Ó Sé slips into Kerry hot-seat

It would be one for any coach’s curriculum vitae: managing All-Ireland champions Kerry in their first outing since September’s success against Donegal.

However, the Kingdom seem to have stopped just short of an unseemly scramble for someone to take charge of Sunday’s McGrath Cup clash with IT Tralee by securing the services of U21 boss Darragh Ó Sé at the eleventh hour.

All but four of the All-Ireland winning squad and team management are in South Africa on holidays and won’t return until next Monday.

It had been hoped - indeed signposted - that selector, Diarmuid Murphy, would be back from the trip to take charge of the shadow squad, but PRO John O’Leary confirmed last night that won’t be the case.

How Ó Sé will manage to cobble together a squad to play Tralee is a moot point — he will be in Emo, Co Laois on Saturday, with the U21s, who play Cavan in the Hastings Cup. He may look to many of the same group, with a few Kerry juniors from last season thrown in, to make up a competitive side for Kerry.