Kerry’s 2018 championship ambitions have received a setback with the news that Dr Crokes midfielder Johnny Buckley has left the senior football panel.

Kerry’s 2018 championship ambitions have received a setback with the news that Dr Crokes midfielder Johnny Buckley has left the senior football panel.

Johnny Buckley remembers the afternoon well, standing helplessly with a water bottle in his hand, as Crokes were torpedoed around the Mallow pitch.

Johnny Buckley is the only player to drop out of the Kerry team ahead of their All-Ireland quarter-final against Kildare.

Never mind turning over Donegal and Dublin on their home patch, never mind the man-of-the-match baubles. Johnny Buckley is simply enjoying an uninterrupted league campaign, very much a rarity as far as the Kerry forward is concerned.