‘Inspirational’ Galvin will be missed

AIDAN O’MAHONY probably had few qualms about accepting an invite to promote a new football boot when the proposal arrived a few weeks ago.

Then came Paul Galvin’s tantrum in Fitzgerald Stadium.

So O’Mahony found himself sitting at a boardroom table in Lower Lesson Street surrounded by a posse of journalists eager to quiz him on the incident that turned a routine Munster Championship match into the GAA’s hot debate of the month — and possibly the year.

“I can’t really comment on it because I didn’t see the incident but, from what I saw, Paddy Russell dealt with the incident and hopefully that will be the end of it,” said he.

Another query on whether the Finuge’s man robust style makes him something of a marked man was met with the kind of non-answer any politician would be proud of. Whatever the ratio of sympathy to annoyance felt by Galvin’s team-mates this week, O’Mahony was a willing character witness for the captain whose case was being heard by the CCCC across the Liffey almost simultaneously.

“Every team needs a Paul Galvin on it. He is an inspirational captain. The amount of work he puts into it, even while he was out injured in the league.”

Galvin wasn’t the only talking point from Killarney. Declan O’Sullivan’s knee injury was classed in the cruciate category but such worries have eased in the last 48 hours. Losing one-third of their first-choice half-forward line would be a tough enough blow. Losing two-thirds of it would be a terrible price to pay for a game they were always going to win at their leisure.

“They are both important players. Paul is the man who wins all the breaking balls and Declan is a great ball carrier. They would be big losses and they were both out for most of the league as well. They put a lot of work in to get back. I suppose, we are lucky enough in that we have good cover there in Sean O’Sullivan and Darren O’Sullivan in the wings. They will be good cover if they both need to come in.”

The demise of the captain as well as his predecessor served to overshadow a game that had its uses for Kerry. Colm Cooper made his first championship start since his American sojourn, Tommy Walsh made his senior cha bow while Kieran Donaghy got a contained run-out towards the end.

Pat O’Shea expressed his dissatisfaction with elements of the display afterwards but it is hard to argue with a 12-point win and O’Mahony was just happy to see the All-Ireland champions shake off their rustiness as the afternoon wore on.

“Clare had nothing to lose. It was our first game of the championship. We had the National League but you can’t compare that to championship. We had a poor enough performance the last day in the first-half but, in the second-half, we showed glimpses of what we can do.”

They weren’t alone in having much to think about come Monday morning. Cork’s problems at the Gaelic Ground threatened to overshadow even Galvin’s rush of blood until their two belated face-saving goals.

The form guide, on the basis of last Sunday, would point to a Kerry win but the same barometer predicted a nip and tuck All-Ireland final last September. O’Mahony expects a sterner Cork challenge on July 6.

“Everyone wants to see a Cork and Kerry final. The fact that it is on in Páirc Uí Chaoimh again means it will be a very difficult test for us. Going back to the All-Ireland final last year, Cork didn’t perform to their ability. We will see the true Cork in the Munster final this year. They are the tests you need coming into the championship.”