O’Donoghue left wincing at Gooch attack

All Star Kerry forward James O’Donoghue has admitted RTÉ pundit Martin McHugh "did me no favours" with his two-trick pony comment about Colm Cooper.

McHugh drew criticism for his television claim about Cooper following Kerry’s All-Ireland quarter-final win over Galway.

McHugh stated that O’Donoghue, yesterday confirmed as GPA Opel Player of the Month for July, is, “a better player than Cooper in my opinion. He’s one of the greatest I’ve ever seen. I’m my opinion, Cooper is a two-trick pony. That lad there [O’Donoghue] has six or seven”.

O’Donoghue said he interpreted McHugh’s remarks as high praise but revealed he was left wincing when the pundit commented on Cooper.

And the Munster final hero admitted he was forced to avoid social media sites for several days because of ‘abuse’ directed at him over the issue.

“I tried to keep away from it, people were writing to you on Twitter saying, ‘you’re not as good as the Gooch’. And I’m like, ‘I know, I didn’t say it!’

“They’re quick to throw in the bit of abuse. But look, it’s a thing that I try to keep away from and not really comment on. All I could say is, everyone around the country has huge time for the Gooch. I don’t think he deserved to be criticised out of the blue for no reason.”

Asked if he was flattered by the comments, O’Donoghue said: “The first half of it, I was. And then he said the Gooch thing and I was thinking, ‘don’t say that, jeez’. Look, it’s nice to get a compliment like that or be spoken of well on The Sunday Game. But obviously, down in Kerry, we have huge respect for the Gooch. He’s our main man. Two trick pony? I think it came out of his mouth before he had time to think about it.”

O’Donoghue. meanwhile, dismissed suggestions Dublin have developed into an unstoppable force.

Kerry and Dublin are on course to meet in next month’s All-Ireland final — if Kerry can overcome Mayo, and Dublin beat Donegal, in their respective semi-finals.

“Well, I suppose it’s hard to tell (how good Dublin are) because I don’t know have they come up against a Mayo yet, who would be confident of beating them,” said O’Donoghue.

“Or a good team who would give everything to beat them. They have this aura about them and they can intimidate teams. But when you get to the semi-final or the final, nobody is going to be intimidated by you.

“Of course they are an excellent team but they’re definitely not at an unattainable level. They can be beaten. That’s for certain.

“Anyone can be beaten on a given day, all you need is luck. A red card or a black card can change the whole face of the game. Just because they’re playing really, really well at the moment, doesn’t mean they can’t be beaten.”

Holders Dublin have reached the semi-finals with a remarkable 60 points to spare, having easily dispatched the four sides they’ve faced.

“Their forward play is so impressive,” admitted O’Donoghue.

“I’d always be looking at forwards and what they’re at and what they’re up to and the Dublin forwards are very impressive.

“Even their backs that attack are very strong. They can kind of overwhelm teams. You have to be really prepared. They’re rightly favourites for the All-Ireland this year. They’re probably the strongest team out there but that doesn’t mean they can’t be beaten.”