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Peter Keane and Diarmuid O'Connor. INPHO
Kingdom News

Ex-Kerry boss Keane set for club manager role, midfielder O'Connor out for six-eight weeks

The Kerry senior manager is returning to the Killarney Legion club.

FORMER KERRY SENIOR boss Peter Keane is set to make a return to club management in the Kingdom by taking the reins of intermediate club Killarney Legion, while current Kerry midfielder Diarmuid O’Connor is facing a spell out with an ankle injury.

The development would see Keane return to take charge of a club that he guided for two seasons at senior level in Kerry in 2014 and 2015. He made huge progress and steered Legion to the county senior final in his second year, only losing out narrowly in a replay against South Kerry.

The role would be Keane’s first in management since his time in charge of the Kerry senior side came to a close after the 2021 season. He spent three campaigns in that position, winning two Munster championships and losing out in the All-Ireland final after a replay to Dublin in 2019.

Prior to that Keane won three All-Ireland minor titles as Kerry boss, while he was in charge of his native St Mary’s Cahersiveen when they won the All-Ireland junior club final in Croke Park in 2011.

Keane takes over from Ned English, a Munster club senior winning boss with Limerick’s Drom-Broadford in 2008,  Legion lost out in the semi-final of this year’s Kerry intermediate championship, moving down to that level after senior relegation in 2021. They were defeated by An Ghaeltacht after extra-time, with Rathmore subsequently winning the Kerry final before they added Munster and All-Ireland titles, the latter achieved last Sunday.

Legion currently have Cian Gammell on the Kerry senior squad, while James O’Donoghue, Brian Kelly and Jonathan Lyne are all former All-Ireland senior medal winners with the county.

Keane will be joined on opposite sidelines by former Limerick senior boss Billy Lee who is in charge of Austin Stacks and Eamon Fitzmaurice who is coaching the newly-crowned All-Ireland Junior Champions Fossa. It has also been confirmed that ex-Mallow boss Keith Moynihan will become the new Castleisland Desmond’s football manager, while former Kerry senior Liam Hassett is at the helm of his native Laune Rangers.

Elsewhere it has been confirmed that William Harmon is standing down as manager of Kerins O’Rahilly’s, Munster senior club championship winners before Christmas.

diarmuid-oconnor Kerry midfielder Diarmuid O'Connor. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

Meanwhile on the injury front. Kerry and Na Gaeil midfielder Diarmuid O’Connor faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after an injury he picked up in Kerry’s recent McGrath Cup win over Clare in Austin Stack Park. O’Connor has damaged ankle ligaments and faces six to eight weeks on the sidelines before he can hope to feature during the league.

Jack O’Connor intimated before the McGrath Cup that players involved in the various All-Ireland club competitions would get a rest over the next few weeks and may not feature for the county team until March. 

Goalkeeper Shane Ryan stated in the wake of Rathmore’s All-Ireland club win that he doesn’t require surgery on a shoulder injury he has been troubled with. 

There is mounting speculation that O’Connor may add a number of extra players to his Kerry squad for the league, including Rathmore’s Mark Ryan, Churchill’s Joe Linehan and Laune Rangers player David Mangan.

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