Beale midfielder named Kerry U20 captain as squad is announced

Kerry U20 manager Tomás Ó Sé would like to see the championship played after the Leaving Cert.

Tue, 02 Apr, 2024 - 17:55

Murt Murphy

Beale’s Robert Stack will captain the Kerry under-20 footballers this season in recognition of the fact that North Kerry won the last year’s Kerry U21 final when they denied four in a row seeking East Kerry after an extra time thriller.

The strapping midfielder, a former Kerry minor and a member of last year's Kerry U-20 squad and is son of former Kerry minor and U21 player Fergus.

Tomás Ó Sé has also announced his squad that begins their Munster championship campaign with a trip to Clare next Wednesday evening (April 10th, 7pm).

The squad of 34 players, 22 clubs are represented and are a relatively young with six of Mounthawk’s Hogan Cup finalists making the cut.

Ó Sé spoke to the local media last week on the difficulty in preparing the squad for a competition that will last at a maximum for just seven weeks if Kerry were to make the final.

“You have to deal with it, because the championship starts whenever it does, middle of April, and it’s started already. You have to go through the college stuff, there’s no choice about it, the weather was particularly bad this year, and it was a struggle.

“It was a challenge on a weekly basis. We had no control over it, and everyone is struggling with that, all over the country. Pitches up the north, Kildare, talking to anybody, they’ve had the same struggle. That’s the only good thing, that the other teams seem to have had the same challenges that we’ve had, but I said the same thing last year.

Kerry U20 manager Tomás Ó Sé. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

“The challenges of not having fellas every night is difficult. Fellas will say that ye have three or four months with them, but we don’t really, because you’re missing certain fellas some nights. For challenge games, you’re missing all the Mounthawk lads, and people say you shouldn’t be relying on schools’ lads, but we do have a young squad.

“They’re good enough, they’re good players, we’d like to have a look at them, and all that, but, overall, you could complain, but nobody will listen to you, and they’re probably right because it’s the same for everybody.

“It is challenging, and the only way that you could make it less challenging would be to change the running of it. I reckon that down the road they should look at running it in conjunction with the senior championship later on after Leaving Cert.

“Between Leaving Cert and college exams, you’re caught at the start with all the college football, and all the other competitions, and then in the middle of this competition, most of these fellas will be doing exams. They’ll all do ok, but there’s still pressure on them, so the timing of the actual championship could be changed.”

KERRY U20 SQUAD: Adam Segal, Evan Boyle (Ballyduff); Aidan Crowley (Templenoe), Ben Hanafin, Darragh O’Connor, Tomás Kennedy (Kerins O’Rahillys), Cathal Brosnan (Currow), Charlie Keating, Maidhcí Lynch (Dr Crokes), Cian Lynch, John Kelliher, Luke Crowley (Glenflesk), Colm Browne, Daniel Kirby, Michael Tansley, Paddy Lane (Austin Stacks), Cormac Dillon (Duagh), Dara O’Callaghan (Kilcummin), Darragh O’Connor (Kenmare Shamrocks), Donagh Shine O’Sullivan (Dromid Pearses), Eddie Healy (Listowel Emmets), Fionn Murphy (Rathmore), Gary O’Riordan, Odhran Ferris (Ardfert), Gearoid Evans, Liam Evans, Shane Evans (Keel), Ian O’Sullivan (St Michaels/Foilmore), Jack Doyle (Na Gaeil), James Hoare (Dingle), Rian Colleran (Fossa), Robert Stack (Beale, capt), Ryan Diggin (Laune Rangers), Stephen Palmer (Firies).