Sport

Kerry's reality check in the last-chance saloon

Underdogs v Kerry Gavin Cummiskey assesses the hopes of an Underdogs side that has much to prove when they take Kerry on tomorrow…

Fri Dec 10 2004 - 00:00

 Underdogs v KerryGavin Cummiskey assesses the hopes of an Underdogs side that has much to prove when they take Kerry on tomorrow

Unfortunately we live in the time of reality television when the inconsequential lives of banal people seep into the nation's living-rooms via mindless fly-on-the-wall shows.

At least TG4 have added some substance with their input to the whole genre. These Underdogs have a genuine need to succeed. Some may even resurface in the championship next summer. Their arguments are real and they have scars to prove the hits are far from choreographed.

Already, six of the panel have had to cry off injured. Five of which are backs, leaving the side devoid of any cover to a rearguard that must contain Colm Cooper tomorrow night in Austin Stack Park.

READ MORE

Even the captain and full back Máirtin Ó Cinnéide is an injury concern. Ó Cinnéide also captained the Dublin under-21s in the 2001 Leinster final defeat to Meath before leading University of Limerick in two Sigerson Cup campaigns. Yet, in recent weeks he has been trying recover from a third head injury since the summer. With medical opinion passing him fit to start the decision rested on his own shoulders.

"I've been training since early June and I'm not missing this," insisted the St Vincent's club man. "I will have to wear a scrum cap after picking up concussion against Donegal two weeks ago. I dived down to ground level to block a ball when a fella came in and just caught me with his knee. I got knocked out for a few minutes. It's nothing bad, it was just where my head was at the time."

Sounds like the kind of lad you want fighting for your cause. The kind who puts his head where it shouldn't be.

Up to 12,000 people are expected to attend the match at Austin Stack Park with much of the gate receipts going to a Kerry-based fund-raising charity called the Muscular Dystrophy Charity.

There is another pull for the Kerry public as five of their own, including one Tralee native in basketball star Ciarán Donaghy, are on the Underdogs panel.

Like any Underdog, Ó Cinnéide is an unknown quantity and like any footballer who has slipped off the radar there's a decent back story.

After two years on the under-21s he was on the fringe of Tommy Carr's panel but like so many before, and after, he headed to Australia for a year. On his return, a different Tommy was dictating affairs in the capital.

"I damaged ligaments in my knee but I went to the trials and everything. In fairness, I didn't deserve to be picked."

The powers that be at TG4 and Adare Productions made a sensible decision with this year's experiment by allowing players who have played intercounty football at minor and under-21 level to be sourced, thus ensuring the standard went up a notch.

Initially, Adare planned to make a hurling programme with a live game against Kilkenny - the cats versus the dogs - and, with Ger Loughnane on board, quality television was guaranteed. Instead, TG4 went knocking on Jack O'Connor's door.

Little did the management team of Mickey Ned O'Sullivan, Jarlath Burns and Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, who replaced Brian Mullins, realise they would be preparing a set of wannabes for a showdown with the All-Ireland champions.

The obvious advantage is Kerry are out of season but this is slightly nullified by the fact they have been in the weights room for over a month and are even back on the turf once a week.

Darragh and Tomas Ó Sé, along with captain Dara Ó Cinnéide are absent but Kerry are still expected to send a strong side out. It could get ugly.

"One thing we are not going to do is just give up," added Ó Cinnéide. "This is our big day, our big chance. Something all of us have been working towards for a long time. Even if Kerry do get ahead of us we will not give up."

UNDERDOGS STARTING TEAM

Hugh Murphy (Kerry); Lyndon Kiely (Cork), Máirtin Ó Cinnéide (Dublin, captain), Eoin Bradley (Tyrone); Gareth Britton (Donegal), Martin Murphy (Armagh), Martin Horgan (Kerry), Ciarán Donaghy (Kerry), Pierce O'Neill (Cork), Declan O'Connell (Cork), Barra Ó Muiri (Armagh, vice-captain), Pádraig Ó Conchuir (Dublin), Philip Brady (Cavan), Stephen Wallace (Kerry), Daniel McCabe (Down). Subs: Ronan MacNiallais (Donegal), Alan Lavin (Roscommon), Michael Greene (Cork), Mark Herbert (Kildare), Brendan Rafferty (Armagh), Eric O'Donoghue (Kerry), Hugh Coughlan (Tipperary), Ricky O'Hanlon (Cork). Absent through injury: John Fegan (Down), Colin Oates (Cavan), Gary Quinn (Westmeath), Shane O'Loughlin (Kildare), Eddie Nealon (Cork).