Johnny Buckley happy to be up and running so quickly

Never mind turning over Donegal and Dublin on their home patch, never mind the man-of-the-match baubles. Johnny Buckley is simply enjoying an uninterrupted league campaign, very much a rarity as far as the Kerry forward is concerned.

Munster club football glory in 2011, ‘12 and ‘13 meant a delayed return to the Kerry fold for the Dr Crokes contingent. Winter training, the McGrath Cup and the opening two rounds of the national league were missed — the remainder of the spring spent playing catch-up.

Upon his return to the Kerry set-up last February, Buckley was introduced for the final 11 minutes in their round 3 defeat away to Mayo. Across the concluding four weekends of league action, he started only once; Buckley’s total league-time reaching 113 minutes.

Not exactly ideal championship preparation, said the 25-year old.

“I am really enjoying an extended league this year,” he noted. “In the last three or four years we would have been involved with Crokes up to the All-Ireland semi-final stage. You are coming back in to the Kerry fold then and it is difficult to totally refocus the mind when the other players have been training since the start of the year.

“Personally, I have really enjoyed being there since the start, since last December, and working along with the team.

“In previous years, you are coming back in to a team that have been training solidly, have played their McGrath Cup matches and a couple of National League games. It is only natural that you are going to be a bit behind in trying to get a place. You are going to be fighting for positions. No more than this year, fellas are trying to hold onto jerseys when others rejoin the panel.”

Buckley revealed it was tough to pull himself out of bed the morning after the Cork hammering. Victory against Donegal then was imperative on several fronts.

“It was great to get the win. After being very disappointing against Cork last weekend, it was great to turn the tide and get the two points.

“We were very disappointed — personally and on a team level — leaving Cork. You need to get that out of your system, which focuses you then on the next game.

“We had a little chat after the Cork game to suss it out. We knew we wanted to get back to winning ways. That’s the joy of the league that you can turn the tide so soon.”

Buckley added: “A feature of our performance here was the high fielding. That is vital in order to win primary possession. It is something we work on, it is something we target. The lads [David Moran and Anthony Moran] put in a huge shift on Sunday.”