ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 2A
Courtesy of GAA.ie
Kerry 1-22
Derry 0-14
A contest between two counties at opposite ends of the island ended in a landslide victory for Kerry over Derry.
Kerry kicked on late against a Derry side that has lost a lot of key players from the side that gained promotion to Division 2A, but new manager Johnny McGarvey will take a lot of encouragement from how his side performed against the 2022 Joe McDonagh finalists in the first 50 minutes, at which point they trailed by just two points, 0-16 to 0-14, at Celtic Park.
With top scorer Cormac O’Doherty deployed as a sweeping defender, James Friel took over freetaing duty for the Oak Leaf men, who were boosted by an early red card for Kerry’s Colin Walsh. Derry were full of energy and tenacity, and while Daniel Collins, Dan Goggin and Shane Conway struck some classy points for the Kingdom, they struggled to shake off their hosts.
A somewhat fortunate long-range goal from Paudie O’Connor sucked the life out of Derry however, and they were over-run in the final quarter, conceding six points without replay on top of the game’s only goal.
