Down need to do better than this to survive

20 March 2013 - by BY MARK FITZSIMONS

THERE was no St Patrick’s weekend glee for Down as they left Tralee empty-handed after a flat performance against an improved Kerry offering.

The Mournemen were expected to extend their Kingdom counterparts in this tie, but Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s charges had other ideas as they broke their NFL duck.

James McCartan’s men had a morale-boosting victory over Mayo to build on from last week but they failed to maintain their upturn in form.

It was five first half points from Johnny Buckley that propelled Kerry to a 0-8 to 0-1 interval lead.

The returning Declan O’Sullivan hit a brace in the opening period as he underlined why he was such a miss for his county last day out against Donegal.

Connaire Harrison was the only Down player to split the sticks in the first half as the Mourne county struggled to make an impact on the game.

Both teams hit a few early wides before Johnny Buckley converted a 40-yard free to get the first score of the game.

Declan O’Sullivan and Buckley then combined for the latter’s only point from play.

Kerry then went 0-3 to 0-0 ahead as Buckley registered an eighth minute free. Shortly after this the Kingdom received a blow when Aidan O’Mahoney went off injured. Mark Griffin came in to replace him to make his league debut.

Down were lacking direction in the early stages as the hosts were looking the better oiled machine.

Kerry soon went five ahead through another Buckley free and a fine score from Declan O’Sullivan. Buckley and Kieran Donaghy were instrumental in the build-up to this one.

The usually reliable Donal O’Hare was a bit off form. He missed three simple enough frees that he would have usually converted.

Harrison provided Down with their only score of the half after some fine work from Mark Poland.

Kerry extended their advantage as Jonathan Lyne and Darren O’Sullivan set up Declan O’Sullivan for a 20th minute score.

Brian Maguire quickly added to this with a fisted effort. O’Hare and Benny Coulter hit further wides for Down before a Buckley free rounded off a one-sided first half.

Down restructured their set-up at the start of the second period. They began to defend deep in numbers to try to stem the flow of a very fast moving Kerry forward line.

The Mournemen started well and were first to pounce as Donal O’Hare goaled. O’Hare was quickest to pounce after a Down shot cannoned off the woodwork.

O’Hare then glanced over a free as his team suddenly found themselves only a goal in arrears.

Eamon Fitzmaurice made a change as he replaced captain Eoin Brosnan with Paul Galvin. The enigmatic Galvin made an immediate impact as he assisted Declan O’Sullivan for his third point of the game.

Donal O’Hare and Jonathan Lyne exchanged minor scores before Kerry missed a gilt-edged goal chance just before the hour mark. Darren O’Sullivan was fouled by Keith Quinn, but O’Sullivan slammed his penalty wide.

Down soon reduced the gap to three again as Paul McComiskey (inset) set up Benny Coulter, but Kerry managed to hang on.

Brian Maguire hit a sweet left-footed effort, but Down could only reply through an Arthur McConville free.

The Kingdom saw the game out to secure a crucial win which gives them some hope of maintaining their Division 1 status.

Kerry: B Kealy; M Ó Sé, A O’Mahony, S Enright; F Fitzgerald, K Young, B Maguire (0-2); A Maher, E Brosnan; J Lyne (0-1), D Walsh, J Buckley (0-5, 4f); Declan O’Sullivan (0-3), Kieran Donaghy, Darren O’Sullivan. Subs: M Griffin for O’Mahony, P Galvin for Brosnan, K O’Leary for Walsh, J O’Donoghue for Declan O’Sullivan.

Down: B McVeigh; D McKibben, B McArdle, R Boyle; R Mallon, A Carr, K Quinn; K King, K McKernan; C Laverty, M Poland, P McComiskey; D O’Hare (1-2, 0-1f), C Harrison (0-1), B Coulter (0-1). Subs: C Gough for Carr, D Turley for Mallon, A McConville (0-1f) for Harrison.

Kerry 0-11

Down 1-5

NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION 1

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