Cooper can cope with pressure, says Russell

MIKE FRANK RUSSELL admits to a sense of surprise that young Colm Cooper has fared so well in his first championship season with Kerry.

And yet, it wasn't so long ago that the quietly-spoken Laune Rangers player was a teenage sensation himself.

He was just 19 when he won the first of his two All-Ireland senior football medals in 1997 he came on for Dara Ó Cinnéide in the final. He had been introduced as a sub in each of the preceding games.