Kieran Donaghy has defended his decision to line out for Kerry two days after the death of his father Peter, insisting it's what he would have wanted.

Former Tyrone footballer Peter passed away on the same weekend as Kerry played Cork in the Allianz Football League in Pairc Ui Chaoimh in March. At first, Kieran didn't know what he should do, but when he learned the funeral wouldn't be until the Monday, he felt playing was the right thing to do.

"I had to think twice about it and it was a hard decision. He died on the Friday afternoon and I didn't know what the story with the funeral was," the 2007 Footballer of the Year recalled at an Ulster Bank event at the Na Fianna GAA grounds in Glasnevin yesterday.

"Then they said the funeral wasn't going to be the Monday so I knew on the Sunday there was a possibility that I was going to be playing. Jack (O'Connor) was billing it as a big game for us and I know well he (Oliver) would have wanted me to play anyway.

"As much as it was trying to deal with him dying, after the initial shock of that, you just get back to being a footballer. You try to do what you do best and try to help your team win a game. That's what I tried to do."

Donaghy scored a point in an impressive display against the Rebels, but his league campaign will probably be most remembered for the intercepted pass which led to Mayo's late equalising penalty in the semi-final against Croke Park. The Connacht champions eventually won after extra-time.

"I beat myself up about it because I pride myself for being smart and making the right decisions as much as I can.I made a bad decision. It was a bad kick, but I actually didn't see Alan Dillon (who intercepted the pass) - he was never in my line of sight," he remembered.

"I saw Paul (Galvin) and I had been shouting at guys to switch it out to Paul before that. So I think it was more frustration than anything else. I said 'if you're not going to switch it, then I'm going to switch it'. It was almost in half-temper because I knew he was over there and he was calling for it when other guys had the ball.

"I rushed it, number one, it was a bad kick, number two, and I didn't see Dillon, number three, so it was a comedy of errors that led to Mayo getting back into the game. You beat yourself up about it when you make a mistake, but you have to get on with it." Tweet

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