July Road: Kerry get the party started a little early for some

Just as we started to think things were quiet for All-Ireland final week, Kerry dropped a social media hand-grenade yesterday.

“Buy your tickets now for the Kerry GAA Post Match Party at the D Two at Harcourt Street, Dublin,” began the tweet from the official account, with accompanying emojis and photo of a beaming David Clifford, fists clenched in a pose which could only be described as celebratory.

An hour later, Kerry added the following postscript: “Just to say that we have always had an ‘after party’ win or lose it’s all about showing support for our players regardless of the result.”

At the time of writing, the offending post had been quote-tweeted 115 times, with our favourite coming from Ronán McD: “Disgraceful with the cost of living and the price of diesel these days that the GAA are forcing Galway to come up to Dublin and take part in this procession.”

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Kerry-Galway connections run deep

While Galway and Kerry are 83 miles apart at their closest points (Knocknagoshel and Gort), they share certain non football-related links, notably their positioning on the western seaboard and their affinity with the Irish language.

“As the crow flies, there’s a fair amount of miles between the Kerry Gaeltacht and the Galway Gaeltacht, but it’s hard to explain, there is a connection, maybe stronger than what there is with the Donegal Gaeltacht,” former Galway star Seán Óg de Paor told the Kerryman this week.

“The similarities between the Munster dialect and the Connemara dialect are stronger, I think. We speak a bit more softly, the Donegal dialect might be a bit edgier, and the vocabulary would be quite dissimilar to what they use in Galway or Kerry.”

King on his way to see the Kingdom

All right, so we’re all about the Tribesmen and the Kingdom at present but you’ll forgive us a Breffni-centric snippet on the week that’s in it. Wednesday gone by, July 20th, marked the 25th anniversary of Cavan’s never-to-be-forgotten win over Derry in the 1997 Ulster SFC final, a first Ulster title in 28 years for the county who sit miles ahead on top of the provincial roll of honour.

Cavan subsequently lost to Páidí Ó Sé's Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final; one of the Kingdom’s selectors that day was none other than Jack O’Connor. Anyway, fast forward a quarter of a century and Cavan’s winning captain Stephen King’s home club, Killeshandra Leaguers, had their club draw for All-Ireland final tickets on Wednesday night.

And the winner was, you’ve guessed it … Stephen King!

Kerry out to end Samine and not equal their worst run

While Kerry are strong favourites for Sunday, there’s certainly pressure there too. The county are currently enduring their second-longest run without an All-Ireland (a Samine, anyone?!) of the last century.

At present, they are into an eighth year without Sam. Failure to win on Sunday would mean they equal their worst-ever 13-season return.

Since 2010, Sam has wintered in the Kingdom just once. The previous worst 13-year run was 1987-99, although the good news for their fans is that the last recessionary period in the deep south was followed by a glorious boom, with five titles in 10 years.

Quote of the Day

“There’s a crazy demand for tickets, it’s actually worse than if Mayo were playing in an All-Ireland. That’s my sense of it anyway, the demand is definitely as bad as if Mayo were playing.” — Connacht secretary John Prenty, quoted in the Mayo News

Number of the Day: 10

A win on Sunday would move Galway to double figures for All-Ireland SFC titles, behind Kerry (37) and Dublin (30).