Mortimer says Mayo can dominate ageing Kerry defence

ALL-IRELAND SFC SEMI-FINAL:

Mortimer, 32, believes the Mayo forward line can exploit a Kerry rearguard containing Marc Ó Sé and Aidan O’Mahony, who are both 34 years of age.

Mortimer, who quit the Mayo squad over two years ago, described the Kerry defence as “okay” and explained: “If I was a Mayo forward, I wouldn’t be worrying about them. I wouldn’t be too nervous.

“There’s age in that defence as well. Marc Ó Sé is still to the forefront but he’s not getting any younger. I’d expect him to pick up Cillian [O’Connor], with O’Mahony probably on Andy Moran and Killian Young picking up Alan Dillon.”

Mortimer, plying his club trade with Parnells in Dublin, also insisted the only way Kerry will beat Mayo is by adopting a running game, similar to Dublin’s in last year’s All-Ireland final.

He added: “Running will overcome that midfield area. Kerry’s midfielders probably have a little bit more football but our midfield has been on top pretty much all year.

“It will be tough for Kerry to break even at midfield, the way our midfield is going. And there are scores to be got against them. It’s a relatively inexperienced defence, bar Ó Sé and O’Mahony, and even the goalkeeper [Brendan Kelly] is relatively new. I think our forwards will be okay.”

Kerry have enjoyed an impressive record against Mayo, which includes two heavy All-Ireland final victories in 2004 and 2006, when Mortimer was at the height of his powers.

But Mortimer added: “Traditionally, Kerry would have had a stronger team. And Mayo are a lot stronger in the last three years than Kerry and a lot of teams. This Kerry team doesn’t instil fear but they always carry a danger. You saw that against Dublin last year, when they could have won with pretty much the guts of the team playing on Sunday, minus the Gooch. Paul Geaney is in there, James O’Donoghue too and Declan O’Sullivan is playing his role and Kerry must be doing something right if they can afford to leave Kieran Donaghy and Darran O’Sullivan on the bench.

“Playing football against Kerry won’t work — they will dominate you football wise. They have the more natural footballers on their side but I don’t see that being enough.”