Allianz NFL Division 1 – Mayo 1-12 Kerry 1-10

Mayo defeated Kerry by 1-12 to 1-10 in Round 5 of Division 1 of the Allianz GAA National Football League on Sunday at Austin Stack Park Tralee.

Mortimer joins the fray to set up victory

From the Irish Times newspaper

Mayo 1-12 Kerry 1-10

MAYO POWERED to a deserved victory in the second half of this crucial league game, played before a huge crowd at the Austin Stack Park in Tralee. Four points from the boot of Conor Mortimer, who came off the bench in the 42nd minute, and a stunning goal in the 58th minute, from powerful midfielder Tom Parsons made all the difference as Mayo outgunned Kerry on their home patch. Kerry suffered a body blow before the throw in when Kieran Donaghy was unable to start because of tonsillitis and Bryan Sheehan came in to captain the side for the first time. The Kingdom were forced to play second fiddle to Mayo for long periods of the opening half.

Mayo, who created a number of excellent scoring chances, failed to finish off good approach work, particularly as corner forward Enda Varley had the beating of Tom O’Sullivan. Anthony Maher was the stand -out midfielder of the half but his partner David Moran was having an off day, and Kerry were forced to introduce Mike Quirke on the half hour. Colm Cooper and Declan O’Sullivan were ploughing a lone furrow up front for Kerry as Mayo made the early running with Varley giving the visitors the lead from a free. Bryan Sheehan, with a free from over 40 meters out near the sideline, that levelled the contest. Well-taken points from play by Kieran O’Leary and Bryan Sheehan and another from Cooper saw Kerry lead 0-5 to 0-4 at the interval but they were fortunate to be in front.

Kerry introduced Donaghy for the second half and he made an immediate impact as he fielded a great ball in the 37th minute before finding Cooper in a goal -scoring position but his rising shot went over the bar. Then two minutes later Declan O’Sullivan found Donaghy who dished it off to Kieran O’Leary and again with goal on, he clipped the crossbar to give Kerry a 0-7 to 0-5 lead. But once Mayo introduced Conor Mortimer, Kerry were in trouble. Despite another Cooper point in the 45th minute Mortimer proceeded to kick four points from the 43rd to 52nd minutes as Mayo moved 0-12 to 0-8 clear. Parsons and Seamus O’Shea were now on top in midfield as Kerry could not get the ball to Donaghy and Cooper, and the game was over as a contest when Parsons carved open a porous Kerry defence and sent a bullet-like drive low to the Kerry net in 58th minute. There was no way back for Kerry.

To be fair, the home side never gave up and two Sheehan points and an O’Leary goal at the death merely brought respectability to the score board. Kerry boss Jack O’Connor was philosophical in the aftermath of his side’s third league defeat and he knows at least one more win is required, to avoid getting involved in a relegation dog-fight. Mayo on the other hand, sit proudly on top of the table with Dublin and Cork and in pole position to make it to the league final.

KERRY: G Reidy; P Reidy, T Griffin, T OSullivan; M OSe, A OMahony, A OConnell; A Maher, D Moran; D OCallaghan, Declan OSullivan, Darran OSullivan; C Cooper (0-4, 0-2 frees), B Sheehan (0-4, two frees, one 45), K OLeary (1-2). Subs: M Quirke for D OCallaghan (30), K Donaghy for Darran OSullivan (h/t), S Scanlon for a Maher (52), B Guiney for A OConnell (53), B Looney for D Moran (58).

MAYO: D Clarke; L OMalley, K Conroy, K Higgins; D Vaughan, T Howley, K McLoughlin; T Parsons (1-0), S OShea; A Moran (0-1, ‘45’), M Ronaldson, T Mortimer (0-1); E Varley (0-4, three frees), A OShea, A Dillon (0-2, frees). Subs: C Mortimer (0-4) for M Ronaldson (42), P Harte for A OShea (57), B Kelly for A Dillon (63), M Sweeney for E Varley (67).

Referee: David Coldrick (Meath)