Jack’s joy as defence makes solid case

AFTER the quarter-final win over Armagh, Jack O’Connor bounded onto the Croke Park pitch with the gaiety of a school kid let loose on summer, but even that paled in comparison with his good mood yesterday evening.

With revenge for the Munster final and a place in a third All-Ireland decider both in the bag, the Kerry manager ushered the media throng into the team’s warm-up area, cracking jokes and beaming a very contented smile.

This wasn’t as sweet a performance as that which accounted for Joe Kernan’s men but it had as much to recommend it, particularly the performance of the Kerry defence which tightened a few nuts and bolts since the last game to good effect.