Maurice O’Connor stands tall as second-half surge sees Kerry past Down

The green and gold finished powerfully outscoring Down nine points to one from the hour mark onwards, all in the wake of the dismissal of Down’s Dáithí Sands on a second yellow card for a foul on Dáithí Griffin.

Considering the position the Kingdom were in at half-time – the sides level at 0-10 to 2-4 facing into the breeze for the second half – it was a particularly sweet success for the Stephen Molumphy’s men.

The Déise native and his management team wouldn’t have at all been pleased with the side’s first-half performance as they had 12 missed chances for a rate of return of just 45pc. Having shot 72pc last weekend in Mullingar it was a fairly brutal reversion to the mean for Kerry.

For their part Down would have been very satisfied to have bagged a pair of first-half goals, the first arriving nine minutes in through Sands, the second arriving on 21 minutes through Caolan Taggart.

To be fair the Kingdom responded really well to Down’s goals, substitute Dan Goggin off the mark within moments of coming into the fray helping his team get back to level pegging come the short whistle.

Nevertheless with the sides level and the breeze to come Down’s way in the second half, it was looking precarious enough for the green and gold, and it remained a marginal proposition for much of the second half, a point up, a point down, level pegging, nip-and-tuck most of the way.

Up until Sands’ dismissal that is. Thereafter there was only one team in it, the first seven of Kerry’s nine points to the finish coming in-a-row as the home side showed incredible power, fitness and finesse to ram home their advantage.

Top-scorer Maurice O’Connor – who had 13 points in all – got the first of those seven with second-half subs David Woulfe, Gavin Dooley, and Brandon Barrett all contributing as the Kingdom demonstrated their assertiveness and increasing strength-in-depth.

Even if they didn't make it easy for themselves the manner of this victory will give the Kingdom all sorts of confidence ahead of next weekend’s top-of-the-table clash with Laois in Austin Stack Park.

SCORERS – Kerry: M O’Connor 0-13 (7f), D Goggin 0-4, F Mackessy (1f), R Walsh 0-2 each, D Woulfe, C Walsh, K Hayes, B Barrett, G Dooley 0-1 each. Down: D Sands 1-1, C Taggart 1-0, P Sheehan 0-3 (3f), T Prenter, E Sands, C Egan 0-2 each, D Hughes, F Turpin 0-1 each.

Kerry: L Dee, D Griffin, F McCarthy, E Murphy, K O’Connor, E Leen, F Mackessy, C Walsh, D Shanahan, N Mulcahy, K Hayes, R Walsh, L Crowley, M Leane, M O’Connor. Subs: D Goggin for N Mulcahy, 24, G Dooley for M Leane, 44, B Barrett for D Shanahan, 48, D Woulfe (0-1) for L Crowley, 60, T Doyle for K Hayes, (70+1)

Down: S Keith, M Conlan, C Cassidy, J McManus, T Murray, C Taggart, R McCrickard, D Hughes, T Prenter, P Sheehan, E Sands, L Savage, D Sands, C Egan, P Óg McCrickard. Subs: T McGrattan for P McCrickard, 44, F Turpin for C Egan, M Fisher for J McManus, 56, O McManus for P Sheehan, 61, B Trainor for E Sands, 69

Ref: C Doyle (Tipperary)