Another chapter in rivalry between Kerry and Dublin

ANOTHER chapter in the rivalry between Kerry and Dublin will be written on August 14, jostling with the meeting of Tyrone and Mayo for the tie of the round tag.

Mon, 02 Aug, 2004 - 01:00

Colm O’Connor and Paul Keane

The Kingdom will share the day in Croke Park with Derry and Westmeath. The irony is that Midlands boss Páidí Ó Sé was in charge of his native Kerry when they last played Dublin in the championship at Semple Stadium in Thurles three years ago.

“It's perhaps the worst draw we could have got because Kerry are, in my opinion, two or three years ahead of us on the football field,” Dublin chairman John Bailey said last night. “It's another huge tie for us, just like it was in 2001 when we met them and Kerry's replay win over Limerick showed just how far they are ahead.”

Any suggestion that Kerry would seek a neutral venue for the tie was dismissed by the county chairman Sean Walsh. Croke Park may not have been the happiest of hunting grounds in recent times for the green and gold contingent. But they are not complaining. “If GAC decided that the All-Ireland quarter finals are in Croke Park, then we have no problem with that,” Walsh said last night. “If you look back a couple of years ago to the games in Semple Stadium in Thurles, there was a lot of hassle for both [groups of] supporters travelling there. It is good that we now know who we are playing and we now have two weeks to prepare. It looks like our game and Mayo and Tyrone are the plum ones from the round.”

Red Hand boss Mickey Harte certainly agreed and engaged in a bit of prematch gamesmanship.

“Looking at Mayo's form in the Connacht final there wouldn't have been too many teams wanting to meet them. When you meet a team with that kind of class and that kind of finishing power then you obviously have a big job on your hands.”

Meanwhile, County Board officials in Cork and Laois have vowed to give their full assistance to an investigation into Saturday’s ill-tempered All-Ireland MFC quarter-final between the sides.

“Laois County Board will assist in whatever way possible in a bid to conclude this affair as quickly as possible,” Laois PRO Marcella Daly said last night.