Gooch rolls out Kerry welcome mat for Brosnan

KERRY captain Colm ‘Gooch’ Cooper has welcomed the return of club colleague Eoin Brosnan to the county fold.

Brosnan ended a two-year inter-county absence in the Allianz Football League victory over Mayo on Sunday.

It was a day to remember for the Dr Crokes man who lined out at centre-back for the first time on Kingdom duty.

But Cooper had no doubts about Brosnan’s defensive capabilities. He said: “Eoin played well and centre-back is a new position for him at this level but he’s played it with us in the club. He fitted in nicely so that’s a benefit for us.

“Stepping up to inter-county, it’s a different level to play there. I felt he did quite well and it’s another option for Jack (O’Connor) and the management to look at.”

Cooper wasn’t surprised the manager contacted Brosnan about returning to the inter-county scene after some notable performances in Crokes’ run to the county title. But he insists he had no personal part to play in convincing him back. “No, Eoin is a bit older than me,” smiled Cooper. “It was up to himself. He has a young kid and a wife so he sat down and thought about it. The hunger came back a little bit and he certainly seemed to enjoy his club football with us. He’d a great year and was one of the best players in the county championship, so Jack was keen to get him on board.”

Cooper’s own availability for Sunday’s game in Castlebar was initially in doubt after he had a minor operation on his eye but played the full 70 minutes. He said: “It was a minor procedure. It’s perfect and I have no problems with it.”

Meanwhile, Mayo wing-back Peadar Gardiner has revealed the team are still getting over their shock All-Ireland qualifier defeat to Longford last year.

Describing the championship exit as “a terrible day for Mayo football”, the veteran defender admitted several of the team have to remind people they aren’t as bad as that defeat suggested.

“It was particularly low,” he admitted. “I played in the championship against Sligo and was an unused sub against Longford so it was a big disappointment. It’s hurting us all to this day so we do feel we have something to prove to ourselves first and foremost and to the supporters.

“No disrespect to Longford but it was a terrible day for Mayo football. To see a great manager like John (O’Mahony) go out on that note was really disappointing for us all because he’s a fantastic man.”

Gardiner isn’t overly concerned by Mayo’s return of one point from a possible four in their opening two Division 1 games, which have both been played at home.

“We got to a league final last year and it didn’t do us any favours,” said the Ballyhaunis man, who also acknowledged the McHale Park pitch isn’t “great at the moment”.

“We’re a work in progress. Our goal is the championship and that’s the bottom line. Next June, July, August, September... that’s our goal.”

It might be too early to describe next Sunday’s game against Galway in Tuam as a relegation battle but it certainly is a bottom-of-the-table clash. Conjecture about unrest in the Galway camp has been rife but Gardiner isn’t reading much into it.

“I don’t know what is going on in their squad and it doesn’t bother me. It’s not going to make or break the season for us but obviously they’re rivals.”