Kerry vs Galway: Tribe full-back Sean Kelly braced for David Clifford challenge

Sean Kelly wasn’t on the field last year when Galway collapsed in the second half of their Connacht final defeat by Mayo at Croke Park.

He’d gone off injured in the first half.

And Galway skipper Kelly was only a late sub when the Tribe were walloped by Kerry in the 2021 National League, shipping four goals in a 22 point loss.

The Moycullen man has struggled with hamstring injuries, but he’s avoided them this year, and is one big piece of the Galway jigsaw.

Some of the other pieces include the addition of Cian O’Neill, a burgeoning defensive system with fit again John Daly at the heart of it, Shane Walsh’s deadeye free-taking and Damien Comer (left) back to his absolute peak.

There’s rarely one reason why a county goes from also rans to serious contenders.

What it shows though is that keeping your best players fit is absolutely vital for any county.

Galway still have their injuries though. With Sean Andy O Ceallaigh not in the picture and Sean Mulkerrin sustaining a serious knee injury at the start of the year, Galway had no full-back.

Step forward Kelly, the ultimate utility man, settling into one of the most important positions in the game.

He’s done a serious job for Galway, shackling the superb Rian O’Neill and the dangerous Niall Loughlin in the wins over Armagh and Derry.

Some will no doubt point to the three goals Armagh got off high balls in the All-Ireland quarter-final and look at goalkeeper Conor Gleeson and full-back Kelly.

Two of those landed right on the bar and were incredibly difficult to deal with. The other was a goalkeeping error. That experience was more of a freak than a regular occurrence.

“Obviously we have been working on it in training,” said Kelly, who wasn’t on the field for one of Armagh’s