All-Ireland SFC: Kerry ease to victory over Kildare

All-Ireland SFC Round 2B

KERRY 3-22 KILDARE 0-17

By Ger McNally at Cedral St. Conleth's Park

Kerry reignited their All-Ireland title defence with a commanding victory over Kildare, finishing strongly with three goals in the closing quarter in front of almost 10,000 spectators at Cedral St Conleth’s Park.

Goals from David Clifford, Diarmuid O’Connor and substitute Gavin White ultimately put an emphatic gloss on the scoreline, although the outcome had long appeared inevitable.

Playing with the aid of a strong wind, Kerry made their intent clear from the outset, racing into a six-point lead with a string of early scores, including two two-point efforts from Joe O’Connor and Dylan Geaney.

Kildare’s resistance during the opening half was largely driven by Jack Robinson, who, despite carrying a heavily strapped hamstring after an injury-hit campaign, impressed with five points. His fifth score, midway through the half, cut the deficit to four (0-11 to 0-7), but Kerry soon reasserted control.

The visitors finished the half with a flourish to lead 0-16 to 0-8 at the interval, with scores shared throughout the team. While Mark Dempsey did a solid job in limiting David Clifford’s influence to two first-half points, Kerry’s depth ensured they remained comfortably in front.

Brian Ó Beaglaoich was particularly prominent in the early stages of the second half before becoming the first of three players withdrawn as a temporary change as Kerry used eight replacements in total.

Kildare briefly threatened a revival when Darragh Kirwan landed a superb two-pointer in the 51st minute to reduce the gap to eight. However, that proved as close as they would get.

Within four minutes, Kerry struck decisively. Clifford intercepted a short kickout by Eoin Sheehan and surged through to finish clinically to the net. Almost immediately from the restart, Diarmuid O’Connor added a second goal after a sweeping move, effectively ending the contest.

Kildare continued to battle, with Kirwan and substitute Brian McLoughlin both adding two-point scores, but Kerry had the final say. Deep in stoppage time, Clifford turned provider, squaring for Gavin White to tap in a third goal and complete a dominant performance.

The result represents a timely boost for Kerry, with several returning players gaining valuable minutes as they build towards the latter stages of the championship.

Scorers for Kerry: D Clifford 1-4, D Geaney 0-4 (1 tp), D O’Connor 1-0, G White 1-0, P Clifford 0-3 (1 tp, 1’45), B Ó Beaglaoich 0-3, J O’Connor 0-2 (1 tp), G O’Sullivan 0-2 (1f), (1 tp), P Geaney 0-2, S O’Brien 0-2.

Scorers for Kildare: D Kirwan 0-6 (2 tp), J Robinson 0-5, A Beirne 0-2 (1f), B McLoughlin 0-2 (1 tp), B Loakman 0-1, B Byrne 0-1.

Kerry: Shane Murphy; Evan Looney, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Mike Breen, Graham O’Sullivan; Mark O’Shea, Seán O’Brien; Joe O’Connor, Paudie Clifford, Diarmuid O’Connor; Paul Geaney (capt), David Clifford, Dylan Geaney. Subs: Gavin White for Ó Beaglaoich (50, t/s); Keith Evans for Geaney (53); Tony Brosnan for O’Connor (53); Armin Heinrich for Breen (57); Paul Murphy for Looney (57); Killian Spillane for D. O’Connor (62); Tadhg Morley for Foley (64, t/s); Tomás Kennedy for Clifford (66, t/s).

Kildare: Eoin Sheehan; Ryan Burke, Mark Dempsey, Harry O’Neill; James McGrath, Padraic Spillane, Brian Byrne; Kevin Feely, Brendan Gibbons; Shane Farrell, Darragh Kirwan, Colm Dalton; Ben Loakman, Alex Beirne, Jack Robinson. Subs: Brian McLoughlin for Farrell (44); Ryan Sinkey for Dalton (49); Eoin Cully for Robinson (53); Tommy Gill for O’Neill (62); Darragh Swords for McGrath (64).

Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh)