ALL-IRELAND SFC QUALIFIERS ROUND THREE Kerry 1-16 Tyrone 1-6:KERRY HAVE once again sprung into life along the championship's scenic route. And how the home fans in the crowd of 24,370 lapped up this victory against old foes Tyrone under the scorching sun on Saturday.
Simply put, there was no hiding place for this Kerry team, because another defeat to their perceived nemesis Tyrone, following on from two All-Ireland final and one semi-final defeats, would not only have seen Kerry exit the championship at the earliest date since 1999, but it would have led to recriminations and calls for retirements from within the county.
Kerry went for the jugular from the throw in, with Anthony Maher and Bryan Sheehan dominating midfield, but it was the space their attack were creating and the quality of some of their movement and scores that caught the eye.
Tyrone scoring chances were rare, as the experienced Marc Ó Sé shackled the precocious Darren McCurry, who started instead of captain Stephen O’Neill, Aidan O’Mahony ground Owen Mulligan into submission, while Shane Enright justified his recall with a good job on Martin Penrose.
Sheehan put Declan O’Sullivan into space for the Kingdoms opening score of the game in the second minute. The midfielder subsequently added two points from frees in favourable positions, both of which were won by James O’Donoghue.
The Tyrone defence, with Peter Harte playing as an extra defender, were so preoccupied with Kieran Donaghy and Colm Cooper, it allowed O’Donoghue to draw fouls which Sheehan punished. O’Donoghue then kicked a fine point in the 25th minute to leave Kerry leading 0-5 to 0-2,
But the whole time there was an underlying current of petulance in the game which kept referee David Coldrick busy flashing yellow cards.
Then came a run of three Kerry points in nine minutes, through Declan O’Sullivan, Paul Galvin and Cooper. Meanwhile Tyrones approach of trying to pass their way through the Kerry cover was proving futile. The home side forced Harte’s charges to go back and recycle the ball repeatedly and this led to a Tyrone scoring drought of 21 minutes.
Tyrone did rally briefly in first-half injury time, with points from McCurry and Penrose (free) but the visitors were fortunate to retire only four adrift 0-8 to 0-4 as Kerry had been profligate in front of goal, hitting the post twice.
Sheehan and Declan O’Sullivan kicked early points with Aidan Cassidy replying with Tyrones best point – which could have been a goal. Then Tyrone were handled a lifeline in the 42nd minute with a bizarre deflected goal, which came via Conor Gormley’s knee.
This reduced the deficit to two, but the Kingdom’s response was rapid. Sheehan soared high at midfield and he found Declan O’Sullivan, who fed Cooper. He threaded the ball through to the inrushing Sheehan, and his fisted cross was finished to the net at the back post by Donaghy.
A quick point by O’Donoghue and Cooper, and it was game over as Kerry stretched 1-12 to 1-6 clear.
The game now turned ugly and by the final whistle, the referee had issued 17 yellow cards and one red. Brian McGuigan spent just over a minute on the pitch before he saw red for a clash with Declan O’Sullivan, who was also booked, in the 57th minute. Kerry substitute Patrick Curtin was then lucky not to see red for an elbow to a Tyrone defender’s head.
Tyrone did not register a score over the final 23 minutes, while Kerry added six in the same period as the game wound down to an ugly end.
KERRY: B Kealy; M Ó Sé, A O'Mahony, S Enright; T Ó Sé, E Brosnan, K Young; A Maher, B Sheehan (0-3, all frees); P Galvin (0-1), Declan O'Sullivan (0-3), D Walsh; J O'Donoghue (0-2), C Cooper (0-5, 0-1 free), K Donaghy (1-1). Subs: Darran O'Sullivan for Walsh (49 mins), P Crowley for Enright (65 mins), K O'Leary for O'Donoghue, P Curtin (0-1) for Declan O'Sullivan (both 66 mins), B Maguire for Young (67 mins).
TYRONE: P McConnell; A McCrory, C Clarke (0-1), D Carlin; R McNamee, C Gormley (1-0), Seán O'Neill (0-1); J McMahon, C Cavanagh (0-1); Mattie Donnelly, M Donnelly, P Harte; M Penrose (0-1, free), O Mulligan, D McCurry (0-1). Subs: R McMenamin for Carlin (11 mins), D McCaul for McNamee (25 mins), A Cassidy (0-1) for Mattie Donnelly (34 mins), Stephen O'Neill for Penrose (46 mins), B McGuigan for McCurry (56 mins).
Referee: D Coldrick(Meath).
