O Sé faces knee scan
The former footballer of the year suffered the knock in the final minute of An Ghaeltacht’s intermediate championship victory over Keel (1-9 to 0-10) on Saturday night.
O Sé will have the problem assessed by medics this morning but is confident of being fit for Kerry’s Munster SFC opener against Tipperary on May 16. However he is certain to miss the club’s next game in the competition at home to Milltown/Castlemaine next weekend.
His was the only injury of concern for manager Jack O’Connor as the opening round of the Kerry club championships kicked off.
Meanwhile referee Willie Barrett has spoken about his horror ordeal at the hands of a hurley-wielding supporter nine days ago.
Barrett was refereeing a club hurling match in Tipperary when his assailant ran from the crowd and struck him twice with a hurley.
Ardfinnan club man Barrett, who has refereed two All-Ireland hurling finals, abandoned the match between Carrick Davin and Ballingarry 10 minutes into the second half. But Barrett, who has been officiating for 33 years, won’t let the incident stop him from doing the job he loves.
He said: “I’m refereeing 33 years and I’ve never encountered anything even remotely near that. You’d have people giving out but this was different.
“But I’m well over it now, I’ve moved on and it’s behind me.
“I remember that the man was on me straight away; he struck me and pulled a second time. I saved myself with my wrist. The only thing I didn’t know was where he went after that. He disappeared and I didn’t see any more of him.”
Barrett’s experience has stood to him as he comes to terms with the gravity of the attack.
Barrett is raring to go again and waiting for the call from fixtures-makers. He confirmed: “Whenever they give me matches again, I’ll be taking them. It was very clear to me that I would come back. Okay, I was a bit shocked for a day or two. I didn’t know where I was for a few days really. But I had all of these good wishes, which I was delighted with. I was shocked by the overwhelming response I got to what happened to me – cards, emails, phone calls, you name it. People all over the country rang me, even people who might not have been in touch for a couple of years.”
Barrett insisted: “It was never a question of not going back.”
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