Changed schedule suits O’Connor
Manager Jack O'Connor acknowledged yesterday that the prospects of both playing had been greatly enhanced by the changed schedule announced yesterday by the GAC.
"Seamus is optimistic that he will be right back at it, possibly by the weekend and Declan is making a good recovery. We'd be hoping that both of them will be in the frame for the quarter-final,'' he commented.
"I wouldn't say it's a certainty, but we'd be very hopeful.''
O'Connor insisted that there was never any question of Moynihan playing a part in the Munster final replay, even though he had been togged out.
"He is a very important player for us. But, the fact of the matter is that he needs to be going flat out in training before we would bring him into a match. That's our criteria. We won't put him on unless we are sure that he is right.''
Initially, Kerry were expecting to be in action in a fortnight. However, the GAC decided to fix the quarter-final games for August 7 and August 14, giving the winners a fortnight's break before the All-Ireland semi-finals.
O'Connor admitted to "obvious relief" at the final whistle in Killarney after a "roller-coaster of emotions".
"For the first 20 minutes it looked as if we were going to get a hiding, the way Limerick were playing, but it was inevitable that they could not keep that pace up. Once we managed to limit the damage, a goal was always going to bring us back into it.''
He didn't agree with Limerick manager Liam Kearns' assertion that Dara Ó Cinnéide's goal from the penalty spot before half-time had been the turning point in the game, crediting Eoin Brosnan's goal as the pivotal moment.
"It was a great goal and it certainly got the crowd going, which was crucial. Once I saw it hitting the net I knew we had a great chance of being right back in the game,'' added O'Connor.
"We did expect them to be as good. They have been building this team for about five years and they really felt that they had arrived this year. We got our hardest game in the League from Limerick above in the Gaelic Grounds, when they really put it up to us physically as well as football-wise.
"We were expecting it to be very tough what we didn't expect was the blistering start they had. A goal after ten seconds was exactly what they were looking for. It gave them great momentum for about 20 minutes and we found it hard to stem the tide. But once the game settled down and we got the goal, we got a bit of momentum. I felt at half-time we had a great chance of winning the game.''
The move of Brosnan to centre-forward had been decided for two reasons. Firstly, the selectors felt he wasn't "getting into the game" at midfield where the exchanges were "very physical" and secondly they were confident that he could be a threat going forward.
Their thinking had also been influenced by the fact that Stephen Lucey was operating as a loose man in front of their full-forward line and "giving them a bit of trouble".
Predictably, he was delighted with the impact made by Tommy Griffin when he came in to fill the gap in the middle, saying: "he has really put himself into the frame!''
Limerick skipper Tommy Stack vowed his team can overcome the disappointment of their Munster SFC Final loss before the qualifier meeting with Derry on Saturday.
Stack had reason to feel the upset more than most. He was penalised for a foul on Colm Cooper which produced a vital penalty for Kerry moments before the break
But, Stack was philosophical.
And, the mood of the team he portrays is one of confidence facing into the next stage of the competition.
"We have the qualifier game coming up next weekend and we have got to prepare ourselves for that game. We have to be positive and get on with it. We just have to put this behind us.
"We all felt we had a great chance of winning and I think it showed on Sunday. We put up a great performance and we are very proud of what we did out there just disappointed we couldn't push it a bit further."
While he found it difficult to accept that the penalty should have been awarded against him, he acknowledged that players have to live with such decisions.
"I just felt there was minimal contact. Football is a contact sport and you'd be just disappointed that you'd be penalised for something like that.
"Still, the game was in the balance up to the end. We brought it back to a point maybe with a lucky penalty but we never gave up. With just a few breaks at midfield we could have been going forward as opposed to going back. Overall, we gave a great account of ourselves in the second half -regardless of what happened!"
