McIver’s selection bad news for Kerry

One glance at the Derry team for their game away to Mayo tomorrow probably tells us all we need to know about how the league table is going to look tomorrow evening and the likelihood of Kerry making the semi-finals has diminished greatly.

It is of course Brian McIver’s prerogative to select who he wishes to give game time to for the final round and, if I were in his shoes, I would be doing the same thing in giving a decent run out to fringe players and finding out exactly what they’re made of before they face a league semi and, more importantly, a rejuvenated Donegal in championship in seven weeks time.

Mayo’s likely win in Castlebar means only the Tyrone v Dublin game in Omagh is of any meaningful value in terms of qualification for the league semis but it would be a mistake to view the Kerry’s clash with Cork in Tralee as a dead rubber. Even though, having qualified last weekend, he had the same option of experimentation available to him as Brian McIver had, Cork manager Brian Cuthbert has selected a team still just about capable of beating Kerry tomorrow.