Walsh facing fight to be fit

FORMER young player of the year Tommy Walsh is facing an uphill battle to keep his place for Kerry’s All-Ireland semi-final against Meath on Sunday.

Even though Kieran Donaghy is a definite non-starter at this stage, Walsh may lose out to Tadhg Kennelly, who impressed when introduced in the quarter-final rout of Dublin.

The Kerry starting 15 will not be announced until Thursday, but Darran O’Sullivan and Donncha Walsh look certain to retain their places in the Kingdom attack for the battle with Meath.

That leaves the Kerry management a possible choice between Kennelly and Walsh for the last attacking slot.

The full Kerry squad played a behind closed doors A v B game at the weekend, with Colm Cooper and Paul Galvin impressing. Donncha Walsh was rested for the game, but all other hopefuls participated with the exception of Donaghy.

The Austin Stacks man is still restricted to non-contact training with running shoes, and while he’ll be in the squad for the semi-final, he’ll only be introduced in an emergency.

In Donaghy’s absence, and if Walsh isn’t chosen, Kerry will again line up without the target man they have successfully employed since 2006, suggesting Declan O’Sullivan could again be used as a roving full forward.

Meanwhile Ciarán Whelan and Denis Bastick have both had four-week suspensions proposed by the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) in the wake of incidents in Dublin’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Kerry.

Monaghan referee Pat McEneaney was requested by disciplinary chiefs to review video footage of Whelan’s second-half clash with defender Aidan O’Mahony and Bastick’s altercation with former footballer of the year, Kieran Donaghy, who was a water carrier for the Kingdom.

The suspensions do not affect either player’s club involvement, nor does it cross over into next season, although if either player were to be suspended in 2010, the punishment would automatically double up as a consequence.