Kerry 1-13 Galway 0-12
Galway and Kerry opened the
2014 football championship on a bright and breezy Saturday afternoon. It was an exciting affair, with Galway nursing a 2 point lead late into the game only for
Kerry to finish strong and pull out a 4 point victory. Kerry looked unsure of themselves for most of
the first 50 minutes, with Graham Glenn and Robbie Croft keeping their ship
afloat for much of the game. Danny
Reddin, who was very involved for Galway, had the leave the fray with 8 minutes
to go, which did not help the Brighton club's cause, and at the same time
Kerry's other players lifted their game to deliver the points.
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| Eoghan Kavanagh and Galway had it going early against Kerry. |
Galway had the upper hand
in the first half, and Kerry were forced to make some adjustments earlier than
probably anticipated. Andy Glennon
started at corner forward for Galway and the big
Ballinlough man had the Kerry rearguard at sixes and sevens in the early going. After Kerry took a 2 points to one lead, Galway popped over 4 points in a row. JJ Doyle, Kevin Cummins, Doyle again, and
Glennon had the final touches. With Galway cleaning up the breaks in midfield and winning
possession in the half back line, Kerry saw the need to make some changes. Center back Aaron Fitzgerald was moved to corner
back to take care of the Glennon half way through the first period. In addition, at the other end of the field,
Lee Steacy came on to try and help generate something at the scoring end for
Kerry. Croft accounted for two points
towards the end of the half, but Galway continued to enjoy most of the possession. On a couple of occasions had the goal in
their sights, but could not get a shot off.
There were also a handful of missed chances for points and Galway would have been justified to be a little
disappointed to hold just a two point lead at the break.
 |
| Kerry left it late to pull out the win. |
Following the restart, Galway
continued to play the better football.
Danny Reddin at center forward saw a lot of possession, and the midfield
of Eoghan Kavanagh and JJ Doyle continued to keep the ball moving in Galway's favour.
Kerry, for their part, relied on Glenn to get things going, and Croft at
corner forward for the scoring outlet.
Anything good that happened for the Kingdom involved either, or both, of
these men. The 2 point gap in Galway's favour held late into the game. Cummins (2) and Glennon put a handful of
magnificent scores over the bar, while Kerry kept touch through Steacy and
Croft (2). Things changed in the final
10 minutes. Danny Reddin withdrew from
play due to back problems, which coincided with things changing dramatically in
favour of Kerry. The Kingdom started to
get more players involved. Joe
Fitzpatrick, who had largely been anonymous for the first 50 minutes, put 3
points on the trot over the bar, and Derrick Nolan became more instrumental in
the game. With Kerry now finishing
strong, and now holding a 2 point lead, a goal came that sealed the win. Nolan finished a sweeping move to net from
the edge of the small square. There were
some scuffles towards the end, Joe O'Shea and JJ Doyle were issued red cards as
a result. At that stage the game was
beyond the reach of Galway, while Kerry are
still unbeaten in 2014.
Kerry: B. Monagle, M.
Godley, J. O'Shea, P. Devane, A. Fitzgerald, M. Moriarty, I.
Whelan, D. Nolan, N. Sheehy, G. Glenn, J. Fitzpatrick, R. Croft, K. McCorty. Galway: D. Bindon, P. Cummins, D. Redmond,
G. Lundy, M. Ryan, S. O'Donnell, E. Kavanagh, JJ Doyle, J. Kehoe, D. Reddin, T.
Gallagher, A. Glennon, K. Cummins.
By Rory O'Donnell
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