Colm Cooper scores with the second goal of the game Cathal Noonan / INPHO
Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO
KERRY MAY HAVE lost James O’Donoghue to injury yesterday but the return of other attackers to scoring form left manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice pleased in their demolition job of Kildare.
Colm Cooper played his first game in Croke Park since the 2013 All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin and weighed in with 2-3.
Darran O’Sullivan was sprung from the bench after a litany of injury woes in recent seasons and he bagged 2-1.
While Stephen O’Brien, dropped for the Munster final replay, justified his recall to the starting side with an impressive contribution of 1-4 form play.
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Fitzmaurice was a happy man when asked about the contribution of the three forwards.
Kerry's Éamonn Fitzmaurice with Diarmuid Murphy Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Colm Cooper
“It is great for Colm. Again, since the drawn Munster final he has trained well. His football form has picked up a good bi and he has been pushing hard for a start.
“The way it worked out with Kieran’s injury, it gave us a chance to start him and he got seventy minutes under the belt which was brilliant and we have three weeks to get ready.”
Stephen O'Brien celebrates scoring a goal for Kerry. Cathal Noonan / INPHO
Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO
Stephen O’Brien
“He was outstanding, to be fair to him. Again, that’s training form. He got the nod. In the drawn Munster final I thought he was a bit unlucky. He was pulled a couple of times for over carrying that were tough enough call.
“And because we weren’t on top around the middle, he spent a good bit of his day chasing Barry O’Driscoll going in the other way. So he didn’t have a chance to play the way he would have liked to.
“Today he got on ball early. He got some good scores and he got a great goal at the end. It’s no huge surprise because that’s how he has been training.”
Darran O'Sullivan scores a goal despite the attentions of the Kildare defence. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Darran O’Sullivan
“Especially in the last couple of weeks, of course he’s been frustrated. And the lads get frustrated when they’re not getting game time because they’re putting so much into it.
“Someone like Darran, he has had injuries and he’s had to do a lot of rehab, he has to do a lot of prehab to keep his body right.
“But his body is right at the moment and again, he’s another fella who has trained really well for the last couple of weeks and he has put his hand up in training.
“He knew today coming up he was going to get a cut at it at some stage and to be fair to him, he did the business.”
Cooper, Darran and O'Brien all back starring makes Kerry boss a happy man
KERRY MAY HAVE lost James O’Donoghue to injury yesterday but the return of other attackers to scoring form left manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice pleased in their demolition job of Kildare.
Colm Cooper played his first game in Croke Park since the 2013 All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin and weighed in with 2-3.
Darran O’Sullivan was sprung from the bench after a litany of injury woes in recent seasons and he bagged 2-1.
While Stephen O’Brien, dropped for the Munster final replay, justified his recall to the starting side with an impressive contribution of 1-4 form play.
Fitzmaurice was a happy man when asked about the contribution of the three forwards.
Colm Cooper
“It is great for Colm. Again, since the drawn Munster final he has trained well. His football form has picked up a good bi and he has been pushing hard for a start.
“The way it worked out with Kieran’s injury, it gave us a chance to start him and he got seventy minutes under the belt which was brilliant and we have three weeks to get ready.”
Stephen O’Brien
“He was outstanding, to be fair to him. Again, that’s training form. He got the nod. In the drawn Munster final I thought he was a bit unlucky. He was pulled a couple of times for over carrying that were tough enough call.
“And because we weren’t on top around the middle, he spent a good bit of his day chasing Barry O’Driscoll going in the other way. So he didn’t have a chance to play the way he would have liked to.
“Today he got on ball early. He got some good scores and he got a great goal at the end. It’s no huge surprise because that’s how he has been training.”
Darran O’Sullivan
“Especially in the last couple of weeks, of course he’s been frustrated. And the lads get frustrated when they’re not getting game time because they’re putting so much into it.
“Someone like Darran, he has had injuries and he’s had to do a lot of rehab, he has to do a lot of prehab to keep his body right.
“But his body is right at the moment and again, he’s another fella who has trained really well for the last couple of weeks and he has put his hand up in training.
“He knew today coming up he was going to get a cut at it at some stage and to be fair to him, he did the business.”
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