As the clock whittled down in the dying minutes of normal time, Kieran Donaghy suddenly stopped with ball in hand short of the halfway line in front of the Páirc Esler stand.

KERRY are considering thrusting a virtual unknown into their attack for Saturday night’s glamour opening round of the Allianz National League against All-Ireland champions Dublin at Croke Park.

ON THE presumption that both Cork and Kerry are true to their selections, Eoin Cadogan will begin tomorrow’s Munster football final, like the rest of us, sitting and watching.

Kerry 2-16 Tipperary 0-11

Take five Irish Examiner staffers and four of the paper’s analysts, stir vigorously and watch it come quickly to the boil. No simmering here as we look ahead to Championship 2011

It’s one of the GAA’s great pub debates: would he be playing if he wasn’t so good at the frees? For several counties this summer, the issue’s a live one

JACK O’CONNOR’S decision to rest Colm Cooper for Kerry’s trip to Monaghan indicated he expected a very competitive, tough, physical encounter and Gooch’s health would be better served by an afternoon off.

Kerry 0-16 Galway 0-08

THERE are many sides to All-Ireland champions — at Austin Stack Park yesterday, we saw two of them.

Kerry 2-11 Cork 1-11

JACK O’CONNOR has moved 2009 All-Ireland winning captain Darran O’Sullivan from his customary forward role to left-half back for tomorrow’s McGrath Cup opener against Tralee IT.

DON’T rush to judgment on the future for Kerry football following the weekend failure to end Down’s significant record against the Kingdom in the All-Ireland football championship.

One of the few 100% Championship records was maintained by Down at Croke Park on Saturday, but their manager James McCartan was not getting carried away with his side's dethroning of defending All-Ireland champions Kerry.

All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Final

TO Kerry the spoils, to Limerick the admiration.

Kerry 1-17 Limerick 1-14

Aidan O'Mahony has returned to the Kerry panel ahead of the Kingdom's Munster SFC final clash with Limerick on July 4.

A PENNY for Conor Counihan’s thoughts leaving Semple Stadium yesterday.

IN James L. Brooks’ feted romcom, As Good As It Gets, Jack Nicholson offends his date Helen Hunt so grievously that she’s walking out of the restaurant unless he pays her an immediate compliment.

KERRY football boss Jack O’Connor has named ten of last September’s All-Ireland winning team for the opening clash of their All-Ireland title defence in Sunday’s Munster SFC quarter-final against Tipperary in Semple Stadium.

FOR seven years now, Tyrone have been the cold Kerry just can’t shake, and the Munster side were struck down by yet another depressing dose in Healy Park on Saturday night in a game they appeared to have won.

KILKENNY welcome back James ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick and TJ Reid from the All-Ireland Club champions Ballyhale Shamrocks for the Allianz NHL Division One clash with Galway at Nowlan Park tomorrow.

THEIR history with Kerry is largely framed by championship meltdowns, but when it comes to league jousts, Mayo are fast becoming the experts.

THE KERRY management’s desire to employ Marc Ó Sé’s footballing talents in the half-back line gets another trial tomorrow in Tralee, with the youngest of the Gaeltacht brothers selected at right half-back for the clash with Mayo.

GALWAY may have their work cut out with Colm Cooper at Pearse Stadium tomorrow, but Joe Kernan’s side will have another dangerous Dr Crokes corner-forward to contend with too.

LESS than four years after Jack O’Connor re-invented him as a target man at full-forward, you know that Kieran Donaghy has established himself his seniority in the Kerry football set-up when he talks about the ‘younger’ players coming through.

Cork 1-12 Kerry 0-12

ALL-IRELAND champions Kerry have named just five of the team that started in last September’s victory over Cork for tomorrow’s NFL Division 1 opener against Dublin in Killarney.

Kerry 1-11 UCC 0-9

THE Kerry management are confident of having their goal-keeping position resolved before the end of the Allianz NFL, with coach Jack O’Connor indicating after yesterday’s game in Fitzgerald Stadium that they are unlikely to “spread the net” beyond the three players who have filled the position so far in the McGrath Cup following Diarmuid Murphy’s retirement.

Kerry 0-13 Tipperary 1-9

THE weather’s making for crisp sunny days and clear nights, but don’t expect to see stars dancing across the Kerry skyline any time soon.

THE moment Kerry exited the Munster championship against Cork in June and were consigned to the qualifiers, James Sheehan resigned himself to an idle summer.

RUN a finger back along Kerry’s pained path to yesterday’s peak and it is one of endless bumps and bruises. Until late July, that is, when Jack O’Connor took his troops to Tullamore for a meeting with Antrim.

TOMMY WALSH was last night restored to the Kerry attack at full-forward for Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC final against Cork in Croke Park.

IT’S been another inter-countyseason of fluctuating fortunes forDonncha Walsh.

COLM COOPER and Paul Galvin have been passed fit and will start Sunday’s All-Ireland football final for Kerry against Cork – but the Croke Park decider has come too soon for Kieran Donaghy to line out from the start.

FORMER young player of the year Tommy Walsh is facing an uphill battle to keep his place for Kerry’s All-Ireland semi-final against Meath on Sunday.

THEY started the summer as the two clear favourites for the All-Ireland title and Antrim forward Michael McCann believes we may still witness a Tyrone-Kerry final come September despite the latter’s well-documented problems.

OUTGOING Cavan football supremo Tommy Carr remains at the helm in the Breffni County after a dramatic county board meeting last night.

JACK O’CONNOR’S back was up against the wall yesterday.

AFTER this dramatic finale to yesterday’s Munster football championship semi-final in Fitzgerald Stadium – when a Bryan Sheehan free earned Kerry a replay in the third minute of injury time – the big question supporters from both sides were asking themselves was how holders Cork failed to win a game they dominated for long periods.

LIAM O LÍONÁIN does a neat line in pragmatism. The Waterford footballers face a steep incline in their opening championship challenge this Sunday and the An Rinn attacker needs scant reminding of the populist view which has Cork as overwhelming favourites.