Kerry warm up for final game in Portugal

HE MAY not have realised it at the time but Kerry football manager Jack O’Connor’s decision to book a training holiday in Portugal this week has proved something of a master stroke.

It’s not just that the weather has turned foul again; more that Kerry really do need to put some spring into their step ahead of their final league match against Monaghan on Sunday week.

The majority of the senior squad and management team fly out from Kerry Airport this evening, and will be based at a popular training resort in Faro, before returning next Monday evening – six days before their final-round showdown with Monaghan in Killarney.

After a conceding a late, late goal to Tyrone in Omagh last Saturday night, Kerry need to beat Monaghan to be sure of retaining their Division One status for 2011 (although they could still survive with a draw, provided Dublin beat Tyrone). It wouldn’t be the end of the world if they did go down, but it would feel that way in Kerry.

O’Connor has already lost centre back Aidan O’Mahony for the game due to the straight red card he picked up against Tyrone, and there are some doubts about whether Tomás Ó Sé will make his return, as was expected. Ó Sé was planning to have his first and only league game against Monaghan, but sustained a leg injury playing for his club, An Ghaeltacht, over the weekend. He will still travel to Portugal, as the injury is not thought to be serious, but with fellow defenders Aidan O’Shea and Daniel Bohan on the long-term injury list, Ó Sé will be no doubt keen to get back playing as soon as possible.

Also bound for slightly warmer climes this week are the women’s football All Stars, who later today head for San Francisco for the bi-annual O’Neills/TG4 All Star tour. This will feature a game between the 2008 All Stars and the 2009 team, to be held on Saturday, in San Francisco’s Gaelic Park. Also on show will be a game involving players selected from the three women’s football clubs in the city; Saoirse, Fog City Harps and Clan Na Gael.

The tour includes members of Cork’s five-in-a-row team such as Angela Walsh, Juliet Murphy, Nollaig Cleary and Briege Corkery, as well as Cora Staunton and Emma Mullin (Mayo), Ciara and Aoife McAnespie (Monaghan), Denise Masterson and Cliodhna O’Connor (Dublin) and Anne-Marie McDonough and Una Carroll (Galway).

2010 O'Neills/TG4 Ladies Football All Stars Tour: Elaine Harte (Cork), Angela Walsh (Cork), Linda Barrett (Cork), Sharon Courtney (Monaghan), Brid Stack (Cork), Neamh Woods (Tyrone), Juliet Murphy (Cork), Amanda Casey (Monaghan), Nollaig Cleary (Cork) Michaela Downey (Down), Niamh Kindlon (Monaghan), Noelle Tierney (Mayo), Cora Staunton (Mayo), Edel Hanley (Tipperary), Cliodhna O'Connor (Dublin), Geraldine O'Flynn (Cork), Martha Carter (Mayo), Siobhan McGrath (Dublin), Norita Kelly (Cork), Noelle Earley (Kildare), Sinead Aherne (Dublin), Kathy Conway (Derry), Ciara McAnespie (Monaghan), Aoife McAnespie (Monaghan), Noelle Comyn (Dublin), Derval Toal (Armagh), Denise Masterson (Dublin), Angela McDermott (Tipperary), Louise Henchy (Clare), Emma Mullin (Mayo), Anne Marie McDonagh (Galway), Aine Kelly (Clare), Patrice Dennehy (Kerry), Una Carroll (Galway), Joline Donnelly (Tyrone), Caroline Little (Fermanagh), Eliza Downey (Down), Rebecca McPhillibin (Galway), Sinead McLaughlin (Tyrone), Briege Corkery (Cork).