Allianz National Football League Division One: Kerry v Donegal (today, Austin Stack Park, 2pm, live on Eir Sport)
THIS game is another reminder of the strange times we’re living in.
As it stands, Kerry are top of Division One, Donegal are fourth just two points behind and in between them are Dublin and Galway.
If Kerry win they are champions but if the Dubs and Galway draw and Donegal (who have superior points difference) win they will take the National Football League title for only the second time in their history.
So there’s so much to play for except, with the Championship starting a week later, there isn’t really. A League title would be nice but it’s only the League and there’s no doubt where Declan Bonner’s priority lies (hint: it ain’t Tralee).
“Going down to Kerry is something we’re looking forward to and it’s going to give some of our lads an opportunity so we’ll be going down with a strong team looking for a performance that is going to get us a result,” said the Donegal manager.
“We’re a week out from Championship so we have to take that into consideration. But we’re going down there with a relatively strong side and we’re hoping to get a good performance against a really good Kerry side.”
Bonner won’t have Odhran McFadden-Ferry available today, or for the rest of the campaign because the Irish Army soldier is in quarantine before he ships out to Lebanon. Paddy McBrearty is close to full fitness but, with an Ulster Championship match with Tyrone on the horizon, it’s doubtful that the Kilcar forward will get more than a run-out.
In the meantime, defender Stephen McMenamin and forward Oisin Gallen will continue to build match fitness after returning from injury and emerging forward Peadar Mogan will hope to continue the form that saw him burst onto the scene with a superb individual goal against Tyrone last weekend.
Jason McGee also emerged off the bench last week and could start alongside Hugh McFadden this afternoon.
“Kerry have a different style of football than what we faced the last day (against Tyrone) and that will pose us different questions but we're looking forward to it,” said McFadden.
“We're looking forward to getting a good game against a lot of very good players.”
Kerry’s only defeat of this season came against Tyrone back in February and Peter Keane’s Kerry resumed their campaign by returning to Ulster and securing a three point win over Monaghan in Inniskeen.
“I thought they were impressive on Saturday evening against Monaghan,” added McFadden.
“We’ve had a lot of good battles - we had a few feisty enough affairs down in Kerry and they beat us up in Letterkenny once a couple of years ago.”
Will it be feisty today? It’s not in the interests of either team if it is because both sets of players will be looking to stay healthy for the Championship. Despite that, McFadden said: “I don't think you can go around worrying about getting injured. The management will do their bit in terms of preparing the team this week, and seeing who they think should be playing.
“Obviously if you were carrying a knock or trying to get over a wee injury, you might not be pushing yourself this weekend with Championship just around the corner but if you're good to go you wouldn't be worrying too much about it.”
The pressure is off so expect lots of scores, not many tackles and Kerry coming out on top to clinch the League title for the first time since 2017.
