Business as usual for O’Shea as Dr Crokes await replay
Either way, it’s business as usual for the busiest GAA coach in the country.
Dr Crokes and Kerry trainer Pat O’Shea may have to cram four training sessions and probably two matches into the next seven days, but he’s philosophical about the workload.
“Nothing has changed from the last three months. Train two nights with Kerry, two nights with Crokes and try and get home for something to eat during the week, see the kids and put them to bed. Get on with it, basically,” he mused.
The punishing schedule won’t last, however. He finishes his commitment to Dr Crokes once the AIB Club Championship ends – and begins preparing for the small matter of an All-Ireland football defence by Kerry.
The CCC looks likely to fix the replay for Saturday in Limerick, though there were suggestions last night that it could be pushed out to March 3.
However with the Sigerson Cup scheduled for that weekend, both sides would be keen to avoid such a clash. If the game goes ahead on Saturday it will be an early throw-in to avoid a clash with the Six Nations clash at Croke Park between Ireland and England at 5.30pm.
“I presume it’s going to be next weekend,” said O’Shea. “They might consider playing it as a curtain-raiser to the Allianz League tie between Fermanagh and Kerry on Sunday!”
The winners from yesterday’s 1-9 to 0-12 draw meet Crossmaglen Rangers in the St Patrick’s Day showdown. The Armagh club defeated Connacht champions St Brigid’s 1-11 to 0-11 in Mullingar yesterday, with manager Donal Murtagh admitting his players were like zealots on a mission.
“We lost a semi-final to Portlaoise a couple of seasons ago that we should have won, and it’s been eating away at us since. I refused to watch the last two finals, because I felt we should have been there. I was in Dublin on St Patrick’s Day last year for the Salthill-St Gall’s match, but I went to something in the RDS because I couldn’t bear to watch it.”
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