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2024 Allianz Football League Division 1 – Kerry 3-15 Monaghan 1-12

February 4 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Kerry defeated Monaghan by 3-15 to 1-12 in Round 2 of the Allianz Football League Division 1 on Sunday February 4th at Clones.

Cliffords return and Sean O’Shea shines as Kerry ease past Monaghan

Monaghan 1-12 Kerry 3-15

Report by Brendan O’Brien for the Irish Examiner newspaper

David Clifford marked his first appearance of the inter-county season with the 60th-minute goal that made safe this tricky Division One assignment for Kerry on Sunday afternoon.

The Fossa man wasn’t the only man making his 2024 bow. Brother Paudie and Tadhg Morley got their own introductions to the new campaign in the second-half as the Kingdom earned their first points of the Allianz League campaign after the opening home loss to Derry.

In truth, this was a more straightforward assignment than might have been expected after that reversal in Tralee and Monaghan’s win against Dublin in Croke Park and the chief architect in that was Sean O’Shea.

The Kenmare man claimed a goal and seven points, five of the latter from play, and played a considerable wider role in the forward line in both halves. Diarmuid O’Connor and Graham O’Sullivan, did their own solidifying work further back the field.

It actually started slowly but once it caught fire it blazed. The first-half came to a close with a 1-9 to 1-5 lead for Kerry that wallpapered over the to-and-fro nature of it and gave little heed to the fact that Monaghan had played most of the football.

Kerry’s scoring had come in two bursts, one of four minutes and the other of eight, with Cillian Burke claiming the goal approaching the half-hour with a composed sidestep to steady himself before unleashing a rocket into the top corner.

It was Buckley who had missed a golden goal chance midway through the half when he attempted to bounce the ball past Darren McDonnell in a one-on-one only for the goalkeeper to divert the danger with a flapping hand.

That chance had come in the middle of a madcap 90 seconds that started with Monaghan defender Ryan O’Toole deprived of his own three-pointer by the advancing Shane Ryan and finished with O’Toole fisting into the net after Buckley’s spurned chance.

If it was their inability to make the most of goal chances that irked Jack O’Connor in their league opening loss to Derry last week then Monaghan’s ability to find rich seams through his rearguard must have exercised him here more than anything else at half-time.

Ryan had had another save to make the first period, that one from Kevin Loughran, and Monaghan were frustrated further by some errant shooting and a handful of blocks from Graham O’Sullivan and Paul Murphy. Kerry tightened up later.

O’Shea was already doing the bulk of the damage at the far end, the Kenmare man stitching his name into a number of teammates’ scores and running up four of his own before the interval. His fourth, on the half-hour, was the first free either side kicked all day.

It was all very entertaining but the moment that produced the greatest jolt of electricity came in the 32nd minute when David Clifford was introduced in place of Ronan Buckley for his first inter-county appearance of the season.

He was on mere seconds when a shoulder on O’Toole under the main stand earned him a yellow and an ironic cheer from the home crowd, and the Fossa man was joined by his brother Paudie for the start of the second-half.

Kerry were facing into a light and intermittent wind on the restart but Monaghan never managed to press the issue throughout the third quarter with six points shared evenly and O’Shea continuing to play the role of lead actor.

Crucially for the Kingdom, there were no more goalmouth scares as they dictated possession and territory far better, and the sense of a day falling into place extended to Morley’s introduction near the end of the third quarter.

The last significant act came with O’Shea’s goal, a long-range point attempt that swirled in the breeze and, somehow, over the goalkeeper and into the net. Just one more sign that this was Kerry’s day.

Scorers for Monaghan: J McCarron (0-3, 0-1 mark); R O’Toole (1-0); S Mooney (0-2, 0-1 mark); K Duffy (0-1 mark); G Mohan, S O’Hanlon, C McNulty, M Hamill, M McCaville and J Irwin (all 0-1).

Scorers for Kerry: S O’Shea (1-7, 0-2 frees); D Clifford (1-1); C Burke (1-0); T O’Sullivan (0-2); J Foley, D Casey, C Geaney, D Moynihan, P Clifford (all 0-1).

Monaghan: D McDonnell; R Wylie, K Lavelle, R O’Toole; K Sheridan, K Duffy, K Loughran; J Wilson, G Mohan; S O’Hanlon, C McNulty, M Hamill; D Garland, J McCarron, J Irwin.
Subs: S Mooney for Garland (HT); M McCarville for Wilson (42); A Woods for Irwin (52); K O’Connell for Sheridan (56); B Walker for Loughran (70).

Kerry: S Ryan; G O’Sullivan, J Foley, D Casey; G White, T O’Sullivan, P Murphy; D O’Connor, J O’Connor; R Buckley, D Geaney, C Burke; C Geaney, S O’Shea, D Moynihan.
Subs: D Clifford for Buckley (32); P Clifford for C Geaney (HT); T Morley for O’Sullivan (48); A Spillane for D Geaney (57); BD O’Sullivan for Moynihan (62).

Referee: S Hurson (Tyrone).

Match Coverage

The match will be shown live on the TG4 Player and App.

Team News

Kerry (NFL v Monaghan): S Ryan; G O’Sullivan, J Foley, D Casey; T O’Sullivan, P Murphy, G White; D O’Connor, J O’Connor; R Buckley, D Geaney, C Burke; C Geaney, S O’Shea, D Moynihan.
Subs: S Coffey, S O’Brien, K Spillane, M Burns, B D O’Sullivan, D Roche, A Heinrich, A Spillane, D Clifford, P Clifford, T Morley, D Bourke

Details

Date:
February 4
Time:
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Venue

Clones

GAA Units

Clare GAA
Cork GAA
Kerry GAA
Limerick GAA
Tipperary GAA
Waterford GAA
US GAA