“Kerry Will Have Learned From Cork Defeat” Warns Diarmuid Connolly

Diarmuid Connolly is expecting Kerry to send out a message to Dublin and begin their 2021 campaign with a National League victory over Galway.

The six-time All-Ireland winner was speaking to BoyleSports’ Leon Blanche ahead of this weekend’s league openers and claimed Peter Keane’s side will be wary enough to avoid a repeat of last season’s shock Championship exit at the hands of Cork.

He said: “I expect they’ll make a good start. Kerry will learn a lot from their defeat to Cork last year.

They lost because of mindset rather than lack of talent or physicality.

It was more a case of not being able to do the right thing at the right time. When they got into extra time, they really should just have closed the game out, but they went for a couple of silly goals and let Cork back into it.

“In saying that, Galway traditionally put it up to Kerry and the break will have done them good with a full squad to choose from and Damien Comer back. So it may be close, and we just don’t know what sort of physical condition the guys are in at this stage, but I expect Kerry to shade it.”

Connolly also backed Tyrone’s new management team of Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher to hit the ground running despite a tough first match against Ulster rivals Donegal.

“It’ll be interesting to see what sort of personnel Tyrone go with under the new managers. We all saw what sort of a player Brian Dooher was, so he could bring a bit of that steel back to Tyrone.”

🗣 "I think they will learn from last year and shade this one."

🏐 Diarmuid Connolly previews the GAA clash between Kerry and Galway on Saturday at 3pm alongside @BoyleSportsLB 👇

Match betting ▶️ https://t.co/0lYbt4t3u4#GAA @dermoc123 pic.twitter.com/kHCTF2r6rL

— BoyleSports (@BoyleSports) May 14, 2021