Cool Cooper proves the new sensation

BEFORE the game, some worried about him, others scoffed at the hype.

The Kerry supporters looked at this wee whip of a lad and feared for his safety in the Croke Park cauldron; the Galway fans were sceptical of this new sensation from the south.

Wicklow, Fermanagh, Kildare, in his previous tests? This one was acid, the limpet marking of their own proven young star, Kieran Fitzgerald, near sixty thousand crowd, headquarters. Colm Cooper, went the western wisdom, would be found out, and early.