“He looked flustered on Saturday. Without being overly aggressive with their press, Clare did enough to force him into kicking the ball over the sideline twice.”
Former Tyrone Gaelic footballer Peter Canavan was concerned with Kerry’s kick-outs during their 3-22 to 1-11 win over Clare.
Kerry held Clare at arm’s length throughout the match although a late surge gave Peter Keane’s side a 17-point victory.
Canavan expressed his concern with the Kerry restarts in his Sky Sports column.
Kerry face Tipperary in the Munster championship semi-final.
“One cause for concern was the kick-outs. Before the match on Saturday, I singled out Kieran Fitzgibbon, praising him for how effective his restarts were against Tyrone,” Canavan wrote.
“He looked flustered on Saturday. Without being overly aggressive with their press, Clare did enough to force him into kicking the ball over the sideline twice.
“He failed to get it outside the 20m line on one occasion. At times, Kerry looked average on their own kick-out. Moving forward, that’s something that they’re going to have to address.”
Peter Canavan played against Kerry in two All-Ireland finals for Tyrone.
Kerry are set to face reigning champions Tipperary in the Munster championship semi-final. The Kingdom have an outstanding record against their opponents and have won their last 43 meetings between the teams.
Tipperary were relegated to division four in the league and are going to find it incredibly difficult to compete with Kerry.
The 37 times All-Ireland winners have not lifted the Sam Maguire Cup since 2014 which would be a considered a major drought by their very high standards.
Peter Canavan’s native county Tyrone open their 2021 championship campaign with a meeting with reigning Ulster champions Cavan.
Cavan were also relegated to the basement division along with Tipperary and Tyrone will be red-hot favourites to progress.
It will be the first time in 19 years that Tyrone go into a championship match without Mickey Harte at the helm.
Read More About: kerry, peter canavan
