Youngest Ó Sé making his Marc

JACK O’CONNOR isn’t the type of coach who has difficulties relating to players at a personal level.

And, in recognising that one or two might be discommoded when it comes to deciding on their championship line-up next month against Waterford, he won’t be uncaring. But, like everyone else in his position, the Kerry football manager has to look at the bigger picture and, right now he’s happy that there is competition for places.

One player who has shown the right stuff in recent outings is the youngest of the three Ó Sé brothers, Marc, who is a teacher in Tralee CBS. He has slotted into Michael McCarthy’s position while the Kilcummin man recovers from a broken finger.

Of course, he realises he may come under pressure when McCarthy is back to full fitness. But the same could be said about Mossy Lyons, who has been enjoying a great run at wing-back. Ó Sé is keenly looking forward to Sunday’s final, particularly as three years ago, when Kerry met Galway in the final (for the first time since 1984, and before that 1957), he was on the bench and only made a belated appearance for Paul Galvin.

While he is naturally pleased with the way the Laois and Dublin games have gone for him, he doesn’t attach any great significance to his positioning at the heart of the defence. It’s where he plays most of his football with Gaeltacht.

“It’s not new to me,’’ he says. “Obviously it’s my first time playing there with Kerry, but the way the full-back position has gone over the last few years, it’s the same as playing at corner-back. There’s much of a muchness really.”

At the same time, he recognises that it’s a help having a player of Seamus Moynihan’s class operating outside him. As a group, he feels the backs have done well over the last two Sundays.

Based on the way the team has been performing, he is optimistic about their prospects against Galway. “We had a tough game against Dublin, but it gave us a bit of a base to work on against Laois. The main thing is that we got two extra games and without them we could be off playing challenge matches.

“Galway will be a good test for us. They have some great players. We will have our work cut out if we are to beat them.”