THEY MAY never have beaten Kerry in the championship if only because they’ve never actually met, but Jack O’Connor isn’t taking any chances with his team to face Westmeath in Sunday’s All-Ireland football qualifier in Mullingar.
Not only do some of the big guns return but O’Connor has also found a new role for Colm “Gooch” Cooper by naming him at full forward, as was speculated on, if indeed partly because the “number 13” has somehow been proving unlucky.
Bryan Sheehan returns to midfield to partner Anthony Maher having missed the Munster final defeat to Cork with a knee injury – one of four changes from that game.
Brian Maguire also replaces Peter Crowley at left half back, Donnchadh Walsh takes over at wing forward from the injured Darran O’Sullivan (who has still been named among the substitutes), and James O’Donoghue also comes in for Kieran O’Leary at right corner forward, a swap that was actually made at half-time in the Cork game.
Sheehan’s return also sees Séamus Scanlon drop to the bench, although it’s Cooper’s positioning at full forward that is bound to draw the headlines: the Kerry captain moves away from his customary right corner forward role, with Kieran Donaghy likely to play a more roving role from the other corner forward position.
Kerry comfortably won the last league meeting between the sides, in March 2009, by 1-12 to 0-6.
In hurling, Cork manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy has again reshuffled his pack by making four changes for Saturday’s All-Ireland hurling qualifier against Wexford at Semple Stadium.
Full back Damien Cahalane, wing back Eoin Cadogan and forwards Niall McCarthy and Luke O’Farrell are all given starting berths as Barry-Murphy looks for a little spark from the team that showed up against Offaly in last weekend’s phase two qualifier.
Anthony Nash once again retains the goalkeeping duties in the absence of the injured Donal Óg Cusack, while Seán Óg Ó hAilpín is once again only listed among the substitutes.
Pa Cronin is named at midfield, while Jamie Coghlan is among the players to miss out.
Wexford manager Liam Dunne has recalled Paul Roche and Stephen Banville to the starting line-up from the team that beat Carlow at the end of June.
It’s the first Cork-Wexford championship meeting since the 2004 All-Ireland semi-final when Cork, runners-up in Munster, beat Wexford, then Leinster champions by 1-27 to 0-12. They also clashed in the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final when Cork won a replay by 3-17 to 2-7 after an epic first game ended level (Cork 2-20 Wexford 3-17).
It means Wexford’s last win over Cork in the championship is the 1956 All-Ireland final, which they won by 2-14 to 2-8.
Limerick football manager Maurice Horan has received a timely boost with three injured players recovering in time for Saturday’s qualifier clash against Longford. Stephen Lucey, Jim Donovan and Andy Lane are cleared to play at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park.
KERRY (SF v Westmeath):B Kealy; M Ó Sé, A O'Mahony, K Young; T Ó Sé, E Brosnan, B Maguire; A Maher, B Sheehan; P Galvin, Declan O'Sullivan, D Walsh; J O'Donoghue, C Cooper, K Donaghy.
CORK (SH v Wexford):A Nash; S O'Neill, D Cahalane, B Murphy; T Kenny, C Joyce, Eoin Cadogan; L McLoughlin, P Cronin; C Lehane, C McCarthy, N McCarthy; P O'Sullivan, L O'Farrell, P Horgan.
WEXFORD (SH v Cork):E Martin; P Roche, M O'Hanlon, K Rossiter (capt); R Kehoe, C Kenny, D Stamp; D Redmond, D Lyng; J Guiney, G Sinnott, D O'Keeffe; P Morris S Banville, R Jacob.
