The long and frustrating rehab of James O’Donoghue

“The James O’Donoghue of three and four years ago would just turn around and kick that ball over the bar with his left foot. He’s not playing with the confidence you’d expect. If he was, he’d have chipped that ball over the bar,” said Oisín McConville, 22 minutes into Kerry’s Super 8 rout of Mayo.

What prompted this remark from the Armagh All-Ireland winner, on RTÉ co-commentary duty that sweltering Sunday in Killarney, was that O’Donoghue, upon receiving the ball from Stephen O’Brien and having moved two to three metres clear of Keith Higgins, chose not to take aim at the Lewis Road End posts.