Kerry legend Eoin 'Bomber' Liston has rejected suggestions that last Saturday's All-Ireland SFC quarter-final defeat to Down marks the end of an era for the Kingdom.

"I wouldn't see it as a watershed," he said in the Irish Examiner.

"We were down six players from last year. It would have been great for Kerry football if you could win an All-Ireland down that number of first-team players, but it would have been a bad reflection on the state of football everywhere else.

"This Kerry team has given us massive entertainment over the past decade. Last year, we were All-Ireland champions. This year we were very competitive when we beat a very good Cork team and I just don't believe in reading 'everything' into one match."

The Ireland International Rules selector continued: "It's very easy to say there should be change of the guard, but you were missing Galvin and Tomás O Sé, Declan O'Sullivan got injured at the very start and Seamus Scanlon has been carrying a back injury all year. You could say that if they got that call from the referee they would have been a point up with about eight minutes to go after a terrible start.

"Darragh O Sé's loss has been huge, but if you had a fit Scanlon - the Scanlon that you had last year - if Declan hadn't got injured and if you hadn't lost the two lads, you would have been very competitive. It isn't all doom and gloom for Kerry.

"They came up against a team which got the start they were looking for. They were sharpened from the three (qualifier) matches and you can't recreate that type of intensity in training." Tweet

Most Read Stories