Sport

Kerry forwards lead the way at home

National Football league/Division 2A: Kerry  1-15, Wicklow  0-12: Kerry attempted to exorcise the ghost of their humiliation…

Mon Feb 04 2002 - 00:00

National Football league/Division 2A: Kerry  1-15, Wicklow  0-12: Kerry attempted to exorcise the ghost of their humiliation at the hands of Meath last September in this Division 2A opener, played at the Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney.

Kerry collected maximum league points but not in the style that their home supporters expected. The win at best could be described as workmanlike, and indeed had Wicklow availed of two clear goal scoring opportunities in the 15th and 25th minutes of the first half, the latter when full forward Anthony Nolan blazed wide of the target with only Declan O'Keeffe to beat, then they could have finished much closer to the Kingdom.

It was, however, their respective forward lines that proved the difference between the sides as Wicklow, who were without their Rathnew contingent, were lightweight in the extreme, while their Kerry counterparts were far more potent.

Wicklow played well with their defence, particularly full back Breandain O hAnnaidh, Barry O'Donovan and Brendan Daly, all outstanding, who held Kerry to a reasonable total but found it difficult to score.

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Kerry will be satisfied with the win and their newcomers, John Sheehan, Declan Quill and Shaun McGinley, all made promising debuts.

Wicklow posted just 4 points in the first half and all from frees converted by Anthony Nolan.

Meanwhile Kerry, without ever reaching any great heights, had 1-6 on the scoreboard, with the goal coming in the seventh minute after a sweeping move involving Sheehan, Russell and McGinley saw O'Cinneide finish to the net.

The second half saw Kerry continue to kick over some fine points and with Quill, O'Cinneide and McGinley finding the target early on, the home side had skipped 1-9 to 0-6 clear by the 15th minute.

KERRY: D O'Keeffe; J Sheehan, B O'Shea, M McCarthy; E Fitzmaurice, T O'Se (0-1), S Moynihan; B O'Se, W Kirby; D Quill (0-2), N Kennelly (0-5), A MacGearailt; M F Russell, S McGinley (0-2), D O'Cinneide (1-3). Subs E Brosnan (0-1) for A MacGearailt; S O'Sullivan (0-1) for M F Russell; D Daly for W Kirby (inj), I Twiss for O'Cinneide.

WICKLOW: R Hollingsworth; S Cush, B O hAnnaidh, T Burke; B O'Donovan, C Toomey, B Daly(0-1); D Dillon (0-1), F Daly; P Dalton, S O'Neill (0-2), A Foley; O hAnnaidh, A Nolan (0-5), J Behan. Subs C O'Sullivan for A Nolan; A Ellis (0-1) for B Daly.

Referee: B White (Wexford)