Adam Moynihan reports from the Fitzgerald Stadium

National League: Division 1

Kerry 1-13 Donegal 0-7

Fitzgerald Stadium

Jack O’Connor praised the manner in which his players handled the atrocious weather conditions after Kerry defeated Donegal by nine points in Killarney.

With Storm Franklin in full effect, The Kingdom opted to play with the strong wind in the first period and they built up a seven-point half-time lead.

The elements were in Donegal’s favour in the second period so a fightback seemed imminent, but the hosts held firm and ran out deserved winners.

“Our fellas showed a good attitude and they adapted well [to the conditions], as did Donegal to be fair to them,” O’Connor said. “Against the wind in the first 15 minutes, I thought they were excellent. At half-time you wouldn’t say the game was sealed by any stretch of the imagination - I don’t know what ye thought but seven points didn’t appear to us to be enough.

“So we knew we’d have to score a bit in the second half and I thought our fellas controlled the game pretty well.”

WRETCHED

It was a wretched afternoon for the brave souls on Fitzgerald Stadium’s uncovered terrace and the early pattern of play provided little by way of distraction.

Donegal’s into-the-wind tactic of holding possession at all costs was equal parts boring and frustrating; on several occasions the home crowd became audibly irritated as the visitors idly passed the ball over and back across the pitch. With goalkeeper Shaun Patton joining in to give them an extra man, there wasn’t much the Kerry forwards could do about it. One of the biggest cheers of the day came in the closing stages of the half when Adrian Spillane burst forward and shunted Patton to the ground.

In terms of actual football, i.e. kicking, Kerry settled quite nicely and racked up nine first-half points. Seán O’Shea’s spectacular sideline kick sent them on their way and further overs by Killian Spillane (two), Dan O’Donoghue, Paul Geaney and Paudie Clifford opened up a healthy half-time lead of seven (0-9 to 0-2).

At the other end, Donegal managed two fisted scores via Eoin Bán Gallagher and Shane O’Donnell. Even allowing for the gale force wind that was doing its utmost to blow them backwards for the entirety of the half, manager Declan Bonner must have been displeased with the fact that his team failed to register a single kick at the posts.

SUN

Luckily for Kerry, the sun burst through the clouds for the beginning of the second half, although conditions were still pretty dire out there.

The irrepressible O’Shea almost put the result beyond doubt within seconds of the restart but his sneaky attempt cannoned back off the foot of the post. Jack Barry nearly lobbed Patton shortly after but we had to wait until the 12th minute of the period to see a change on the scoreboard. Chris O’Donnell pointed for Donegal into the Lewis Road end to cut the deficit to six.

Jack O’Connor held his best player in reserve until the 44th minute but when he did come on, David Clifford was typically engrossing. There was more than a dash of good fortune about his 50th-minute goal – his attempt at a point dropped well short and somehow deceived the Donegal netminder – but in general he provided a much-needed spark during what could have been a very difficult half.

O’Shea almost goaled just seconds after Clifford’s effort but his shot cleared the crossbar, and then Shane O’Donnell and Paddy McBrearty brought it back to eight.

Clifford came within centimetres of snatching a second goal when his improvised soccer shot struck the underside of Patton’s bar. When Chris O’Donnell and McBrearty struck again, it was back to a six-point game with eight minutes to go.

The men from Tír Chonaill squandered a glorious chance to halve that gap when Ryan McHugh’s square hand pass forced McBrearty too far wide. McBrearty pushed the subsequent attempt at a point to the left and wide.

That was as good as it got for the Ulster side as a wonderful point by Clifford, sandwiched between two fisted efforts by O’Shea, capped a deserved nine-point win.

The result leaves Kerry joint first at the top of Division 1 with a tricky trip to Monaghan next on the calendar. That game will take place in Inniskeen next Sunday.

KERRY: S Murphy; D O'Donoghue (0-1), J Foley, T O'Sullivan; P Murphy, T Morley, B Ó Beaglaoich; D O’Connor, J Barry; A Spillane, S O'Shea (0-7, 2f, 1s), D Moynihan; P Clifford (0-1), P Geaney (0-1), K Spillane (0-2).

Subs: S O’Brien for A Spillane (13-22, 58), D Clifford (1-1) for K Spillane (44), T Brosnan for P Geaney (58), J Savage for P Clifford (65), G Horan for J Barry (66).  

DONEGAL: S Patton; C Ward, B McCole, EB Gallagher (0-1); R McHugh, P Brennan, O McFadden Ferry; J McGee, C Thompson; P Mogan, S O’Donnell (0-2), R O’Donnell; P McBrearty (0-2, 1f), H McFadden, C O’Donnell (0-2).

Subs: S McMenamin for P Brennan (41), N O’Donnell for R O’Donnell (43), O Gallen for H McFadden (50), D Ó Baoill for S O’Donnell (66), E O’Donnell for O McFadden Ferry (70).