Is Kerry’s conveyor belt slowing down?

JACK O’CONNOR’S decision to rest Colm Cooper for Kerry’s trip to Monaghan indicated he expected a very competitive, tough, physical encounter and Gooch’s health would be better served by an afternoon off.

He needn’t have bothered. Sunday was the tamest affair between the teams over the last few years.

Monaghan, under Seamus McEnaney, prided themselves on intensity and workrate, but aside from a sporadic few hefty shoulders by Dessie Mone and Dick Clerkin, this was lacking.