Allianz Football League Division One
Courtesy of GAA.ie
Kerry 3-15
Monaghan 1-12
By Colm Shalvey at St Tiernach’s Park, Clones
Kerry got off the mark in the Allianz Football League with a comfortable win over Monaghan in Clones.
Monaghan competed well against the breeze in the first half as they looked to build on their opening-night win in Dublin, but Kerry brought new captain Paudie Clifford and former skippers David Clifford and Tadhg Morley off the bench to boost their challenge.
Goals during the last quarter from David Clifford and Diarmuid O’Connor helped Kerry close the game out for a win that owed much to a brilliant display at full-forward from Seán O’Shea, whose seven-point haul included five from play.
Kerry had a penalty appeal waved away early on when Seán Hurson changed his initial decision after consulting with his umpires, but despite conceding the opening score to Jason Irwin, the visitors hit back with five on the spin.
Seán O’Shea got the first two of those, while Conor Geaney, Dara Moynihan and Dylan Casey were also on target by the 15-minute mark. After a chaotic few minutes where both teams created goal chances, Ryan O’Toole palmed a Killian Lavelle pass to the net for Monaghan, who took the lead with points from Jack McCarron, Michael Hamill and Kieran Duffy.
O’Shea and Tom O’Sullivan responded for Kerry, who then got a goal of their own when Cillian Burke found the top corner on 28 minutes. Stephen O’Hanlon raced through to get a point back for Monaghan, but O’Shea and Tom O’Sullivan added to their tallies to stretch Kerry’s lead to 1-9 to 1-5 at half-time.
Monaghan got the first point of the second half through Ciarán McNulty, only for Kerry to kick on with a quick brace of left-footed efforts by the impressive O’Shea.
The Clifford brothers and Jason Foley added their names to the scoresheet for Kerry and although Gary Mohan and subs Stephen Mooney and Mícheál McCarville did likewise for Monaghan, the result was decided just short of the hour mark when David Clifford slid a right-footed shot into the net.
Kerry added some gloss to the scoreline late on when Diarmuid O’Connor bundled a point-attempt from O’Shea over the line to notch their third goal of the afternoon. The Kingdom host high-flying Mayo in round three, while Monaghan travel to Derry.
Scorers for Kerry: Seán O’Shea 0-7 (2f), David Clifford 1-1, Diarmuid O’Connor 1-0, Cillian Burke 1-0, Tom O’Sullivan 0-2, Dylan Casey 0-1, Jason Foley 0-1, Paudie Clifford 0-1, Conor Geaney 0-1, Dara Moynihan 0-1.
Scorers for Monaghan: Jack McCarron 0-3 (1m), Ryan O’Toole 1-0, Stephen Mooney 0-2 (1m), Stephen O’Hanlon 0-1, Gary Mohan 0-1, Kieran Duffy 0-1 (m), Jason Irwin 0-1, Mícheál McCarville 0-1, Ciarán McNulty 0-1, Michael Hamill 0-1.
Kerry: Shane Ryan; Graham O’Sullivan, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Tom O’Sullivan, Paul Murphy, Gavin White; Diarmuid O’Connor, Joe O’Connor; Ronan Buckley, Dylan Geaney, Cillian Burke; Conor Geaney, Seán O’Shea, Dara Moynihan.
Subs: David Clifford for Buckley (32); Paudie Clifford for C Geaney (HT); Tadhg Morley for G O’Sullivan (inj., 48); Adrian Spillane for D Geaney (55); Barry Dan O’Sullivan for Moynihan (61); Seán O’Brien for Casey (inj., 66),
Monaghan: Darren McDonnell; Ryan Wylie, Killian Lavelle, Ryan O’Toole; Kevin Sheridan, Kieran Duffy, Kevin Loughran; Joel Wilson, Gary Mohan; Ciarán McNulty, Stephen O’Hanlon, Michael Hamill; David Garland, Jack McCarron, Jason Irwin.
Subs: Stephen Mooney for Garland (HT); Mícheál McCarville for Wilson (43); Andrew Woods for Irwin (52); Karl O’Connell for Sheridan (55); Bobby Walker for Loughran (70).
Referee: Seán Hurson (Tyrone).
