Leinster victory would keep the Faithful happy

Brendan O’Brien

So says the team's goalkeeper Padraic Kelly, one of the senior members on the panel and one of the leading voices in the players' tête-à-tête with the county board last year.

The kernel of the showdown was what the footballers perceived as the board's failure to adequately support their efforts and a revolving door managerial policy that saw Kevin Kilmurray eventually replace Gary Fahy, who himself had only slipped into Paul Kelly's shoes the year before.