WHILE Kerry more than matched Galway for passion and for physical strength, they had no answer for the superior experience of the westerners in a quite entertaining Division One tie played in Killarney yesterday.

Galway's experience of top flight hurling was the telling factor in this encounter and whenever Kerry threatened to get a meaningful grip, seasoned campaigners like Gerry McInerney, Joe Cooney and Michael Coleman came to Galway's rescue.

The sides were locked at three points each at the end of the first quarter when Galway struck for the crucial breakthrough goal. Corner forward Francis Forde who emerged as their top scorer, ran on to a great pass from Joe Rabbitte and left three defenders trailing before slotting the ball beyond goalkeeper John Healy.

Kevin Broderick increased Galway's lead to four points before Kerry fought back with points' from late call up TJ Curran and Christy Walsh. But Forde restored the Galway advantage to three points with a pointed free on 22 minutes.

Kerry's Mike Foley swapped scores with Joe Cooney before the break to give Galway a 1-6 to 0-6 interval lead. A pointed free from Foley cut the gap to two just after the re start, but from there on Galway took full control and two points from Cooney and another from Forde kept Kerry at bay.

The home side had to wait until the 46th minute for their next score - a point by Christy Walsh - but this was their last score.