Preview: Can Stacks Beat The Men From The West?

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Gavin O’Connor previews the Garvey’s Supervalu Kerry Senior Football Championship Quarter Final in Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday between Austin Stacks  and  West Kerry  (3:30pm)

AUSTIN STACKS resume their county championship ambitions this weekend with added impetus after two seismic events in Kerry football since they defeated Rathmore in the last round of the county championship three months ago.

The first being Dr Crokes exit from the competition, the second the reemergence of Kieran Donaghy as a force to be reckoned with after a year blighted by injury.

This will have the Rockie faithful licking their lips at the chance of finally ending a 20 year gap without the Bishop Moynihan Cup, the second longest barren spell in the club’s storied history.

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If they are to do that, they first must get over a West Kerry side that has had its share of injury doubts coming into the game. Former Kerry star Aodan Mac Gearailt being ruled out and current star Marc O’Sé a worry.

For Stacks, the lengthy lay off of 12 weeks has allowed time for Daniel Bohane and John Dennis to recuperate from injuries and  Ronan Shanahan and Denis McElligott to come back from playing football in the States for the summer.

The Rock’s county league form has been exceptional with them going unbeaten in ten games. This has set up a league final meeting with Dr Crokes.

In fact, Stacks have only lost one game this year, down in Dingle in the club championship, when they were ransacked by a youthful and emerging Dingle side that featured five of Kerry’s minor All-Ireland winning team plus the two Geaneys.

In the first round of the county championship,  Stacks overcame Feale Rangers in a soggy Listowel, this was followed by a win over a Rathmore side that had only a few weeks previous knocked Dr Crokes out of the club championship.

For Stacks, one of the most encouraging aspects of this season has been the performance of a number of the younger players, in particular the continued development of Shane O’Callaghan as a quality forward.

Shane was part of the panel that prepared Kerry for the All-Ireland final and judging from the sounds emanating from Fitzgerald Stadium, specifically the noise of fellas crashing into gates, they were highly charged sessions that will have brought O’Callaghan’s game on no end.

On the inter-county scene, there was also the added bonus of young forward, Jack Morgan, picking up an All-Ireland minor medal, having been used as a sub in the final against Donegal.

There are two crucial reasons why I believe Stacks will overcome West Kerry this Sunday and move into the semi-finals. The first being the huge layoff since the previous round.

It can take a few games for a divisional side to come up to speed, the wrong time to face the men from the west would have been after they overcame extra-time and Kilcummin in the previous round.

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This was West Kerry’s fourth championship game and they would have felt resolute after coming through two replays. Now, all that momentum is lost.

West Kerry could also be without two of their key men, Aodan Mac Gearailt who will not play and Marc O’Se who is an injury doubt.

If West Kerry have lost momentum there is a great chance for Stacks to extract the energy from Kieran Donaghy’s heroics with Kerry.

No doubt ‘Star’ will be fired up to make it a vintage year for the black and amber.

Verdict – Austin Stacks by 5 points

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