Jack O'Connor will be disgusted with Kerry’s first-half performance in their away defeat to Mayo, but it might be the spark they need to get their season going, according to Ciarán Whelan.
The Kingdom finished seven points adrift in the final scoreline, but were well off the pace for the majority of the contest where a ravenous Mayo side went into the break with an 11-point lead.
A late Barry O’Sullivan goal put a somewhat better gloss on matters, but Jack O’Connor will have plenty to mull over as he brings back more of his All-Ireland winners into the fold.
Paudie Clifford made his first league start, while David Clifford and Sean O’Shea got their first taste of action off the bench.
"It’s probably the kick up the backside they really needed," Whelan said on League Sunday.
"Jack O’Connor will be disgusted by the manner of the performance in the first half. They had to bring on David Clifford and Sean O’Shea at half-time and I doubt he wanted to do that, but they were so far behind.
"The intensity and work-rate that Mayo brought, Kerry simply didn’t match that. They were miles off it."
Peter Canavan agreed that Kerry were a long way removed from the all-conquering side of 2022, but in the early stages of the season, and with a path to the knockout stages looking clear, he puts context to the sobering display.
'Jack O'Connor will be disgusted by the manner of the performance in the first half’ – Kerry’s below-par performance in Castlebar is picked apart by Peter Canavan and @whelo35 pic.twitter.com/pBOOlO7uDU
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) February 19, 2023
"There were so many aspects of their game that Jack O’Connor will be disappointed with," he said.
"In the first half, they had opportunities to score. They had 13 opportunities, and they only took three, so he’ll be disappointed with that.
"Maybe he’s not overly concerned with the league, knowing that they are going to make the round-robin, knowing they are going to make a provincial final, but I would expect with the standards he has he would expect a better performance."
