In a Kerry team richly endowed with attacking talent, Mike Quirke has tipped left wing-back Brian Ó Beaglaoich to finally get the national recognition that many in the Kingdom feel he deserves in the All-Ireland SFC final against Donegal.
Former Kerry player Quirke was appearing on the final episode of the season of The Championship on RTÉ Radio 1 to look forward to the Croke Park decider, when he identified the Cumann Caide na Gaeltachta clubman as the player capable of upstaging the star names on Sunday.
Ó Beaglaoich – whose name literally translates as 'little hero' in Irish – is set to shadow Shane O'Donnell in the senior football decider, and former Kerry player Quirke said: "I think Brian Ó Beaglaoich is criminally underrated nationally, I don't think people appreciate how good this guy is.
"I actually think that he is Kerry's best half-back.
"I think he has elevated himself to a level where he has a beautiful streak of bitterness in him, where he can be physical and aggressive and nasty.
"He has so much football, he can attack a gap like he's coated with butter, and I think this year that he has started to finish and get scores and win frees.
"I think a guy like him that has been playing really good football, this is a stage where sometimes it isn't your David Cliffords that take the headlines.
"He's a guy I'd love to see have a big impact."
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Watch the All-Ireland Football Championship final, Donegal v Kerry, on Sunday from 2.15pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
