Mayo scar tissue may have shaped Kerry approach - Fitzmaurice

It's almost two months since Mayo left Killarney with an emphatic championship win, but that performance may have had a lasting effect on the Kingdom as they now gear up for an All-Ireland showdown with Dublin.

Mayo bowed out at the quarter-final stage at the hands of the Dubs, but the manner in which they dismantled the reigning champions on their own patch in Killarney in May had people pondering the prospect that Kevin McStay’s men could make a serious stab at claiming Sam Maguire.

The green and red won by five points, but the scoreline flattered an out-of-sorts Kerry, and given the way the visitors dominated the middle third, former Kerry manager Éamonn believes there’s a chance the chastening defeat has had an impact in Kerry’s approach since then.

Yesterday they overcame a dogged challenge from Derry, where the Oak Leaf County enjoyed a strong opening 35 minutes and created a number of goal scoring opportunities in both halves.

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Speaking on the RTÉ GAA podcast, Fitzmaurice suggested that Kerry’s rather passive approach on the Derry restarts, and indeed their pressing game in general, may have been a combination of the round-robin defeat to Mayo combined with the strength of the Brendan Rogers/Conor Glass midfield partnership.

"There was a bit of scar tissue possibly from the game against Mayo in Killarney where they went after goalkeeper Colm Reape (from restarts) and Matty Ruane, Diarmuid O’Connor and Jack Carney all had a field day," he said.

"Kerry were very open and