Eamonn Fitzmaurice: I expected players to be sharper

While happy with the win, Kerry manager, Eamonn Fitzmaurice, admitted that he "expected [his] charges to be sharper" on the back of an intense five-day training camp in Portugal.

Kerry management and players returned from the Algarve last Saturday week to begin the countdown to yesterday’s potential ‘banana skin’ in Thurles, but Fitzmaurice believes improvement is needed if they are to retain their Munster crown in under three weeks’ time.

“The fact we went to Portugal closer to championship this year, I would have hoped we’d be a bit sharper this weekend, particularly our ball handling — basic skills we got wrong today that we usually would be very good on.