Murphy is confident of Kerry victory

IN his first year in county team management Kerry junior football coach Connie Murphy has certainly worked the oracle with his charges and is confident they can round off the season with an All-Ireland title.

“They are an exception bunch, totally committed to the cause, and I’m confident they can bring back the title to Kerry for the first time since 1994,” said the former county senior star.

“We’ve kept faith with the same starting 15 for Saturday, and they deserve that.

“From reports received Wicklow are very strong side, particularly down the middle. They’ve had a couple of impressive wins along the way, and would see a victory as a launching pad to greater things.

“However we haven’t come this far to be beaten. On our day we are a match for the best, and we are going out to win. A junior title may not be the number one priority in Kerry, but for the players and management of the team, it’s hugely important.

“If you look back on former Kerry junior teams, a number of them went on to play senior. Current Johnny Crowley is an example of that.

“Our defence is excellent and if we can get a good supply of ball into our forwards, Jack Ferriter and his colleagues have the class to win it for us.”

This will be the first meeting between these counties since the 1969 Home final which Wicklow won.

Kerry’s team that year include current senior selector John O’Keeffe, former Irish international Moss Keane, and Dan Kavanagh, who figured prominently with UCC in the Cork championship.

Unlike Kerry, Wicklow can field their second senior team which should give them an advantage. But they’ll need everything that’s going and more if they are to win this final.

This is a talented Kerry team, which has improved markedly since their narrow victory over Cork in the first round of the Munster championship.

By coincidence, Wicklow are looked after by a Kerryman, Donal McGillacuddy, who is also chairman of the county board. They last won the title in 1936 when they beat Mayo and there is a link between that team and the present side in Robert Doyle who is a grandson of Bob Elliott.

Victories over Laois, Dublin and Kildare put Wicklow through and for Wayne O’Gorman and Joe Murphy it’s a crucial game. They were on the hurling team which lost the All-Ireland B final to Kildare last week.