Allianz Football League Division One: Kerry v Monaghan (tomorrow, 2pm, Killarney, deferred coverage on TG4)
CASTING an eye down to the Kingdom from our vantage point, the mystique remains. All those All-Irelands, the great players and the gra, the mighty men from the Kingdom have long held a special place in the fertile imaginations of northern gaels.
At this time of year, since Eamonn Fitzmaurice succeeded Jack O’Connor, yet another layer of intrigue has been added to the legend – what are they going to do? Will the real Kerry please stand up?
The Finuge man is now in his fifth year in charge of the Kingdom, and since his appointment attempting to predict what Kerry might do at this time of the year is akin to roaming the slopes of Mangerton mountain looking for a phone signal.
On any given National League weekend, Kerry can leave punters with their head in their hands while the ripped up remains of another inexplicable beaten docket catch the breeze, bound for the bin.
Monaghan know this better than most. Two years ago they tripped down to Tralee to face a Kerry side who had, just weeks earlier, inflicted defeat on Dublin – the last to be tasted by Jim Gavin’s men in 31 League or Championship matches.
Inspired by midfielder Darren Hughes, the Farneymen headed back up the road with an unlikely four point victory in the bag.
Fast forward 12 months and, after a tight first half, Kerry blitzed Monaghan in Clones, winning by eight and cutting a dash in doing so with a power-packed performance.
So what Kerry team awaits Malachy O’Rourke’s men in Killarney tomorrow? Your guess is as good as mine if the early season form lines are anything to go by.
First up, they travelled to Letterkenny and deservedly got the better of Donegal, recording the first opening day League win of Fitzmaurice’s tenure. Six days later at Austin Stack Park and Kerry cough up a four point half-time lead to lose to Mayo by two.
The Kingdom will be able to call upon Peter Crowley after a charge of striking with the hand during a melee in the Mayo game was thrown out at appeal on Thursday night, though the influential Donnchadh Walsh had his one-match suspension upheld for the same charge.
Young Jack Barry looked to the manor born alongside David Moran at centrefield against the westerners and, considering how Kerry dominated the midfield battle in Clones last year, it will be interesting to see if Fitzmaurice sticks with this pairing.
Malachy O’Rourke has named an unchanged team from the 15 that started the derby draw with Cavan a fortnight ago, and the loss of injured forward Barry McGinn for the season is a headache he could have done without considering Vinnie Corey, Dessie Mone, Dessie Ward, Michael Bannigan, Brian Greenan and Fergal McGeough remain on the treatment table.
Having started so strongly with victory over Mayo in Castlebar, being held by Cavan in Castleblayney was an opportunity missed as they bid to secure their Division One status.
“We didn’t perform the way we would’ve liked,” admitted O’Rourke.
“Our defensive play was good enough but we had plenty of attacks and through a lot of our errors, bad decisions, poor use of the ball, bad execution, we just didn’t make the best of the attacks we had.
“It’s an area we’re working on all the time, it’s one we’ve been working on to get better for this weekend.”
Lessons must also be learned from last year’s defeat to Kerry.
On that day the Farney counter-attack was often far too laboured, and as the game got away from them after the break Monaghan often ended up lumping the ball long to no great effect.
A bit more cuteness is required if they are to have any chance of upsetting the odds tomorrow but then, as ever, much will depend on which Kerry team shows up. With absolutely no conviction whatsoever, I’ll go for the Kingdom by three.
Monaghan: R Beggan; F Kelly, D Wylie, R Wylie; K Duffy, N McAdam, C Walshe; D Hughes, K Hughes; K O'Connell, S Carey, G Doogan; C McCarthy, T Kerr, C McManus
Kerry: TBA
