Inventive Kerry in Killarney canter

Kerry 2-19 Tipperary 0-08

A margin of 17 points between the counties at the end.

Tipperary manager Peter Creedon pinpointed Barry Grogan’s sending off after 49 minutes as the moment the contest collapsed but the foundations for an interesting afternoon had long been undermined.

There were just 14 seconds played when Colm Cooper sent over the Kingdom’s first point and injury-time was already fading when Bryan Sheehan wrapped things up with a 45.

Neat bookends to a game that Kerry bent to their will.

Eamonn Fitzmaurice had helped spout all sorts of speculation by locking the gates on training sessions in recent weeks and, though the reality yesterday was far from revolutionary, it did herald significant switches in emphasis.

Creedon harked back to Kerry’s performance against Tipp in Thurles 12 months ago when they won unconvincingly with half-a-dozen points to spare and detected a greater urgency and work-rate about them this time.

Their forwards pressed and harassed opposing defenders with intent, Brendan Kealy mixed things up with a regular sprinkling of short kick-outs and complimenting it all was the traditional Kerry reliance on accurate, long kicking. It was a recipe that confirmed the teasing tasters offered for delectation in recent challenge matches against Limerick and Laois and yet the paucity of Tipp’s challenge made it impossible to know what exactly we were digesting.

What we can say is defeat here resigned the Premier County to a full decade without a win in the senior provincial championship, but few of those defeats can have been as dispiriting as this.

They set out their stall by stationing midfielder Robbie Costigan as a sweeper behind the half-back line and leaving just two men — and sometimes one — in their full-forward line but the tactic never gave Kerry cause for pause.

Compounding it all was the visitors’ inability to inspire caution in the home side’s attacking gambits with some penetration of their own. An eight-point haul says a lot, the fact only two of those came from play even more.

With Michael Quinlivan out through injury, they lacked for invention and, for all the talk of their underage wealth, it should be remembered Tipp are just three years on from the Munster U21-winning side which offered six men to the starting cause here.

Invention is one thing Kerry have never lacked, and forwards another, and the sight of Colm Cooper at centre-forward in a championship shirt was one of the more interesting subplots on a day when the main drama failed to engage.

Cooper still ended proceedings with four points of his own despite his new responsibilities but his distribution was just as central and the Dr Crokes man repeatedly dropped deep into midfield to claim possession and stir the pot.

James O’Donoghue has far less football under his belt but he aped the older man with his willingness to wander in search of fortune and his tally of 1-3 was claimed in the first 36 minutes before the game lapsed into irrelevance.

O’Donoghue’s first point came after 15 minutes and at a time when approximately 20 players were pushing and shoving after an altercation. Another such conflagration would earn Aherlow man Grogan his first yellow.

The Tipp full-forward was still on the pitch when O’Donoghue claimed Kerry’s first goal, a slick team effort involving the impressive Peter Crowley and Cooper before the corner-forward turned his man and zeroed in on goal. Darran O’Sullivan claimed the second three-pointer with the 70-minute mark on the approach, but 24 minutes had passed since Tipperary’s last score by then, their vigour sapped by the steady onslaught.

Kerry would have had three more goals to boot were it not for superb saves from goalkeeper Paul Fitzgerald but such ‘what ifs’ will barely register for Fitzmaurice as he reflects on his first championship match in charge.

Of more relevance were the performances of the younger brigade: Fionn Fitzgerald at corner-back, Peter Crowley who lined up to his front and Johnny Buckley whose shift at midfield synched perfectly with the Trojan efforts of Anthony Maher.

All in all, a pleasing afternoon for Fitzmaurice who could enjoy the luxury of emptying his bench with seven minutes still to play and with the likes of Darren O’Sullivan, Bryan Sheehan and Kieran O’Leary among the second wave.

Encouraging morsels.

The evolution continues next Saturday against Waterford.

Scorers for Kerry: J O’Donoghue 1-3, C Cooper 0-5 (1f), Darran O’Sullivan 1-0, J Buckley 0-3 (2fs), P Galvin 0-2, T Ó Sé, A Maher, D Walsh, K Donaghy, Declan O’Sullivan, B Sheehan (45) 0-1 each.

Scorers for Tipperary: C Sweeney (3fs), B Grogan (2fs, 1 45) 0-3 each, C McDonald, P Austin 0-1 each.

KERRY: B Kealy; M Ó Sé, A O’Mahony, F Fitzgerald; T Ó Sé, K Young, P Crowley; A Maher, J Buckley; D Walsh, C Cooper, P Galvin; Declan O’Sullivan, K Donaghy, J O’Donoghue.

Subs for Kerry: Darran O’Sullivan for Walsh (50), B Sheehan for Galvin (56), M Griffin for M O Se (60), K O’Leary for Declan O’Sullivan (61), B McGuire for T O Se (68).

TIPPERARY: P Fitzgerald; J Coghlan, P Codd, C McDonald; R Costigan; R Kiely, D Leahy, A Campbell; G Hannigan, I Fahey; A Maloney, P Acheson, C Sweeney; B Grogan, P Austin.

Subs for Tipperary: S Leahy for Campbell (35), A Matassa for Kiely (35), B Mulvihill for Maloney (35), L Egan for Hannigan (59), H Coghlan for Fahey (64).

Referee: C Lane (Cork).