Kerry's Brendan O'Leary to miss Joe McDonagh Cup final

Manager Fintan O’Connor is fearful O’Leary may have played his last game for the county

Mon, 12 Jul, 2021 - 14:43

Eoghan Cormican

A broken collarbone means Kerry hurler Brendan O’Leary will miss Saturday’s Joe McDonagh Cup final, while Barry O’Mahony is a serious doubt for the decider because of a hamstring injury.

Half-forward O’Leary injured his collarbone midway through the second half of last Saturday’s Round 3 defeat to Meath and will play no part in this weekend’s final.

Manager Fintan O’Connor is fearful O’Leary may have played his last game for the county because of a long-standing problem with his hips.

Barry O’Mahony, meanwhile, was on the bench for the Meath game, but his slow recovery from a hamstring injury meant he was not used in Navan and O’Connor doesn’t know if he’ll be ready for Saturday.

An All-Ireland minor football winner with Kerry in 2017, O’Mahony hit three points from play during the county’s opening round Joe McDonagh win over Down.

“Barry is in trouble with a hamstring. We were hoping last week it might get better as the week went on and that is why he was on the matchday 26 for the Meath game, but it didn't really improve at all,” said the Kerry manager.

“It is slower than we thought. There hasn't been much progress in the last 24 hours either. We'll just keep monitoring it as the week goes on and hopefully he'll be able to play some bit on Saturday.”

Kerry’s other injury concern is Daniel Collins. The Kingdom captain played the first half of the Meath defeat before being withdrawn as a precaution seeing as Saturday was his first game since June 5.

“Daniel had ligament damage to his ankle. His lack of time on the field in the past five weeks made us a little bit cautious in throwing him out there for the full game against Meath. Definitely, the 40 minutes of action he had on Saturday will stand to him this weekend,” said O’Connor.

Is there the full 70 in a player who was named at half-forward on the 2020 Joe McDonagh Cup team of the year?

“Whatever we can get out of him on Saturday, we'll try and get out of him. Daniel is more than prepared to give everything he has inside him. I don’t think he’ll leave us down.”

O’Connor said there was a sense of achievement at reaching a second successive Joe McDonagh final in light of all the injuries that hampered both their League and Championship campaigns this season.

“It is hugely pleasing to be back in the final having overcome the amount of things that have happened against us as a group. Even on Saturday night, finding a way to get the point in the last couple of seconds to get us into the final is a real good sign of the lads. It is a good way to qualify for a final. That might suit us.

“If you had said to me in Croke Park last December that you'd be back here for the 2021 Joe McDonagh final in July, I would have taken your hand off. As the year has gone on, I definitely would have been more inclined to grab your hand if you gave me that opportunity.”

The Kerry manager made little issue of the one-week turnaround to Saturday's final (Croke Park, 5pm).

“Would two weeks have given us time to prepare better, yes. But I would have been a massive advocate for having the final in Croke Park and having it as a sense of occasion. I think that is a huge thing.

“With so many teams turning around in seven days, there is no point in making a big thing about that. We just have to get on with it.”