Donegal ... 0-14 Kerry ... 0-8A sharper, more focused Donegal proved too strong for a disappointing Kerry side in the Vocational Schools Intercounty senior football final, the curtain-raiser to the Allianz National League final in Clones yesterday.
Played in difficult, wintry conditions the game never rose to nay great heights and any spectacle there was came form Donegal who were the more enterprising throughout and had some excellent performances from Karl Lacey in the heart of the defence, Conal Molloy on the '40 and Michael Doherty at top of the left.
Kerry, in contrast, committed too many basic errors, their passing and handling were poor and too often they lacked direction and leadership, with the result they were always chasing the game.
The sides were level at one point each after eight minutes, with Donegal then forging three ahead with points by Odhran Doherty, Gary Kennedy and Ronan McNiallais. Kerry pulled back two points to reduce the deficit to one but Donegal finished the half strongly to lead by three at the break, 0-6 to 0-3, thanks to Conal Molloy and Damien Breslin.
Kerry showed early promise of a revival on the restart but ultimately it proved to be a false dawn as Donegal again took control, and three points inside four minutes had them five ahead by the 11th minute to create the platform for victory. Kerry then suffered a further blow with the dismissal of Ray Galvin in the 15th minute. Although to their credit they battled to the end, they never looked like turning it around.
KERRY: B O'Connor; J Griffin, M Ó Croiní, S Clifford; M Ferris (0-1), G Grady, R Galvin 0-1; B O'Grady, G Sheehan; S Ó Connchughair, R McAuliffe (0-3), M Murphy (0-1); M O'Riordan, C Fitzmaurice 0-1, M Bowler. Subs: J O'Sullivan (CSL) for S Clifford, J O'Sullivan (Castleisland CC) for Ó Connchughair.
DONEGAL: P Durcan; N McGee, B Byrne, P Gallagher; E McGee, K Lacey, M Curran; R Mac Niallais (0-1), P McGarvey (0-1), J Sharkey, C Molloy (0-3), O Doherty (0-1), D Breslin (0-1), G Kennedy (0-2), M Doherty (0-4). Subs: C Tully (0-1) for J Sharkey.
Referee: S McCormick (Meath).
An impressive second half display by All-Ireland champions Galway was enough to defeat Kildare in an entertaining senior football challenge at Kilcullen yesterday. The Lilywhites, playing with the wind, ledby 1-7 to 0-4 at half-time.i
SCORERS: Galway - D Savage 0-4, P Joyce 0-4 2f, M Clancy 1-1, M Donnellan 1-0, J Donnellan 0-2; Kildare - T Fennin 1-0, D McCormack, D Hughes 0-2 each, P Brennan 0-2, fs, P Hurley, M Lynch 0-1 each.
