One man and his underdog

Underdogs: Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh joined one of his Underdogs yesterday and spent lunchtime waxing lyrical on the subject he knows best.

Taking time out to appear on Blackrock College Radio (97.4fm) he also met the school's woodwork and technical drawing teacher, Hugh Murphy, who is a goalkeeper on the TG4 reality TV show.

The Underdogs are preparing to play All-Ireland champions Kerry, under lights in Tralee on December 11th. This panel of last-chance-saloon footballers has been managed by Mickey Ned O'Sullivan and Jarlath Burns for two years, with Ó Muircheartaigh coming on board this year after Brian Mullins opted out. So how's it going? And how's this former Kerry under-21 goalkeeper getting on?

"There is strong competition," Ó Muircheartaigh states. "Hughie is the first goalie that impressed but for a while we were weak at midfield and somebody got the idea of bringing in Mark Herbert, who was the All-Ireland long-kicking champion for five years in a row. They have both proven to be good goalies, I couldn't say at this stage who will be there but Hughie may have a head-start because he was there early."

Tralee Tigers basketball player Kieran Donaghy will relish the chance to stake his claim to Kerry manager Jack O'Connor. Donaghy was left off the Kerry panel when Séamus Moynihan returned from injury this year. Another to watch, says Ó Muircheartaigh, is as yet unused Tyrone forward Eoin Bradley.

Murphy is an example of the many decent twenty-somethings who have been ignored at intercounty level for one reason or another. "What's great about the Underdogs is if you are overlooked at 24 or 25, even if you were an intercounty footballer at underage, it's more than likely you will continue to be overlooked so it gives you another shot," Murphy said. "I want to get recognition that when I was playing football I was a good player, nearly good or good enough for intercounty level. My club (Kenmare) didn't have any ambitions, not to create a Kerry player, but to nurture a Kerry player."

His father drove him and a couple of other youngsters from the area for under-16 trials, the minors passed him by while he got an under-21 look-in only after two decent campaigns with UL in the Sigerson Cup.

Things haven't been smooth sailing for the team with defeats to a weak Meath line-up and to Donegal last weekend, offset by beating Wexford 24 hours later.

"There was a setback against Meath," said Ó Muircheartaigh. "Now, I think that can be very good for a team. It made them think. Then they were beaten under atrocious conditions by Donegal but they are masters of the short game and maybe that suited them on a very bad night.

A crowd of 12,000 is expected in Tralee with the money raised from the gate going to helping muscular dystrophy sufferers.

While in Blackrock, Ó Muircheartaigh watched the school's under-16 Gaelic footballers run through their paces, Murphy and Kilmacud Crokes coach Maurice Leahy train them.