Donegal sweeper keeper Gavin Mulreany hurt Kerry admits Séanie O’Shea 

Séanie O’Shea admits that Gavin Mulreany’s roaming for Donegal unsettled Kerry in their surprise 13-point loss in Sunday’s NFL Division 1 decider at Croke Park.

The Mountcharles native often acted as a sort of sweeper when Kerry were in possession out the field and it was a tactic that freed up an extra body when Donegal looked to engage and press out. 

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"If you can turn a screw on the kick-out, you can get a serious advantage, and they definitely dominated us in the kick-outs, both on ours and their own kick-outs," O'Shea said at the launch of the 2026 AIB All-Ireland Football Championship.

"That was a huge difference and then also set up different defensively as well. Gavin Mulreany kind of played as a sweeper, two major differences from last year.

"A couple of teams have tried it during the league, trying to get that extra protection around the two-point arc. 

"It could lead to excitement as well, with teams pushing out that bit more and maybe leaving space behind."

O’Shea’s own impact was also severely hampered as Glenties teenager Max Campbell not only shut him down at one end but, putting him on the back foot up the other, booted three points of his own from centre half-back. 

"I'm personally very disappointed," he said. "That's kind of the first thing you need to do after a performance and a defeat like that is you have to look in the mirror first and analyse your own performance, then from the team as a whole.

"That will sting after a game, especially when you go back training."