Back door draught was eye opener

BACK in June, just days after Kerry had pilfered a draw against Conor Counihan’s men in Killarney, Jack O’Connor sat into his car in South Kerry and pointed it in the direction of Cork city.

His destination was the Courthouse Tavern where Aidan O’Mahony was waiting to chew the fat over a cup of tea ahead of the replayed Munster semi-final in Páirc Uí Chaoimh the following weekend.

Some of what was said was enough to turn the air blue. O’Connor picked the defender’s brains about this, that and the other but, underneath the Kerry manager’s agitation was an unshakeable belief.