Hassett’s absence to cut Laune chances
And he had done his part pulling Laune Rangers through some tough encounters to reach tomorrow's Kerry SFC decider against South Kerry.
But tendon damage in a freak fall a fortnight ago rules him out of the final, and knocks a point or two off the Killorglin men's odds of victory.
His absence means added responsibility for former county team-mate Billy O'Shea. He agrees he faces an onerous task.
"If you look at the performances we had over the year, he was outstanding against East Kerry," says O'Shea.
"The man covered every blade of grass on the field that night, blocking balls at one end and being involved in moves at the other. He was all over the place.''
The feat, says O'Shea, was repeated against Dr Crokes at the quarter-final stage.
"Almost single-handedly he dragged us over the finishing line when they were coming back at us and it looked like we were going to lose. His presence and his carrying ability is something that has driven us on all year. It is something we will be lacking tomorrow.''
O'Shea, who works in Killarney with Irwins Insurances, doesn't need to be reminded of the vagaries of sport.
In Kerry's All-Ireland SFC Final victory over Mayo in 1997, he sustained a broken leg in a freak clash with Maurice Fitzgerald and was out of the game for nine months.
Prior to that O'Shea had been a key player, not just with the county team but with Rangers, who captured the All-Ireland club title in 1996, and retaining the Kerry and Munster titles later that season.
But then a lean spell was to follow. Not surprisingly, says O'Shea.
"We had a lot of the older brigade who started to retire from '97 onwards. As a result of that, you had the likes of myself and Liam Hassett being the older members of the team, trying to replace the likes of Joe Shannon, Paudie Sheehan, Tommy Byrne.
"They were all stalwarts who had been carrying the team for a long time and had a lot of experience under their belts.
"So a transitional period was inevitable. It just took a couple of years to put a team in place and a management that was going to bring us to the next level at a different point.
"Probably in the last three years or so, it happened.''
This season's championship campaign began in early summer against East Kerry. And though the headlines were grabbed by Seamus Moynihan's ankle injury, O'Shea recalls Laune Rangers' comeback from a six points second-half deficit as a sign of things to come.
"Maybe that's the feature of this team, that they are well able to fight when the battle is put up to them."
But the path to the final has not run smoothly.
"Against Crokes, we were authors of our own misfortune to a degree. We had such a substantial lead, then we fell asleep for a while and inevitably Crokes came back. But we managed to hold out.
"There was good quality shown again that day, but probably not against Gaeltacht because we had such a good start. To be fair, given the year they had and their injuries, they were probably tired. They did not really put up the challenge that most people expected.
"It was a good performance from us, but to a degree the game was almost a non-entity.''
O'Shea believes that tomorrow's opponents, South Kerry, display similar characteristics to his side.
A lot of people were saying that their semi-final was a poor game of football, but, when it was put up to them, they did show good battling qualities.
"St Kieran's went in as no-hopers, with nothing to lose and they threw everything at them. The way they were able to respond at that level was a great sign,'' he added.
And then there is the Maurice Fitzgerald factor. "From what I hear, not alone is Maurice playing good football, but he is also the inspirational leader. He is their team captain, so he is going to be driving everybody on.
"Inevitably, what they want for him is to win that elusive county medal!"
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