Great divide splits Ballydesmond clubmates as Kerry face Cork

TONIGHT’S Munster JFC final between Kerry and Cork in Tralee, at 8.30pm, has take on an added interest with clubmates Niall Fleming and Jerry Healy on opposing sides.

‘How come?,’ you might well ask. Quite simply, both players are members of the Ballydesmond club straddling the Cork/Kerry border, and, when the club was formed, in 1964, no agreement was reached on what county board to be affiliated with.

Some members wanted Cork, others Kerry. A compromise was reached whereby any player on the Kerry side of the border picked for inter-county duty would declare for Kerry, with the same applying on the Cork side.