To Kingdom come

Kerry v Clare at Austin Stack Park Tralee, Sunday 2pm (Austin O’Connell, Galway)

After showing plenty of character and teeth in a battling opening victory over Wexford, the tests get decidedly steeper over the next two Sundays.
Victory over either Kerry or Meath would be sufficient to earn a place in the Division 2 Semi-Finals. However, with both remaining group games being against senior opposition on away soil, any positive result will be viewed as a bonus to the priorities of performance and unearthing new players for the All-ireland Intermediate series which commence in mid-July.
First up are a Kerry side that have their sights set on finally breaking back into the top four in the country. The joint All-Ireland senior Championship roll of honour leaders with neighbours Cork haven’t been in the winners enclosure since 1993 but have consistently reached the business end over the past two decades.
A spine of Aislinn Desmond, Lorraine Scanlon, Anna Galvin and Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh provided the experience for a new-look Kerry to make an impressive impact last Sunday as they halted the momentum of All-Ireland intermediate champions Meath by 3-10 to 1-10 in Pairc Tailteann in Navan. With the hosts fielding with a 15 that all featured in last December’s derby final against Westmeath, it certainly sent out a warning sign to a Clare side that were sorely humbled by Meath in the All-Ireland Semi-Final.
Add in the fact that Kerry will be expecting a Banner ambush after Clare fired four goals past them in the opening round of the 2019 National League and there won’t be a shred of complacency from the Kingdom this time around.
Fortunate to scramble a share of the spoils in Doonbeg two years ago, Kerry welcome a youthful Banner to Tralee who will arguably require an extra sprinkling of experience back in their side if they are to match their hosts throughout.

by Eoin Brennan