Brosnan touted to fill Kerry vacancy
Killian Young’s ankle injury has thrown open the centre-back slot and the pair strongly touted for the Dr Crokes man, sprung from the bench in the closing stages of the Munster final win over Cork.
Mark Griffin and Brian Maguire have both been mentioned as possible starters, but O’Sullivan advised against reworking the Kerry defence to accommodate one of the rookies.
The four-times All-Ireland medal winner stressed the importance of the match-ups in the Kingdom rearguard, claiming the Munster champions have the defenders to negate Dublin’s high-flying offensive unit.
“Killian is a huge loss,” O’Sullivan told Radio Kerry. “He is a left half-back doing at job at centre-back. He has come in for a lot of unfair criticism and he was just coming into his own during the Cavan game. It is a huge game for him to miss out on. He would have been an ideal match-up for Ciarán Kilkenny.
“Tomás Ó Sé has always had the better of Diarmuid Connolly, Peter Crowley is the right man for Paul Flynn, Shane Enright will be suited to Paul Mannion and Eoin Brosnan is probably the best man to try keep tabs on Kilkenny now.”
At the other end of the field, however, Quirke is not convinced Colm Cooper will be sufficiently utilised at centre-forward given Dublin’s style of attacking from deep.
The Tralee man advocated moving the Gooch inside to exploit the Dub’s Achilles heel.
“The Dublin corner-backs are not the strongest and I think the ‘Gooch’ could do well in there. What you don’t want is Colm expanding his energy chasing a Dublin half-back all the way inside own 21.”
Though forecasting a Kerry victory, Quirke claimed Dublin will carry the day should Fitzmaurice’s troops fail to curb the influence of Stephen Cluxton’s kick-outs.
Added to that, he questioned the fitness of this Kerry outfit and whether they have the legs to match the Leinster champions over 70 minutes.
“There is a major question mark there. We faded out of the Munster final...we were outscored by double scores in the second-half of the Cavan game. When it comes to 50 minutes, it remains to be seen can they stay going. This Dublin team are super-fit.
“The biggest part of the game for Kerry is their concentration. The strongest part of Dublin’s armour is Cluxton’s kick-outs. He will wait for that half second when a Kerry player momentarily switches off allowing a Dublin player, be they a wing-back or a midfielder, get free. The Kerry lads will have to be hugely switched on, if they aren’t it could be crucial.”
“The Kerry bench will be vital,” added O’Sullivan. “I expect Donaghy to come of the bench as that Dublin full-back line are susceptible under the high ball.”
Regardless of whoever emerges on Sunday, both men agreed that Mayo will be hugely difficult opponents to overcome in the decider. Reflecting on the county’s six point win over Tyrone, O’Sullivan and Quirke, boasting seven All-Ireland winners medals between them, were hugely critical of referee Maurice Deegan’s handling of the game.
“Maurice Deegan had a shocker,” claimed Quirke. “He gave three frees inside the opening 20 that weren’t frees. That set the tone for the game.”
Mayo trailed their Ulster opponents until the fifth minute of the second-half when Alan Freeman slotted home a penalty awarded for a foul on Colm Boyle.
No penalty, asserted O’Sullivan.
“It was a genuine attempt by a defender to get the ball. If I was Dermot Carlin I would have felt aggrieved. It was the turning point.”
“It was outside the box and had a huge impact on the game,” concluded Quirke.
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