Kerry got back to winning ways with a four-point win over Tyrone at a sun-drenched Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney on Sunday afternoon.
Kerry, who made four changes from their 10-point defeat at the hands of Dublin last week, took a five-point lead into the half time break – 0-11 to 0-06 – before Jack O'Connor’s men held out for victory despite a late Ciarán Daly goal five minutes from time.
The impressive as ever Footballer of the Year, David Clifford top-scored for the winners with 0-08, six of which were frees, as David, along with his brother Paudie and Sean O’Shea combined to score 0-15 of Kerry’s 0-18-point tally. Tyrone saw Darren McCurry, Darragh Canavan, and Ciarán Daly all score 1-06 between them.
Kerry got off to the best possible start, Sean O’Brien, who’d replaced Damien Bourke at right half-back, slotted over inside the opening minute, before Ciarán Daly levelled the sides for the first of four times in the opening 35 minutes.
The best goal chance of the opening half came with just 10 minutes on the clock. After Kerry overturned a Tyrone attack in the middle of the field, David Clifford burst through the stretched Tyrone midfield with ease, finding Gavin White in space, before Niall Morgan did superbly well to scramble back into the Tyrone goal to deny Sean O’Shea a certain goal.
Two minutes later, Darren McCurry scored the point of the game. The Edendork clubman's superb curling effort put two between the sides – 0-3 to 0-1 – in favour of the visiting Ulster side.
After a skirmish between players from both sides in front of the main stand, after which Peter Harte, Kerry captain Paudie Clifford, and Dara Moynihan were each shown a yellow card, Jack O’Connor’s side broke free and both sides were level for the second time when Sean O’Shea kicked over before fist pumping to the vocal Kingdom support.
Both sides exchanged points and were level on three more occasions until the 25th minute when Kerry scored five of the next seven points to take a five-point lead into the break.
In a game that saw Shane Ryan and Gavin White each make their 50th appearance for Kerry in both the league and championship, O’Connor’s charges extended their lead to seven five minutes after the start thanks to two quick-fire frees from David Clifford.
Tyrone got their first point since the 30th minute with Darragh Canavan superbly slotted over from out wide, just shy of the 45-minute mark.
When Sean O’Shea finished off a lovely move from Kerry in the 47th minute, Kerry were double the score of Tyrone – 0-14 to 0-07 in favour of the Kingdom.
With five minutes to go, Tyrone gave themselves a fighting chance when Seanie O’Donnell found his clubmate Ciarán Daly in space before the Trillick St Macartan’s half-forward raised the game’s only green flag to make it a five-point game.
It was a nervy finish for Kerry, who’d looked comfortable since the 30th minute, but when David Clifford kicked over what was his eighth point of the afternoon, the hosts opened back up a five-point lead, a deficit narrowed to four by Tyrone when Niall Morgan slotted over a late ’45.
All, bar one, of Kerry’s starting six forwards scored at least a point, an outcome that will certainly please O’Connor ahead of their trip to Roscommon in two weeks’ time.
Kerry: Shane Ryan; Graham O’Sullivan, Jason Foley, Paul Murphy; Sean O’Brien (0-01), Tadhg Morley, Gavin White; Diarmuid O’Connor, Joe O’Connor; Adrian Spillane (0-01), Paudie Clifford (0-03), Conor Geaney; David Clifford (0-08, 6f), Sean O’Shea (0-04, 1f), Dara Moynihan (0-01)
Subs: Tony Brosnan for Geaney (HT), Ronan Buckley for Spillane (52), Stefan Okunbar for O’Brien (61), Stephen O’Brien for Moynihan (63), Darragh Roche for Paudie Clifford (67) Dylan Casey for Foley (70, temp sub)
Tyrone: Niall Morgan (0-01 ’45); Conall Devlin, Padraig Hampsey, Cormac Quinn; Ben Cullen (0-01), Peter Harte, Niall Devlin; Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick (0-01); Ciarán Daly (1-01), David Mulgrew, Joe Oguz; Darren McCurry (0-02, 1f), Darragh Canavan (0-03), Seanie O’Donnell (0-01)
Subs: Ruairi Canavan (0-01) for Harte (21), Kieran McGeary for Mulgrew (39, inj), Aodhan Donaghy for Kilpatrick (42), Cathal McShane for Darragh Canavan (62), Lorcan McGarrity for McCurry (67)
Referee: David Coldrick (Meath)
