Niall Higgins, Roscommon, and Dylan Geaney, Kerry, in All-Ireland SFC action. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
All-Ireland SFC Group Two
Kerry 3-18 Roscommon 0-17
By Paul Brennan at Fitzgerald Stadium
Second half goals from David Clifford, Paul Geaney and Gavin White saw Kerry ease to a 10-point win over Roscommon in a Group Two game that was a bit of an arm-wrestle for 50 minutes before the home side flexed their goal scoring muscle to secure victory.
Having been somewhat flattered to lead by five at the interval, having played with a stiff breeze in Killarney, Kerry needed Clifford’s 50th minute goal to more or less kill off the Rossies resistance and start to put the game beyond the visitors.
Whether it was the mercury-rising temperatures or the lack of jeopardy that will see three of four teams in each group advance, but only 6,814 showed up in Fitzgerald Stadium for an engaging contest.
Kerry had Diarmuid O’Connor back in midfield after a two-month absence, but it was Paudie Clifford’s non-appearance due to a muscle issue that blunted the hosts’ incisiveness and cutting-edge for a lot of the game.
Roscommon took the lead in the first minute through Ronan Daly’s point, and four minutes later Brian Stack doubled their lead.
Kerry were back to parity by the ninth minute through Paul Geaney’s ‘mark’ and a Diarmuid O’Connor point.
Keith Doyle kicked Roscommon back into the lead after 12 minutes, but Kerry were back in front two minutes later when Clifford converted a two-point free from the sideline.
Eddie Nolan and Joe O’Connor traded points, and Ben O’Carroll levelled it at 0-5 apiece in the 25th minute.
Sean O’Shea converted a two-point free, and though Daire Cregg’s 27th minute point halved the deficit, Diarmuid O’Connor and Joe O’Connor raised white flags and then a breach of the three-up rule by Roscommon presented O’Shea with another two-point free, which he converted to see Kerry lead 0-11 to 0-6 half time lead.
The sides exchanged two points apiece in the 15 minutes after the restart before Clifford cut through the Roscommon defence to score the game’s first goal to make it 1-13 to 0-8.
Kerry added two more points before O’Shea and Paul Geaney played a slick one-two for the latter to tap in a goal on 54 minutes as the Kingdom went 2-15 to 0-8 clear.
Goal number three arrived on the hour mark with White palming Geaney’s inviting pass, and though Roscommon finished with two-point scores from Daly, Conor Cox and Diarmuid Murtagh, Kerry thoughts were already turned to a rematch with Cork in a fortnight in what should surely be a tough test of the Kingdom’s credentials. Roscommon host Meath the same weekend.
Scorers for Kerry: S O’Shea 0-7 (2 2ptf, 1f), D Clifford 1-3 (2ptf), P Geaney 1-1 (0-1 m), G White 1-0, D O’Connor 0-2, J O’Connor 0-2, T Brosnan 0-1, S Ryan 0-1 (‘45’), B O Beaglaoich 0-1
Scorers for Roscommon: R Daly 0-3 (2p), C Cox 0-3 (2p, 1f), D Murtagh 0-3 (2p), B O’Carroll 0-2, C Murtagh 0-2 (f), B Stack 0-1, E Nolan 0-1, K Doyle 0-1, D Cregg 0-1
Kerry: Shane Ryan, Dylan Casey, Jason Foley, Tom O’Sullivan, Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Mike Breen, Gavin White, Diarmuid O’Connor, Barry ‘Dan’ O’Sullivan, Joe O’Connor, Seán O’Shea, Micheál Burns, David Clifford, Paul Geaney, Dylan Geaney
Subs: Tony Brosnan for D Geaney (47), Graham O’Sullivan for M Burns (47), Killia Spillane for D Clifford (61), Tadhg Morley for B O Beaglaoich (62), Mark O’Shea for B D O’Sullivan (62).
Roscommon: Conor Carroll; Niall Higgins, Brian Stack, David Murray; Senan Lambe, Ronan Daly, John McManus; Eddie Nolan, Keith Doyle; Dylan Ruane, Enda Smith, Conor Hand; Daire Cregg, Ben O'Carroll, Ciaran Murtagh.
Subs: Diarmuid Murtagh for K Doyle (42), Tim Lambe for D Ruane (52), Shane Killoran for E Smith (55), Ciaran Lennon for S Lambe (55), Conor Cox for C Hand (57).
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).
