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Jack O’Connor, will be looking to add to his impressive haul of All-Ireland titles as a manager on Sunday. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
IT’S hard to know how much of a masterstroke Jack O’Connor has pulled by reversing the fortunes of the Kerry minors, who went 20 years with nothing to now being 60 minutes away from back to back titles.
Jack is a shrewd man and some would say he took it on because he saw a good crop coming. Given there are only a three players who who played in in 2014 final that are involved on Sunday maybe Jack spotted two good crops.
Two of the three, Tralee men Andrew Barry (Na Gaeil) and Jack Morgan (Austin Stacks) and captain, Mark O’Connor, who has undoubtedly been the side’s most important player in the campaign. The Dingle midfielder missed the quarter-final against Sligo because of a knee injury and was only introduced late in the semi-final.
With a rebuilding process on his hands, Jack brought in his neighbour, Declan O’Sullivan, to impart his wisdom to a forward line that has progressively become more potent as the year unfolded.
On the run to the final, Kerry first stuttered against a poor Clare side that came and parked the bus in Tralee. This set up a semi-final date with the old enemy in Austin Stack Park that turned out to be as thrilling a Kerry v Cork encounter you could wish for.
Under lights, in extra-time, Kerry dug deep in the final moments to snatch a victory with Spa’s Micheal Foley being the hero.
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Kerry’s, Mark O’Connor, in the Munster Semi-Final against Cork. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Kerry then went on to beat this weekend’s opponents, Tipperary, in the Munster Final by six points. Despite a late surge by Tipp in the second half, the game was never really in doubt. The manner of the victory has has many people expecting a handy Kerry win this Sunday.
Jack, an All-Ireland championship winning manager at all grades, has been putting dampeners on such talk.
“Usually teams that get beaten learn more than the teams that win,” he said during the week. “This is a dangerous Tipperary team. In many quarters this team is actually seen as being better than the team that won the All-Ireland in 2011 in Tipperary, and we know what those fellows did,” he told the Irish Examiner.
Jack has also spoken about the depth the class of 2015 has, where as last year’s team was sprinkled with some sublime talent, this year is more of a team unit. No other player embodies this work ethic than Na Gaeil’s Andrew Barry, who along with midfielder, Mark O’Connor started last year’s final.
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Kerry’s, Brian O Seanachain, fires a shot towards goal in the Munster Quarter Final against Clare in Austin Stack Park. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
In the face of a Derry blanket defence in the semi-final, Andrew was a constant driving force in midfield, being one of the strongest players in the side.
He was dynamic around the middle, but also a calming influence, sweeping back to cover any danger.
Austin Stacks’ Jack Morgan is an inside forward in black and amber, but in Kerry colours he occupied the left corner back position in the campaign, but has been named as wing back for the final, though he had been in the corner throughout the campaign. Showing a forward’s flair, he has sprung up with scores and important runs in the games so far, without belying his defensive duties.
In the full forward line, Billy Courtney and Conor Geaney will be the main root to the danger zone. Courtney scored 1-3 in the semi-final, while Geaney, who is a cousin of Paul and Mikey in the seniors, clocked up 1-5 in the Munster Final against Tipp.
Two players to look out for are the Ballydonoghue pairing of Jason Foley at full-back and Brian Ó Seanacháin at wing forward.
Tipperary were not expected to defeat a Kildare side who dispatched Dublin on the run to the semi-final. But being Kildare they capitulated on the big day in Croke Park and Tipp pounced. The bookies have Kerry as 1/4 to favorites and they usually get it right don’t they?
Road to the final
Kerry 0-14 – Clare 0-3 – Austin Stack Park
Kerry 0-16 – Cork 1-12 – Austin Stack Park
Kerry 2-14 – Tipperary 1-11 – Fitzgerald Stadium
Kerry 2-12 – Sligo 1-6 – Semple Stadium
Kerry 1-11 – Derry 1-6 – Croke Park
