Ireland call won’t sidetrack Kieran Donaghy’s Kerry role

Kieran Donaghy’s call-up to the Irish basketball squad will not impinge on his involvement with the Kerry footballers this summer.

Donaghy has been an absent figure for Kerry this spring, having prioritised basketball with Garvey’s Tralee Warriors, and while there was the possibility of the 34-year old returning to the fold towards the end of the league campaign, Fitzmaurice confirmed last night Donaghy wouldn’t be seen in a Kerry shirt until championship.

The Tralee footballer was this week named in Pete Strickland’s Irish senior squad, but that won’t impact on his role with Kerry, according to the manager.

“That [call-up] won’t affect his football,” Fitzmaurice insisted.

“What we decided going back to last December was Kieran would play basketball and train one night a week with us in the gym, which he is doing at the moment.

"What we said is that we’d leave the tail end of the league open, but the fact that the basketball is going so well at the moment, he’ll see out the basketball and be back playing football again [after the league].

“I am happy with that. Sometimes, you want as many hands on the pump as possible. Other times, you just have to make a decision. My thing with him always was to have him for championship. ‘If we have you before then, that would be bonus territory,’ I told him.

"Once he’s fully fit and ready to go football-wise and physically fit for championship, then I’m happy.”

Bryan Sheehan is back for next Saturday’s Dublin game having missed the Roscommon win through suspension. Should the All-Ireland champions avoid defeat at Austin Stack Park, they will equal the 34-game unbeaten run enjoyed by the Kerry team of the early 1930s.

“This is what makes football great. Everyone and anyone is talking about records and can Dublin be stopped; they’ll be asking whether Kerry can do it or will it be someone else. But that doesn’t impinge on us. We are going to try to go out and win a game.

"We try and win every game. With Dublin, there are added incentives for us because they’ve had the upper hand on us for the last couple of years.”