WHEN THE ALL IRELAND series was being launched a couple of weeks back at the grounds of club champions Glen in Maghera, Derry, the announcement came.
If this was Jack O’Connor controlling the narrative – sending an injured player who has not achieved national recognition – yet – then he played it well.What we mean by this, is despite the kind of performances they put in, no matter how much they beat good, honest teams by, the squadron of Kerry voices with prominent media platforms will immediately go to work in playing the whole thing down.
After Kerry beat Meath in Navan by 15 points, Eamonn Fitzmaurice in his Irish Examiner column was dampening down any sense of hype, saying, ‘Sunday’s facile victory in Navan had very much the feel of a challenge match about it. While heat may have been a factor, the match was played at a pedestrian pace.’
As impressive as the mental resilience was to snatch the draw – and from venerable defensive stalwart Chrissy McKaigue getting the equalising score – they are still off-colour.