DERRY 0-16 KERRY 0-14
Derry's long trip to Killarney pay rich dividends when the northern side collected a valuable brace of division one points.
The visitors’ victory leaves Kerry pointless after two games. And boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice might well be thinking that he is heading down the same route as last season when the Kingdom lost their opening four league games.
Kerry kicked seven first-half wides playing with the wind. But once Derry got going, they always looked to be on top, their strong spine being the decisive factor. Derry manager Brian McIver summed up the contest thus: “We had to dig in today and it’s great for us, at this stage of our development, to come out of here with the win. We had two 19-year-olds on the field at times. After the opening six or seven minutes, when we couldn’t get the ball, I thought we settled down and played very well.”
Mournful Kerry boss
Kerry boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice put a brave face on another galling loss, though
players like Paul Murphy in defence and Conor Cox in attack impressed.
"I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. We're disappointed . . . it doesn't get any easier going to Mayo next time . . . but we have to keep at it"
Kerry raced into an early 0-3 to 0-0 lead inside the opening five minutes, with two points from Barry John Keane (one a free) and a fine effort from Conor Cox. But Derry got into the game with Mark Lynch and Seán Leo McGoldrick driving forward and they carved openings through an inexperienced Kerry defence.
Mark Lynch opened the visitors’ scoring with an eight-minute free but Kerry – thanks to some fine fielding by Anthony Maher and David Moran – continued to find openings in the Derry defence. However, with the exception of James O’Donoghue and Conor Cox, they managed little against the Derry defence, marshalled superbly by fullback Chrissy McKaigue.
Derry responded with points from Seán Leo McGoldrick and Enda Lynn to level the contest after 16 minutes. And then Kerry suffered a blow when Peter Crowley received the first black card of the game. Suddenly the momentum of the contest swung in Derry’s favour.
Kevin Johnson edged the visitors in front with a point and they played the possession game well. Derry led 0-7 to 0-6 at the break.
The second half was tight. McGuckian posted the score of the game early in the second half and two Lynch points edged Derry 0-9 to 0-7 ahead.
Three unanswered Derry points pulled the visitors clear midway through the second half, but two Cox frees left the minimum between the sides.
However, Derry were winning crucial breaking ball and points from Enda Lynn, Emmet McGuckin, Benny Heron and Mark Lynch proved too much for the Kingdom who lost Paul Murphy to a 65th minute black card. Despite two late Cox frees Kerry came up short.
KERRY: B Kelly; P Murphy, M Griffin, S Enright; P Crowley, B McGuire, J Sherwood (0-1); A Maher, D Moran; J Lyne(0-1), S O'Brien (0-1), D Walsh; BJ Keane (0-3, 0-2 frees), J O'Donoghue (0-1), C Cox (0-7, 0-4 frees). Subs: D Culhane for P Crowley (BC, 18 mins), P Geaney for BJ Keane (43 mins), M Geaney for J Sherwood (55 mins), A O'Mahony for A Maher (60 mins), P Kilkenny for P Murphy (BC, 65 mins)
DERRY: T Mallon; D Brown, C McKaigue, D McBride; G O'Kane, M Lynch (0-4, 0-3 frees), A McAlynn; F Doherty, P Bradley; SL McGoldrick (0-2), J Kielt (0-2), E Lynn (0-2); K Johnston (0-1), E McGuckin (0-3), C McGoldrick (0-1). Subs: B Heron (0-1) for K Johnston (52 mins), D Mullan for C McGoldrick (52 mins), C Kielt for A McAlynn (59 mins), C McFaul for E Lynn (70 mins), C O'Boyle for E McGuckin (70 mins).
Referee: C Lane (Cork).
