KERRY STAR PAUL Galvin will be training his focus on club glory in the coming weeks after he finally landed a coveted county intermediate football medal last Sunday.
Galvin lined out alongside his brother-in-law and new Kerry boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice as their club Finuge defeated Killarney-based club Spa by 1-12 to 0-12 to secure glory in the replay clash in Austin Stack Park in Tralee.
Fitzmaurice played a key role in the victory despite fracturing his jaw during the game, an injury that now means he is a fitness doubt ahead of Finuge’s opening provincial clash next Sunday.
Finuge travel to Bruff for a Munster Club IFC semi-final meeting against Limerick champions Pallasgreen as they aim to leave their mark on the provincial stage.
Galvin and Fitzmaurice were both part of the Finuge side that won the 2004 Munster junior title and progressed the following March to lift the All-Ireland junior crown against Tyrone side Stewartstown in Portlaoise. Finuge suffered heartbreak at intermediate level in Kerry then losing out in the 2005 final to Lispole and the 2010 decider to Gneeveguilla.
But the duo are now aiming to continue Kerry’s dominance of the Munster club intermediate football championship after clubs from the Kingdom have won the last six provincial titles in this grade. In addition Ardfert (2007), St Michael’s-Foilmore (2009) and Milltown-Castlemaine (2012) all went on to triumph in the All-Ireland final.
If Finuge were to emerge from Munster, it would set up an intriguing dilemma for Fitzmaurice in particular as he would have to juggle Kerry managerial and Finuge playing commitments in the early stages of the 2013 season.
