Tag Archives: Eamon Fitzmaurice

KERRY manager Eamon Fitzmaurice believes Clare and Tipperary are not being shown sufficient respect, despite making it to the last eight of the All-Ireland championship. The 2014 All-Ireland winning manager maintains that both have earned their place in the quarter-finals as much as any of the remaining counties. “They were being dismissed because we beat them, completely dismissed, both teams and I think it was very disrespectful to be honest. I think both teams have gone on and shown the quality that they have. I think that of the teams that played in Division 1 this year there’s two who haven’t been beaten by a team from a lower division, ourselves and Dublin. The other six have all been beaten by teams from lower divisions. I think it shows the work that’s going on, in particular in the likes of Clare and Tipperary and the progress that they’ve made. “There was a reaction to the wins at the weekend, that …

FIRST the reasonably good news. Kerry will field in Sunday’s Munster semi-final minus Colm Cooper (cruciate), 2013 All-Star James O’Donoghue (shoulder) and midfielder Johnny Buckley (ankle). Most GAA people love watching Colm Cooper play but the Clare defence won’t mind the Kerry legend having to sit this one out. So how do Clare set up about competing with a weakened Kerry? Competing is the key word here. Having played all division 4 opposition so far in 2014, Clare will face a mammoth step up in class this weekend. Yet what Kerry cannot prevent Clare from doing is competing with absolute intensity and badly needed composure for the entire 70 minutes. If Clare do that they will have a reasonable chance of making a game of it. Under the direction of Paudie Kissane’s coaching, Clare have worked all year on improving their method of tackling and cutting down on the number of frees conceded. When they have possession they must seek …