If there’s a way to beat Dublin, Éamonn Fitzmaurice will find it

For a while there, the dunes of Banna Strand were threatening to become for Kerry what the hill in Crusheen was for the Clare hurlers in 1995 or the Spartan-esque Bere Island for Cork’s footballers in 2010. 

Ever since Stephen O’Brien revealed how a February weekend’s graft at the beach helped their recovery from losing to Dublin and Roscommon, their time there was regarded more and more as a turning point.

By September 18, the benefits of Banna Strand may still be heralded in the Kingdom. A Division 1 final defeat isn’t going to upset them. Another defeat to Dublin, though? Well, that’s what will occupy Éamonn Fitzmaurice’s thoughts on his walks with his dog along that golden stretch outside Tralee.