Kerry don't read the script – Jarlath

Kerry captain Darren O’Sullivan

FOUR games, two days, one stadium. Donegal have reinvented themselves to become the most attractive, free scoring team in the country and will carry the Ulster flag into battle against the Kingdom with flair, fight and finesse.

They will know that now is the time to take Kerry, a team which has wobbled alarmingly this season, though a side which is beginning to show the sort of menace that has them the most crowned county in the GAA.

Thoughts slide back to 2009 and that quarter final of a bank holiday August Monday when the Dubs were primed to roll back all the years of hurt going right back to the days of black and white and finally dismantle the green and gold spectre that had haunted them for a generation. The only problem was, no one told Kerry.

What happened that day was pure slaughter; Gooch, the ‘choker’ had the ball in the net before most of Hill 16 had their first ‘Come on ye Boys in blue’ out of their mouths and ten short minutes later, the game was over. Jimmy McGuinness will be well aware of just how devastating Kerry can be when they get their game face on and expectations are low.

Remember their performance against Tyrone a few weeks ago, a team widely expected to kick them out the back door below in Killarney. All believed this story except the bookies and they rarely err because idle chat is OK, but it is free. Odds are more expensive, especially if they get it wrong.

The full story is in the current issue of Gaelic Life, published on Thursday August 2. Buy your copy now in your local newsagent, or you can purchase the online version – for only 90p – by clicking here