Down 0-6 Kerry 0-22

Even in the chilly air there was the faintest scent of spring around Pairc Esler, and Kerry certainly sniffed it, serving up a delightful exhibition of football in the bright afternoon sunshine.

Not that Down presented a whiff of resistance. Such was their obvious lack of strength and conditioning they could do with several more months of winter training, preferably the warm-weather type. They don’t appear to be going anywhere but down and out of this division, unless they suddenly find considerable spring in their step.

For Kerry then a more casual and handy two points they could not have wished for, and while that shifts them off the relegation platform at least for now the more obvious blessing for manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice was the seamless reintroduction of players like Colm "Gooch" Cooper and Kieran Donaghy alongside standout newcomers like Aidan Walsh and Alan Fitzgerald. No sign anymore either of any All-Ireland defeat hangover.

“Yeah, it probably was easier than expected,” said Fitzmaurice. “We played well but I think Down played below par, and I think they’re better than that. It can hard when the momentum of games are going against you.

“But look, we’re still in the month of February, and this division is so competitive that all the teams can take points off each other, so we’re just delighted with the win. Scoring difference can be important too when it’s tight like this so it was important we kept tagging those on at the end, kept the scoreboard going in the right direction.”

Kerry certainly did that - 22 points exceptional scoring for any time of the year, eight of which came off the bench. Darran O’Sullivan scored three from play with his B of the Bang gunshot runs and the Gooch glided one over the bar towards the end that suggested his best days are far from behind him.

Former defensive specialist Paul Murphy was excellent at centre forward, giving more options in ball distribution, while captain Bryan Sheehan oozed confidence while moving beautifully around midfield. Donaghy was a late replacement for the injured David Moran at midfield and is looking as fit as he ever has for January. Substitute Brendan O’Sullivan’s two points also came from play and there’s no denying regeneration of strength and dept over the winter.

“That’s the plan,” added Fitzmaurice, “to widen the panel, and give players their chance if we feel they deserve it. It was great to get some of the older guys back too, get them a game under their belt. We’ve another big test next week with Donegal coming to Tralee. They’ve been going well, and we next to be ready for that one.”

For Down however things are going from bad to worse, their measly six points properly reflecting one of their poorest league performances in years. Afterwards some of the Down supporters stood around admiring the Kerry team as they did they warm-down exercise, and at times during the game it felt as if the Down players were displaying similar admiration.

Their tackling was of schoolboy levels and they repeatedly gave away possession like loose change. In the first half they sent a trio of balls straight into the hands of Kerry goalkeeper Brendan Kealy, and you could see him smiling to himself from up here in the press box.

Kerry should also have bagged themselves a goal before the break, when Donnchadh Walsh found Murphy unmarked near the Down goalpost, although Murphy somehow palmed his effort outside of that post, instead of inside, and you could hear him cursing to himself from up here too.

Down’s three first-half points came from two Conor Harrison frees and one from play from Barry O’Hagan and they then went a full 44 minutes without a score of any type, as Kerry went up 0-10 to 0-3 by half-time. Even the veteran Kevin McKernan was guilty of some woefully misdirected ball, and at other times ball was simply sent aimlessly over the sideline.

Worse still they appeared to give up the chase long before the end, certain players somehow cramping up despite extremely light-hearted effort. The normally eager Down supporters were left to observe in a deathly silence as the likes of Barry John Keane and O’Sullivan scored almost at will, such was the absurd amount of room they were afforded.

The only consolation for Down was that they kept Kerry goalless, full back Ger McGovern making one crucial intervention in the second half to deny an otherwise certain three-pointer for forward Stephen O’Brien.

There wasn’t much else for Fitzmaurice to ponder on, although he was asked about the Congress decision to introduce the mark in Gaelic football: I was surprised firstly, that it was passed. It’s trying to promote high fielding but I think if you catch it on the chest that still counts as a mark, and a lot of the better goalkeepers are specialists at drilling back 40 yards into a player’s chest, so that’s not really going to promote the high fielding aspect of things. But it’s passed now so we’ll get on with it.”

Fitzmaurice also questioned about the decision not to bring forward the All-Ireland finals by two weeks: Well it shows maybe the appetite isn’t there to change the calendar year, and it can’t be moaned about any more. It’s often said intercounty managers are dictating fixtures but the appetite for change wasn’t there. I think the year could be tightened by six or eight weeks, but again it wasn’t changed, so we can’t be moaning anymore about having games in December and January.”

KERRY: B Kealy; M O Se, M Griffin, S Enright; P O'Connor, A O'Mahony, F Fitzgerald; K Donaghy, B Sheehan (capt) (0-5, two frees, two 45s); A Walsh, P Murphy, D Walsh; D O'Sullivan (0-3), A Fitzgerald (0-3, two frees), S O'Brien (0-1).

Subs: C Cooper (0-3, two frees) for Walsh (42 mins), P Crowley for O’Connor (48 mins), BJ Keane (0-3, one free) for Fitzgerald (58 mins), P Kilkenny for O Se (60 mins), T Walsh for Donaghy (63 mins), B O’Sullivan (0-2) for D Walsh (63 mins),

DOWN: M Cunningham; L Howard, G McGovern, D O'Hagan; C McGovern, A Carr, D O'Hanlon; P Turley, M McKay; J Murphy, M Poland, K McKernan (capt); C Maginn (0-2), C Harrison (0-2, both frees), B O'Hagan (0-1).

Subs: J Flynn for Carr (27 mins), R Mallon (0-1) for Murphy (37 mins), R Boyle for Howard, M Magee for D O’Hagan (both 40 mins), H Brown for Turley (53 mins), D O’Hare for B O’Hagan (56 mins)

Referee: Martin Duffy (Sligo)