Kingdom boss O’Grady tips junior stars to shine in final battle with Roscommon
O’Grady’s side face Roscommon in the All-Ireland decider at Cusack Park, Ennis tomorrow (3.30pm), and he expects many future stars to be on display.
He refers to the last Kerry team which won the title back in 1994 to illustrate his point.
Said O’Grady: “We beat Galway in that final by 11 points (0-15 to 0-4) with a team that included Declan O’Keeffe, Dara Ó Cinnéide, Stephen Stack and Donal Daly and look what they went on to achieve at senior.
“In many instances the very good minor player goes on to third level, gets a part-time job or goes off to the States every summer.
“When he graduates he’s about 23/24 years old and is looking to get back into serious football, which isn’t easy after missing out on a few years.
“The junior grade gives such players the opportunity to show what they can do, and I would be confident at least three of our junior team will make into on the senior squad in a year or two.
“One of the drawbacks we face tomorrow is, unlike our opponents, we can only pick players from intermediate and junior clubs while Roscommon can put out their second best senior squad.
“Having said that, we have a very good side which improved with every outing. We beat Waterford, Tipperary and champions Cork in Munster.
“The final against Cork, who had to put out a completely new team, was a great game and I was very glad to hear the final whistle.
“Meath provided the opposition in the All-Ireland semi-final and we won a very competitive match here. They are always tough opponents but our lads played some great football to get the result.”
Likewise in Roscommon, their team which won the 2000 junior title included eight players, Michael Dignan, Carl Mannion, Shane Curran, Paul Noone, John Hanley, Gary Cox, Brendan Burke and Noel Galvin, all of whom graduated on to the senior team which won the 2001 Connacht title.
“Junior has been a very good grade to Roscommon,” said team mentor Seamus Maher.
“We have a nice blend of youth and experience in our side with a number of last year’s minors involved. Our goalkeeper David Moran spent six years with Manchester United before turning his back on soccer; likewise Sean Purcell, did the same after being an international at Under-16 and 18.
“We have one link with the 2000 team in Ger Mockler, while Niall Moran, Brian Goold, Martin Connolly and Paul Moran, brother of David, will all be in our starting line up.
“Playing Kerry in football at any level is always difficult, and we’ll do well to keep the scoreline down to respectable proportions. But we are in an All-Ireland final and a win would do wonders for the game in this part of the country.”
Tomorrow’s final is a repeat of the 2000 decider which the Connacht champions won 0-14 to 0-11.
Kerry’s semi-final win over Meath should give them the necessary confidence to complete the job tomorrow.
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