Kennelly Grabs Headlines

He may have only been on the pitch for 14 minutes, touched the ball only a handful of times, and never threatened to get on the scoresheet, but in the wake of Kerry's two-point victory over Derry on Sunday it was Tadgh Kennelly that stole all the headlines.

The backpage of yesterday's Irish News led with how delighted Kennelly was to finally make his senior debut for his native Kingdom:

“I was a bit emotional before the game. When Jack called me to come on, I kind of welled up a bit. It wouldn’t bother me if there was no-one there when I was playing my first game for Kerry. It’s something I thought that I would have done 10 years ago, but obviously I made my decision to go to the other side of the world. It was great to get the win and it was great to make my debut.”

The report on Sunday's game in both the Irish Independent and Irish Times also centred on the former Aussie Rules player. Seán Moran in the Times described Kennelly's appearance as "the longest-awaited senior debut in GAA history", while Martin Breheny in the Independent noted that the 27 year-old had just launched a "new dream that was always on his 'things to do' list".

Kennelly's most memorable contribution to a largely lacklustre NFL clash at Bellaghy was an attempted point that barely troubled the catch nets. Jack O'Connor described it as a "behind", but it was more reminiscent of Erinsborough Dingoes than Sydney Swans.

He has just left a professional AFL career in Australia, but if Monday's press is anything to go by, it appears Kerry's latest recruit will have plenty of attention back home in Ireland. Sunday was just the beginning, and as the season progresses we will see more and more of Tadgh Kennelly. The man himself won't care too much about the coverage; his main concern will be to mark his debut season by collecting the one prize on his 'to win' list.