GAELIC GAMES Kerry 2-16 Donegal 1-8:DONEGAL BOSS Jim McGuinness returned to the Kingdom yesterday where he was king, in his days playing and winning Sigerson Cups with IT Tralee in the late 1990s, with his distinctive beard, but Jack O'Connor and his rampant Kerry side did not treat him like royalty as the 6,023 present in the Fitzgerald Stadium witnessed a Kerry rout.
Kerry, even without the likes of Tomás Ó Sé, Colm Cooper, James O’Donoghue and Donnchadh Walsh, made a slow start as Donegal raced 0-3 to 0-0 in front inside the opening five minutes with points from Patrick McBrearty, Anthony Thompson and Michael Murphy.
But once Anthony Maher and Bryan Sheehan got going at midfield, the home side took over as Sheehan levelled the contest with three well-struck frees and then Anthony Maher gave Kerry the lead in the 14th minute after excellent work by Kieran Donaghy who excelled in his wing forward role.
Then in the 17th minute came the sucker punch that Donegal never recovered from when Paul Galvin raced through from midfield and found Anthony Maher inside the Donegal cover. Maher passed inside to Darran O’Sullivan, who quickly slipped the ball across to an unmarked Patrick Curtin and he rifled the ball to the Donegal net.
Despite the efforts of Michael Murphy who kicked two points, Kerry were in complete control in the half back line with man of the match, Peter Crowley, captain Eoin Brosnan and impressive newcomer Brian McGuire holding their opponents scoreless.
The loudest cheer of the afternoon came when Kieran Donaghy kicked two massive points from the right wing, in front of the stand, in the 25th and 27th minutes, and when Bryan Sheehan landed a 60-metre free four minutes before the break, Donegal were in big trouble as Kerry led 1-8 to 0-6 at the interval.
The game was finished as a contest within a minute of the restart when Patrick Curtin was hauled down for a penalty and Bryan Sheehan shot low to the corner of the Donegal net. Two quick points from Bryan McGuire and Sheehan stretched Kerry’s lead to 10 (2-10 to 0-6) with only six minutes gone in the second half and the game drifted after that to its inevitable conclusion.
Michael Murphy, Donegal’s only attacking threat, kicked two points, one from a free and one from play, but Kerry were allowed play possession football with Sheehan, Galvin, Crowley, Maher and Curtin all adding late points with Donegal’s sole score being a soft-looking 53rd minute penalty from the boot of Murphy. But Kerry had long since wrapped up the two points. Donegal had Eamon McGee sent off in the 55th minute for a second yellow card.
KERRY: B Kealy; M Ó Sé, D Bohan, K Young; P Crowley (0-1), E Brosnan, B McGuire (0-1); A Maher (0-2), B Sheehan 1-7 (seven frees, 1-0 pen); P Galvin (0-1), Darran O'Sullivan, Declan O'Sullivan; BJ Keane (0-1), K Donaghy (0-2), P Curtin 1-1 (0-1 free). Subs: S Enright for D Bohan (inj h/t), A O'Mahony for M Ó Sé (61), S Scanlon for B Sheehan (65), D O'Callaghan for Declan O'Sullivan (65), K O'Leary for P Curtin (66).
DONEGAL: P Durcan; F McGlynn, N McGee, P McGrath; A Thompson (0-1), K Lacey, L McLoone; R Kavanagh (0-1), N Gallagher; M McHugh, R Bradley, E McGee; C McFadden, M Murphy (1-5, 0-3 frees, 1-0 pen), P McBrearty (0-1). Subs: D Walsh for L McLoone (h/t), M Boyle for R Bradley (h/t), C Toye for M McHugh (58)
Referee: S Doyle(Wexford)
