Canty: Kingdom can overcome Donaghy injury

CORK skipper Graham Canty insisted Kerry boss Jack O’Connor ‘has loads of options’ to counter the injury lay-off of former Footballer of the Year Kieran Donaghy.

Donaghy faces up to ten weeks on the sidelines after undergoing surgery to correct a stress fracture in his foot which he sustained in the NFL final victory over Derry at Croke Park last month.

Donaghy is certain to miss Kerry’s championship opener against Cork or Waterford on June 7 at Fitzgerald Stadium and Canty impressively sidestepped questions ahead of an expected meeting of Munster’s great football rivals.

“Kerry are in a Munster semi-final and we are not. Our focus is on Waterford,’’ he commented.

“Kieran’s injury is a huge hit to Kerry but they have huge talent. We saw their bench for the National League final, I don’t know how many All-Ireland medal-winners were there, champing at the bit wanting to come on.

“For Kieran it’s a huge blow, but I’m sure he will recover and he’ll come back later on for Kerry.’’

Canty knows the big Kerry full-forward well having marked him on several occasions while the pair were team mates for the International Rules Series in Australia last year.

“He’s an outstanding footballer. He has huge physicality and he can win his own ball. He always takes the right option – whether to take the shot on himself or leave it off to the Gooch. He’s a great footballer and he gives the Kerry attack great focus as well. But Jack (O’Connor) has loads of options. He has Tommy Walsh’s brother, Barry John, involved in the squad and that gives him another.’’

The Cork skipper insists there’s no danger of them taking Waterford for granted in Dungarvan on Sunday week.

“You are playing away from home, it’s the start of the summer and you want to perform. For the couple of supporters who will follow us down there you want to make sure you put on a good performance and don’t go out of there after Waterford beating you. The way the leagues are (structured) would suggest there is a gap between Cork and Kerry and the rest. You still have only 15 against 15 and if you are not on your game you will be turned over. Everyone expected Munster to beat Leinster here a couple of weeks ago, but Leinster showed that with a better bit of focus, on the day anything can happen.’’

Canty reckons that anything up to 12 counties have realistic ambitions of winning the Sam Maguire in September. “Those ten or 12 definitely believe they can win and below in Cork we are no different.

“Most people will be tipping Kerry and Tyrone. They seem to be the two strongest teams at the moment and are both in Division One.

“Kerry didn’t lose a game and won the final without even getting out of first gear.

“There is no expectation in Cork. You would be putting pressure on yourselves as a group to perform. If you are to go another step there is a whole lot of work to do yet.

“Performances over the last couple of years would suggest Cork are not that far away but you need to bring it up another notch. We still only played Division Two football. There’s a higher standard in the first division and we’re probably behind because of that.”