 and that it is getting harder for everyone else, not just Kerry. Mentality becomes a bigger thing than the sport itself, the longer you go without winning and that’s my biggest fear for Kerry, is that an attitude that we just can’t win it will creep in,” he said. In terms of the noughties and the success accrued then, O’Sullivan put it down to character as much as football.
“I think of the likes of Tom O’Sullivan from Rathmore along with Marc Ó Sé and Seamus Moynihan for the few years I was with him. As much as they were good footballers there were such proud Kerry men that every defeat no matter whether it was in the League or Championship hurt them. You would not want to talk to them in the dressing room any game you lost!” Darran said of the atmosphere in the Kerry dressing rooms he was a part of.
Antrim too good for Kerry yet again
Despite a spirited second half comeback, the Kerry hurlers suffered their first defeat in the Joe McDonagh Cup at a wet and windy Corrigan Park in Belfast on Saturday afternoon.
This latest Antrim win over Kerry puts the Ulster men in the driving seat in the group and sees Antrim leapfrogging Kerry at the top of the Joe McDonagh Cup table.
Antrim play Meath in their final game and are almost dead certs to reach the final of the competition that will be played as an under card to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final on December 13th in Croke Park.