Comeback kings pile misery on Monaghan
Another rousing finish, another league win. For all the new faces, both inside the whitewash and patrolling the sideline, Kerry have made a fine habit this spring of finding an extra gear at the tail end of tight encounters. They’ve almost become predictable in the manner in which they’re outsprinting teams to the tape. As was the case away to Cavan in Round Two, Kerry found themselves trailing in the slipstream of their opponents for much of yesterday’s contest, a game where throw-in was delayed by 10 minutes as the heavy snowfall held up the Monaghan team bus travelling to Killarney from their Limerick base.
But even as the snow cleared and the grey skies brightened, Kerry, unlike the weather, were showing little by way of improvement on a mediocre opening-half effort to suggest a first defeat of Peter Keane’s reign would be avoided. The hosts got back on level terms twice early in the second half, but on both occasions they were unable to forge ahead. Conor McManus’ sixth free and a blazed-over Darren Hughes goal chance (the latter stemming from a sloppy Kerry turnover in defence), had once again left two points between the sides and there was this nagging sense that Monaghan were going to stay the course and record a third consecutive league win on Kingdom soil.
But what Kerry produced from the 52nd minute onwards, outscoring their guests by 0-7 to 0-1, wasn’t far off their first-half display against Dublin in Round Three.
Monaghan’s Rory Beggan, when going long off the kicking tee, had struggled to find a white shirt for large swathes of the afternoon and the All Star goalkeeper endured a particularly difficult final quarter as Kerry ravaged the opposition restarts.
Sean O’Shea won and converted the free which moved the Kingdom back within a single score of the visitors, and they should have been level when Tommy Walsh claimed his fourth mark — but unlike the previous three, this particular kick lacked the requisite distance and fell into Beggan’s arms.
Still, Kerry were pinning the northerners deeper inside their own half with each play, with Monaghan struggling to break the green and gold wall which had formed across the halfway line.
Winning boss Peter Keane, when chatting to reporters afterwards, praised the impact of the bench, and it was two of these subs — Mikey Geaney and Tomás Ó Sé — who combined to win the free which O’Shea stroked over to level matters for the fifth time on 63 minutes.
Stephen O’Brien, in what was just reward for his relentless toiling, edged the home side in front, 0-13 to 0-12, for the first time since the third minute. Gavin O’Brien fetched the ensuing restart and the move finished with young Dara Moynihan putting his name onto the scoresheet. The Kerry contingent in the crowd of 6,560, no more than the men they came to cheer, were purring.
Colin Walshe momentarily stemmed the bleeding with Monaghan’s sole white flag in the closing 21 minutes of regulation time and four of stoppages added on, but by this juncture, Malachy O’Rourke’s side had lost midfielder Darren Hughes to yellow and black card offences.
Another foul on Ó Sé allowed his namesake to steer a sixth free between the posts as the clock spilt into the red. There followed a second from marauding half-back Tom O’Sullivan and no more than the opening afternoon back in late January, O’Shea found the target with a sumptuous sideline kick in front of the main stand to cap league win number five.
Four points clear of Dublin, Mayo, and Galway, and boasting a relatively healthy score difference, it is far more likely than unlikely that Kerry will wind up in the Division 1 decider.
Monaghan, by way of contrast, are looking down rather than up and it must feel a lifetime ago now since they turned over All-Ireland champions Dublin on the opening weekend. It remains their sole victory of the spring.
We got ourselves into a good lead 10 minutes into the second half, but in the last 15 minutes, Kerry outscored us seven points to one.
"If that happens, you are not going to win the game,” said Malachy O’Rourke.
“The boys are working hard. There is a lot of character and quality in that dressing room. It’s just trying week-by-week to get a little better. We felt this week was better.”
Certainly, they were the better of the two teams in the opening half. The visitors led 0-9 to 0-7 at the break, with McManus accounting for 0-6 of their total. Beside him in the inside line, Stephen O’Hanlon was causing plenty of bother, while further back, the Farney defence forced a number of turnovers.
Having landed three-in-a-row to tie proceedings at 0-7 apiece on 21 minutes, Kerry would not score again until the third minute of the second half. But no more than against Cavan and Galway, and to a lesser extent Dublin, their closing act was decisive.
S O’Shea (0-8, 0-6 frees, 0-1 sc); T Walsh (0-4, 0-3 marks); T O’Sullivan, S O’Brien (0-2 each); D Moynihan (0-1).
C McManus (0-8, 0-6 frees, 0-1 mark); C Walshe, D Hughes, G Doogan, S O’Hanlon, C McCarthy (0-1 each).
KERRY:
S Ryan; B Ó Beaglaíoch, P Crowley, J Sherwood; G Crowley, P Murphy, T O’Sullivan; J Barry, M Griffin; D Moynihan, S O’Shea, G O’Brien; K McCarthy, T Walsh, S O’Brien.
M Geaney for McCarthy (HT); S Enright for Griffin (52); G O’Sullivan for Ó Beaglaíoch (56); T Ó Sé for Sherwood (59 mins, inj); J Foley for G Crowley (71).
MONAGHAN:
R Beggan; R Wylie, D Wylie, C Walshe; K O’Connell, V Corey, C Lennon; D Hughes, G Doogan; D Ward, D Malone, R McAnespie; C McCarthy, C McManus, S O’Hanlon.
D Mone for Lennon (44 mins); O Duffy for D Ward (61); J McCarron for O’Hanlon (64); B McGinn for Malone (70).
P Neilan (Roscommon).
