Joe McDonagh Cup

CARLOW 0-21 KERRY 0-18

By Kevin Egan at Netwatch Cullen Park

Carlow and Kerry rounded off a hugely entertaining opening weekend in the Joe McDonagh Cup. Colm Bonnar’s side struck five points in succession at the end of their clash with Kerry at Netwatch Cullen Park to secure victory.

Carlow produced a somewhat patchy performance for long stretches of this tie, but a blistering finish, allied to some solid defensive work, was enough to ensure that they were the only home team to pick up a win in the first round of the newest senior championship competition in the GAA calendar.

It could all have been so much easier for them if they had shown a more clinical edge with any of the various goal chances that were created in the opening half. Time and again they found themselves in one-on-one situations with Kerry defenders, where a good angled catch or a timely burst of pace was enough to create an overlap to give them a clear sight of Martin Stackpoole’s goal.

The Kerry net led a charmed life, however, as James Doyle, Denis Murphy, Chris Nolan and Edward Byrne all spurned wonderful opportunities to raise a green flag, setting the Kingdom up for a real push in the second half, one that almost got them over the line.

Netwatch Cullen Park bathed in sunshine throughout this afternoon and the supporters who made their way into the venue to pick up some badly-needed vitamin D at the end of a long and dismal winter were rewarded with a contest that burst into life from the moment that Justin Heffernan threw in the ball.

Colum Harty, Padraig Boyle and James Doyle all scored superb points as the two counties threw themselves into the game, posting 0-5 each in the first 10 minutes.

The rate of scoring slowed down dramatically after that however, in part because of Kerry’s inability to score from range (just a single point of their tally came from outside their starting full forward line) and in part because of Carlow’s wastefulness, both in search of goals and when shooting for the posts from out the field.

Chris Nolan missed the last of the goal chances when his close range effort was blocked by Martin Stackpoole in first half injury time, only for Edward Byrne to pick up the recycled ball and fire it over the bar to make it 0-10 to 0-9 in favour of the home side at the break.

Carlow also had the better of the early stages of the second half, extending their lead out to three points when Kevin McDonald pounced on a short puckout and fired it straight back over the head of the Kerry goalkeepers, but Kerry made a few shrewd tactical switches, not least moving Daniel Collins to centre back, and they started to get the upper hand in a number of the key individual battles.

A glorious sideline cut from Jack Goulding and a string of excellent points from Padraig Boyle edged them in front, and when Boyle fired over a ’65 to make it 0-18 to 0-16 in favour of the visitors after 60 minutes, they looked like the more likely winners.

The character and belief that Carlow took from winning this year’s Allianz League Division 2A title was in evidence, however, as they produced a stunning late surge, inspired by a wonderful catch and strike point from Edward Byrne that was as impressive as it was simple.

Ross Smithers drew the sides level when he sprinted clear of his man and tapped the ball over from the right corner, while three late points from play from Jack Kavanagh, Kevin McDonald, and James Doyle wrapped up the win for Carlow and gave them great momentum in advance of their long trip to Belfast next Saturday afternoon.   

Scorers for Carlow: Denis Murphy 0-6 (5fs), Edward Byrne 0-4, James Doyle 0-3, Kevin McDonald 0-2, Chris Nolan (f), Paul Coady, David English (f), Jack Kavanagh, Diarmuid Byrnes and Ross Smithers 0-1 each.

Scorers for Kerry: Padraig Boyle 0-7 (1f, 1 65), Shane Conway 0-6 (5fs), Jack Goulding 0-4 (one sideline), Colum Harty 0-1.

CARLOW: Brian Tracey; Alan Corcoran, Paul Doyle, Michael Doyle; Richard Coady, David English, Richard Kelly; Jack Kavanagh, Kevin McDonald; Jack Murphy, Paul Coady, Edward Byrne; James Doyle, Denis Murphy, Chris Nolan.

Subs: Ed Joyce for Nolan (50), Ross Smithers for J Murphy (56), Diarmuid Byrnes for Denis Murphy (57).

KERRY: Martin Stackpoole; John Buckley, Bryan Murphy, Tom Murnane; Sean Weir, Mikey Boyle, Daniel Collins; Brandon Barrett, Daithí Griffin; Brendan O’Leary, Barry O’ Mahony, Colum Harty; Padraig Boyle, Shane Conway, Jack Goulding.

Sub: Daniel O’Carroll for Harty (67).

REFEREE: Justin Heffernan (Wexford).