Laois will do their talking on pitch against Kerry

AFTER the furore over their quarter-final brawl with Cork, Laois minor manager Seán Dempsey and his selectors are keeping a low profile for tomorrow’s All-Ireland MFC semi-final with Kerry, (Croke Park, 1.45pm. Live on RTÉ One).

“It’s not that the lads are refusing to talk to anyone or anything like that. It’s just that with all the press they’ve had as a result of the Cork thing, they’re trying to keep their heads down and concentrate on the Kerry game,” Laois secretary Niall Handy said yesterday.

The fact that talented forward Donie Brennan was called to attend a GAC meeting the day before the drawn game with Cork was greeted with outrage. And a repeat visit within the next 48 hours has added to the growing feeling of angst amongst the All-Ireland champions.

Even before the Cork game this minor team has been cheered on by enormous bandwagon of supporters. As many as 6,000 travelled across the border to Carlow to watch them beat Dublin in the Leinster championship and almost 3,000 tickets have already been sold for tomorrow’s tie.

Eoin Culliton, Mark Delaney and Brendan Quigley were amongst those to be suspended after the happenings in Limerick. The absence of the latter may be a critical blow for the midlanders in their bid for a two-in-a-row.

For Kerry, Croke Park has not been the happiest of hunting grounds at this level. Despite numerous visits to HQ in recent years, they have failed to land an All-Ireland crown since 1994. Not that manager Seán Geaney is worried by such statistics.

“I have told the lads not to be worried about Croke Park not being a happy hunting ground. This is a new team and they should not feel weighed down by history. We are going in there with a fresh outlook.”

“They have improved in leap and bounds since their first game against Clare. But we will have to improve even more against the All-Ireland champions.”

The Croker experience is a daunting task for any player, but Geaney has been meticulous in his planning, bringing the entire squad to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final between Kerry and Dublin, so that his players could sample the bid day atmosphere.

However, they will miss the talents of hit-man John Buckley, who has failed to recover from injury.

“John Buckley is a huge blow,” says Geaney, “because he was hitting up to four and five points in every game this year.”

KERRY (MFC v Laois): B Kealy, (Kilcummin); P Reidy, (Scartaglin), L Quinn, (Dr Crokes), K Young, (Renard); D Doyle, (Churchill), C Kelliher, (Milltown/Castlemaine), D O’Connor, (Gneeveguilla); B Moran, (Kerins O’Rahillys), R Keating, (St. Mary’s); M Evans, (Dingle), A Kennelly, (Dr Crokes), M O’Donoghue, (Spa); S Murphy (Capt.) (Milltown/Castlemaine), D O’Sullivan, (Glenbeigh/Glencar), P O’Connor, (Kenmare) Subs: To be finalised tomorrow

LAOIS (MFC v Kerry): C. Munnelly, C. Healy, M. Timmons, B. Meredith, K. Smith, C. Begley, N. Danagher, E. Butler, C. Rogers, S. O’Neill, M. Tierney, S. O’Leary, I. Fleming, D. Brennan, D. Conway.