Kerry overcome slow start to beat Roscommon by 10 points
Kerry 3-18
Roscommon 0-17
KERRY, AS EXPECTED, eased to a 10-point win in this Group 2 opener in Killarney, though the hosts needed three second-half goals after a stuttering start to shake off a resolute Roscommon side that might feel hard done by with the margin of defeat.
Having trailed by five points at half time, 0-11 to 0-6, Roscommon were still just five off the pace after 49 minutes as Kerry failed to shake off their first half lethargy in those early second half minutes.
Indeed, it took the home side almost 12 minutes of the second period to get their first score, from David Clifford, but when the same player goaled on 50 minutes to make it 1-13 to 0-8, there was a strong sense that the game was won right there.
Paul Geaney and Gavin White followed up with further goals within the next 10 minutes and that was that.
A combination of temperatures in the mid-20s and the lack of jeopardy that will see three of the four teams in each group advance contributed to only 6,814 showing up in Fitzgerald Stadium for an engaging contest, but one that lacked Championship bite.
Kerry had Diarmuid O'Connor back in midfield after a two-month absence, but it was Paudie Clifford's non-appearance due to a muscle issue that blunted the hosts' incisiveness and cutting-edge for a lot of the game.
Roscommon took the lead in the first minute through Ronan Daly's point, and four minutes later Brian Stack doubled their lead.
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Kerry were back to parity by the ninth minute through Paul Geaney's 'mark' and a Diarmuid O'Connor point.
Sean O'Shea evades David Murray. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
Keith Doyle kicked Roscommon back into the lead after 12 minutes, but Kerry were back in front two minutes later when Clifford converted a two-point free from the sideline.
Eddie Nolan and Joe O'Connor traded points, and Ben O'Carroll levelled it at 0-5 apiece in the 25th minute.
Sean O'Shea converted a two-point free, and though Daire Cregg's 27th minute point halved the deficit, Diarmuid O'Connor and Joe O'Connor raised white flags and then a breach of the three-up rule by Roscommon presented O'Shea with another two-point free, which he converted to see Kerry lead 0-11 to 0-6 half time lead.
The sides exchanged two points apiece in the 15 minutes after the restart before Clifford cut through the Roscommon defence to score the game's first goal to make it 1-13 to 0-8.
Kerry added two more points before O'Shea and Paul Geaney played a slick one-two for the latter to tap in a goal on 54 minutes as the Kingdom went 2-15 to 0-8 clear.
Goal No 3 arrived on the hour mark with White palming Geaney's inviting pass, and though Roscommon finished with two-point scores from Daly, Conor Cox and Diarmuid Murtagh, Kerry thoughts were already turned to a rematch with Cork in a fortnight in what should surely be a tough test of the Kingdom's credentials. Roscommon host Meath the same weekend.
Scorers for Kerry: S O'Shea 0-7 (2 2ptf, 1f), D Clifford 1-3 (2ptf), P Geaney 1-1 (0-1 m), G White 1-0, D O'Connor 0-2, J O'Connor 0-2, T Brosnan 0-1, S Ryan 0-1 ('45'), B O Beaglaoich 0-1
Scorers for Roscommon: R Daly 0-3 (2p), C Cox 0-3 (2p, 1f), D Murtagh 0-3 (2p), B O'Carroll 0-2, C Murtagh 0-2 (f), B Stack 0-1, E Nolan 0-1, K Doyle 0-1, D Cregg 0-1
Kerry: Shane Ryan, Dylan Casey, Jason Foley, Tom O'Sullivan, Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Mike Breen, Gavin White, Diarmuid O'Connor, Barry 'Dan' O'Sullivan, Joe O'Connor, Seán O'Shea, Micheál Burns, David Clifford, Paul Geaney, Dylan Geaney
Subs: Tony Brosnan for D Geaney (47), Graham O'Sullivan for M Burns (47), Killian Spillane for D Clifford (61), Tadhg Morley for B O Beaglaoich (62), Mark O'Shea for B D O'Sullivan (62)
Roscommon: Conor Carroll; Niall Higgins, Brian Stack, David Murray; Senan Lambe, Ronan Daly, John McManus; Eddie Nolan, Keith Doyle; Dylan Ruane, Enda Smith, Conor Hand; Daire Cregg, Ben O'Carroll, Ciaran Murtagh.
Subs: Diarmuid Murtagh for K Doyle (42), Tim Lambe for D Ruane (52), Shane Killoran for E Smith (55), Ciaran Lennon for S Lambe (55), Conor Cox for C Hand (57)
Ref: D Coldrick (Meath)
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One defeat won't define their summer and if all it takes is an attitude adjustment, that's an achievable target in a short space of time. Particularly if they can get some of their more high-profile injured players back on the pitch by next weekend. But even if they can, Armagh loom on the horizon with the memory of last year's All-Ireland semi-final fresh in the minds of everyone . Kerry were outstayed as much as they were outplayed in that game – O'Shea, David Clifford and Jason Foley all limped away from shots in extra-time before having to stretch out their calf muscles to get rid of cramp. Down in the tunnel under the Hogan Stand that Saturday night, Stefan Campbell was entirely up front about how certain Armagh were of their advantage. 'The big thing we took away with us at full-time of normal time was the amount of Kerry players that were obviously hurting and cramping,' he said. 'I think we won that psychological battle coming out for extra-time. We made the point inside – we've been there before and Kerry haven't. They probably weren't as battle-hardened as we were.' Dara Ó Cinnéide playing for Kerry in 2000. Photograph: Tom Honan/Inpho Kerry have had to dig deeper this year than was the case in 2024 – their average margin of victory for the five games before they met Armagh last summer was over 10 points. This time around, Cork have run them to extra-time and they've lost to Meath. Cavan are being dismissed by everybody but they finished level on points with both those teams in Division Two this year. They will at least believe they can give Kerry a rattle. But there's a sweet spot between being battle-hardened and battle-weary. If Kerry get past Cavan and find themselves landing into Croke Park next weekend having had to rush the likes of Clifford, O'Shea, Paul Geaney and Diarmuid O'Connor back from injury, what kind of shape can they expect to be in? 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'Anger can be a very powerful force,' says Ó Cinnéide. 'And you can't manufacture it. It's either there or it's not. A lot depends now on who's back and how they come back. 'The attitude needs to be so much better. Just get nasty, like. I was always criticised for being a nice footballer but there were times when you had to get nasty and you wouldn't be found wanting. That's what people need to see. 'Go back to Tullamore in '09 against Antrim. There was a genuine rallying that day from the Kerry supporters. I was in the stands that day and you could feel it, as if people were saying, 'Jesus, this team might be dying but we're going to support them'. And they did. 'Kerry supporters can be very good like that but the players need to feel that this weekend. They need to feel the anger but also feel the support. Last Saturday, all they heard when they came out on to the pitch was polite support. It wasn't good enough.' Things need to change, quickly, on and off the pitch. Otherwise, they could be knocked out of the championship in June for the first time since 1994. What will they talk about then? Nobody in Kerry wants to spend the rest of the summer finding out.
