Rookie Dylan Casey may get Aidan O'Shea posting 

Dylan Casey was handed his first championship start against Clare and, by any stretch of the imagination, this was a much more pleasant experience

MATCHING UP AGAIN: Aidan O'Shea in action against Dylan Casey during the league. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

When Paul Murphy was ruled out of the Munster final against Clare after picking up a hamstring injury in the earlier provincial rout of Tipperary, Kerry manager Jack O’Connor had an interesting selection decision to make.

Many might have automatically assumed that this was the perfect opportunity for Brian Ó Beaglaoich to slot back into his wing-back position, in a virtual like-for-like replacement, after his excellent displays in 2022.

However, the Gaeltacht flyer had missed all of this year’s National League campaign through injury, and his off-the-bench return against the Premier county in Killarney had, frustratingly, been curtailed by a black card less than 15 minutes after his introduction.

As a result, it was the promising Dylan Casey who was to get the nod at corner-back against the Banner, with Graham O’Sullivan moving out to the half-back line. The Austin Stacks youngster, called into the panel after he captained his club to Bishop Moynihan Cup glory in late 2021, had endured a difficult senior championship debut last May when he suffered a serious injury in the provincial final against Limerick after coming on as a substitute.

Almost a year to the day, Casey was handed his first championship start and, by any stretch of the imagination, this was a much more pleasant experience. With a solid defensive display, a point and an assist for Kerry’s first goal, the Tralee man has impressed the Kingdom boss.

“He’s just a good, focused lad. He’s worked very hard, he got a bad injury last year in the Limerick game, the Munster final. We saw things in him last year and we were giving him game-time, but that injury put him back a good bit,” said O’Connor.

“Dylan works very hard at his game and he likes marking, which is a very good trait in a defender, so we’re happy with his progress,” he stressed, adding to speculation that Casey may well be entrusted with the task of shadowing Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea on Saturday.

With the visit of Kevin McStay’s league champions to Fitzgerald Stadium certainly capturing the imagination as the new-look round-robin stage of the competition kicks off this weekend, the Kerry manager has also been lifted by his re-energised forward division.

Clearly unhappy with the fact that his charges didn’t raise a green flag during the 20-point victory over Tipperary, O’Connor was more than satisfied with the five-goal haul against Clare at the Gaelic Grounds, with David Clifford (2), Tony Brosnan, Dara Moynihan and Paudie Clifford all on the mark.

“Forwards work on confidence, and we’ve been doing a good bit of work on forward play and working on breaking down those kinds of defences. Confidence is everything in a forward line, but you’d have to say that Clare would be disappointed with their own performance. I think we’ll meet sterner resistance against Mayo."

Kevin McStay has handed defenders David McBrien and Sam Callinan championship debuts for the round-robin opener in Killarney. They are two of three changes to the side that lost out to Roscommon in the Connacht semi-final. The other alteration sees James Carr named ahead of Tommy Conroy in the full forward line.

MAYO (SF v Kerry): C Reape; J Coyne, D McBrien, S Callinan; P Durcan, C Loftus, S Coen; M Ruane, D O'Connor; F McDonagh, J Carney, J Flynn; A O'Shea, J Carr, R O'Donoghue.

Subs: R Byrne, T Conroy, J Doherty, E Hession, D McHale, D McHugh, E McLaughlin, K McLaughlin, P O'Hora, P Towey, B Tuohy.