Kerry’s All-Ireland intermediate winners pelted with snowballs at homecoming

Niall McIntyre

Nobody’s too old for a snow-ball fight.

Rathmore’s All-Ireland intermediate champions were given a fine welcome home on Monday evening, a bunch of club-mates bringing them right back down to earth with the belt of a few snow-balls.

The snow was heavy in Kerry over the weekend and, standing as they were on the back of a dropside van, the Rathmore team were there for the taking. They had nowhere to hide and, as anybody would, their club-mates seized the opportunity.

You can watch the footage courtesy of Adam Moynihan below, where, during their homecoming, the Rathmore team are caught plum by a few well-struck snow-balls.

This will bring a smile to your face. All-Ireland Intermediate champions Rathmore get pelted with snowballs by their clubmates upon returning to Kerry.

With friends like these… #GAA pic.twitter.com/6wBECUHefe

— Adam Moynihan (@AdamMoynihan) January 17, 2023

Rathmore defeated Tyrone side Galbally Pearses on Sunday to win the All-Ireland intermediate football title. Kerry goalkeeper Shane Ryan was one of their key men, kicking 1-3 from play from corner forward as they earned a 1-11 to 0-11 victory.

Kerry half back Paul Murphy was another key man and, having chatted to him last week, he told us just how determined they were to take their chance in the All-Ireland series.

“One of the carrots is the potential opportunity to get out of Kerry, onto Munster, and then maybe into an All-Ireland. That’s a massive incentive. When you find yourself down in intermediate, it’s something that teams really go after,” he said.

Murphy himself had a dream year, having won All-Irelands with Kerry and Rathmore, as well as a senior club title with East Kerry – and he says it more than made up for a disappointing 2021, when he won none of the big competitions at all. It’s funny the way it goes.

“It’s funny, in 2021 I had a diary and they were the three targets that I put at the front of the diary in 2021.

“I’d read something about goal-setting, that you explicitly put it on the diary, and it’s on the front page, you’d see it every time. But sure the three boxes were left unticked. So when 2022 came around, I said I wasn’t going to bother with that.

“It hadn’t worked out in 2021. But the way the year went last year, you couldn’t have asked for better. Every team I was involved with were successful. So it’s pinch-yourself stuff. I’m really fortunate to be involved with such good panels and with such good management teams behind them.”

Meanwhile, over the road in Fossa, they were jigging around to the Billy Joel classic ‘we didn’t start the fire.’