O'Connor: We're playing without pressure

Ahead of Sunday's All-Ireland SFC final, Kerry manager Jack O'Connor feels losing their Munster title to Cork has been a blessing in disguise for his side.

It is hard to compare the Kerry team which will clash with Mayo this weekend to the one which meekly entered the championship back in May.

They looked far from the finished article when beating Waterford at Fitzgerald Stadium back then. But gradually, over the summer months, the Kingdom have come good.

O'Connor is modest in his assessment of his responsability for that, but the Dromid Pearses clubman is certainly enjoying this year's championship run compared to last.

He said: "There is less pressure on us this year. Last season we were going for the two-in-a-row which hadn't been done since 1990.

"It was a bit like the Cork hurlers going for the three-in-a-row. There's pressure in that.

"I think this year, everyone wrote us off there after the Munster final replay against Cork, and in many ways, everything since has been a bonus."

O'Connor is well used to managerial success. Besides his growing list of achievements with the Kerry seniors, he previously trained the county's Under-21s to a brace of All-Ireland titles in 1996 and 1998 and Cahersiveen's Colaiste na Sceilige to All-Ireland Senior Vocational Schools championships and a three-in-a-row Munster Colleges titles.

But has 2006, a year in which Kerry quietly annexed their second National League crown in three seasons, been an enjoyable ride for him so far?

"You have to enjoy it because it's a long year and a tough year if you don't! You get to enjoy it as time goes, it's my third year at it now," admitted O'Connor.

Reacquanting Sam Maguire with the sights and sounds of Kerry is O'Connor's only goal this weekend, and they've had the perfect build-up with the pressure and the hype surrounding his team notably down a notch or two.

He added: "After the loss to Cork, we just said we'd go out and play without any pressure and see where it took us and it has taken us to an All-Ireland final.

"There is not the same pressure, by any means, on the players and the management, compared to previous years."