At the moment, the enthusiasm isn’t great down here in Kerry. The performance against Galway was very poor and last weekend Monaghan left the game behind them.
As for Kildare, they just have to win it. I know they’ll be relying on a result from the Galway game, but they’ll need to do the business themselves.
From there you’re just praying and crossing the fingers that Galway beat Monaghan. How that game in Salthill will go? It’s really difficult to say.
Kerry’s future is in Monaghan’s hands, Monaghan need a result of some sorts to get through. The whole fate of this group lies with Malachy O’Rourke’s men.
They are capable of beating Galway, but the Tribesmen will be a bigger test than Kerry.
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Weird goings on in Clones
It’s very strange you see a goalkeeper dictate a game of football and that’s what Rory Beggan did the last day. He really set the tempo for Monaghan.
In the first half they won almost all of their kickouts, but the accuracy of his are fantastic. He puts the ball at head height and it goes for 60 yards, so it’s very difficult for the opposing player to close down the intended target.
One of the kickouts landed out on the Kerry 45, that’s an extraordinary kick and I’d know something about that! He hit some phenomenal frees for fun in the first half.
I have my own technique where I take a few steps back and have a run at the ball, but he seems to come up to the ball with two steps and he’s able to hit them 60-70 yards.
It’s incredible skill, he really gets his foot through the ball and gets some backspin on it. I can only doff my cap to him.
David brought us off the edge of the cliff
At the start of the year I was been very cautious when I spoke about David Clifford because I didn’t want to be putting pressure on him or build any more hype.
He’s been fantastic for Kerry and he’s really stood up to the plate. There’s so much more to come from him.
The whole country is looking forward to seeing what he’ll do over the next year and I’m delighted that he’s doing it in green and gold.
We haven’t even seen his best yet!
Darragh’s close enough to land a jab
Darragh O’Sé had a bit of cut at Kerry’s senior players, but he knows and will have played with a lot of the management on the county team, so it’s probably easier to have a shot at the players.
In my view, it’s never an individual that wins you a game, it’s a team game.
For some reason the team haven’t gelled and that’s the big problem that Kerry are having for me.
They’re getting 8 out 10 or 9 out 10 performances from only a handful of players.
Not enough players who are starting are having an impact.
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