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Joe McDonagh Cup Hurling – Kerry 2-24 Down 1-21

June 26, 2021 @ 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Kerry will play Down in Round 1 of the Joe McDonagh Cup on Saturday June 26th at 12:30pm in Austin Stack Park Tralee.

Kerry finally get the better of stubborn Down in McDonagh opener

Report by Mortimer Murphy for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Joe McDonagh Cup: Kerry 2-24 Down 1-21

KERRY left their disappointing League form behind as an inspired five-star display from Shane Conway and Shane Nolan propelled them past Down in Saturday’s thrilling Joe McDonagh Cup opener in Tralee.

It was Downs’s debut in the competition, and they really put it up to last year’s beaten finalists but Kerry always held the upper hand despite leaving the Mourne man back into the contest on a number of occasions.

Kerry began well and raced 0-5 to 0-1 ahead in the opening ten minutes with Mikey Boyle proving a handful for the Down defence, plus Shane Nolan and Barry Mahony spraying some accurate ball to a lively Kerry attack.

Shane Conway fired over three points from play while Mikey Boyle hit a superb effort from long range, with Shane Nolan converting a free from his own half. Paul Sheehan opened Downs account from a free after a foul on Daithí Sands.

However, Kerry got sloppy as Down roared into the contest with another Paul Sheehan free before disaster for the home side when a long ball from Sheehan saw Kerry keeper John B O’Halloran being caught in no man’s land and Daithí Sands nipped in to score an opportunist goal. Sheehan gave Down the lead in the 14th minute but two excellent Mikey Boyle points had Kerry back on track as the sides were tied 0-7 to 1-4 at the water break.

Kerry introduced Tomás OConnor to steady the Kerry fullback line and with Eric Leen, Fionan Mackessy and Jason Diggins thundering into the game, Kerry got on top.

Kerry got the crucial goal in the 31st minute when Nolan fed Cian Hussey and he blasted the ball to Down net to give Kerry a 1-14 to 1-8 half-time cushion.

After Eoghan Sands closed the gap on the restart three unanswered points from Barry Mahony, Shane Nolan and Shane Conway saw Kerry move 1-17 to 1-9 clear but then Down fought back as Kerry appeared to lose their grip and a succession of points saw Down reduce the deficit to five (1-20 to 1-15 ) at the water break.

But the tie was decided in the 57th minute when Jason Diggins sent over a cross that Shane Conway ran onto and once he was one-on-one with the Down keeper, a goal was inevitable. It saw Kerry ease to an impressive victory despite some late frees from Oisin McManus.

Down now face a must-win game against Meath next weekend before Kerry travel to Navan knowing a win will have them in Croke Park on Leinster Final day.

Scorers for Kerry: S Conway (1-8, 4 frees, 1 65), S Nolan (1 free), M and P Boyle (0-4 each), B Mahony (0-3), C Hussey (1-0), F O’Sullivan (0-1).

Scorers for Down: D Sands (1-2), P Sheehan (0-5, 4 frees), O McManus (0-4, frees), P Óg McCrickard (0-3), D Hughes (0-2), C Woods (65), R McCusker, T Prender, P Savage, and E Sands (0-1 each).

KERRY: J B O’Halloran; J O’Connor, E Murphy, E Leen; C O’Keeffe, F Mackessy, J Diggins; P O’Connor, S Nolan; M Boyle, B Mahony, B O’Leary; P Boyle, S Conway, C Hussey.
Subs: T O’Connor for J O’Connor (22), B Murphy for B O’Leary (66), D Hunt for C Hussey (69), F O’Sullivan for M Boyle (60), E Ross for E Leen (70).

DOWN: S Keith; C Cassidy, C Taggart, J McManus; M Conlon, C Woods, L Savage; D Hughes, J Doran; C Egan, P Sheehan, M Fisher; P Óg McCrickard, E Sands, D Sands.
Subs: R McCusker for M Fisher (h/t), T Prenter for J Doran (46), P Savage for C Egan (44), O McManus for P Sheehan (50), P J Davidson for D Hughes (70+2)

Referee: C McAllister (Cork)

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Details

Date:
June 26, 2021
Time:
12:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Venue

Austin Stack Park Tralee
Tralee, Ireland

GAA Units

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