Kerry must add power to talent to rediscover route to success

When Donegal beat Kerry in last year’s All-Ireland Championship quarter-final, Jim McGuinness’s reaction at the final whistle said it all. Normally fairly stoic in victory, McGuinness refused to contain his emotions as he jumped and punched the air.

The Donegal manager’s response was entirely understandable. Kerry, as we know, have been the benchmark. All-Ireland winners in 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009, they were also beaten finalists in 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2011. They’ve been our September perennials. Always there. And if not the winners, then the winners had to beat them.

When Kerry trimmed Donegal in last year’s league, McGuinness knew he had encountered the side that could stop him from delivering an All-Ireland title. A year later and the landscape has changed. Last Sunday, Donegal whipped the Kingdom, 1-12 to 0-6.