Kingdom clicking into gear
A first victory of the campaign would have kept alive their faint hopes of avoiding an instant return to Division 2 football under Paul Bealin.
Such an outcome would have left Kerry knowing that Cork could potentially be the team to relegate them next weekend in Tralee.
A mixture of that thought fermenting in the Kerry players’ minds and Westmeath’s inability to string two good halves of football together this season combined, however, to restore the status quo by full-time.
Kerry walked away with an eight-point win, a result that relegated Westmeath and secured the Kingdom’s own place in Division 1 for another season — pretty much what everyone expected beforehand, if truth be told.
Suddenly, the future looks a lot rosier for Kerry who have bounced back from three straight defeats in Division 1 with convincing wins over Tyrone, Kildare and now Westmeath.
They haven’t quite wrestled their destiny back into their own hands but will fancy their chances of making the semi-finals should they beat Cork in Tralee next Sunday.
Even when trailing by a point after 42 minutes, few in the 2,700 crowd really believed anything other than a Kerry win was on the cards.
Westmeath have formed a bad habit of living fast and dying early in big games, with yesterday’s tie following the pattern of their previous home game against Mayo which they led at half-time.
When Kerry got to grips with Westmeath’s most troublesome players, the likes of David Duffy and Paul Sharry, and added adrenaline to their own game in the second half, and sped confidently clear.
A 1-4 scoring burst without reply in the third quarter of the game gave them a six-point cushion which made life relatively straightforward in the closing stages.
Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice said: “In the first half, they made life very difficult for us. We didn’t start well and we didn’t get up to the pitch of the game. I think there’s a lot of credit due to Westmeath for that.
“But they’ve done that to every team that’s visited Mullingar. It wasn’t a one off. I think they were a point up against Mayo at half-time and were maybe level with Dublin at half-time so they’ve made it hard for teams here.
“We were still disappointed with how we played in the first half but we were a lot better in the second half.
“We spoke about complacency during the week, that it was one thing we wanted to guard against because we weren’t safe coming into the game. We needed to win.
“Our attitude wasn’t where it should be in the first half but in fairness after half-time I was happy with the lads.”
It’s turning into a good campaign for Kerry. Stephen O’Brien, Paul Geaney and James O’Donoghue look a viable full-forward line for the Championship. David Moran’s good form at midfield continues while Fionn Fitzgerald gave a strong performance at centre-back.
And to think that Killian Young, Kieran Donaghy and Declan O’Sullivan still have to come back into the team — or the panel, at least — something unlikely to happen until the knockout stages at the very earliest.
Still, Kerry took their time to reach top gear yesterday. They did forge 0-4 to 0-1 clear but Westmeath showed urgency in attack and drew level by the 23rd minute at 0-5 apiece.
The hosts’ defence was solid, forcing Kerry to pick off points from distance. The one time Kerry did break through on goal they netted, after clever play by O’Brien who took a quick free to Geaney and played a one-two before passing across for Kieran O’Leary to fist in.
Westmeath were deservedly level at half-time though. Duffy won lots of dirty ball around midfield and Sharry and Kieran Martin played some cute passes, setting the likes of Denis Glennon away who scored three first-half points.
Callum McCormack’s second of three points overall put Westmeath into a brief lead after 42 minutes and die-hard locals dared to dream.
But the dark cloud of relegation returned as Kerry upped the ante and picked off 1-4 without reply. All Star O’Donoghue came roaring into the game, getting luckier the harder he tried and scoring four of his five overall points in the second half.
He also played the ball for Geaney to net Kerry’s second goal after 45 minutes as Westmeath twice failed to clear their lines. From there, it was pretty much plain sailing.
Scorers for Kerry: P Geaney (1-4, 2fs), J O’Donoghue (0-5, 3fs), K O’Leary (1-0), B Sheehan (0-2, two 45s), P Crowley, S O’Brien, D Walsh and D Moran (1 45) (0-1 each).
Scorers for Westmeath: D Glennon and C McCormack (0-3 each), K Martin, G Egan (2fs) and R Connellan (2fs) (0-2 each), P Sharry 0-1 (1 45).
Kerry: B Kelly; P Murphy, M Griffin, S Enright; P Crowley, F Fitzgerald, M O Se; J Buckley, D Moran; J Lyne, B Sheehan, K O’Leary; S O’Brien, P Geaney, J O’Donoghue. Westmeath: S Gallagher; K Maguire, K Gavin, S Gilmore; Damien Dolan, P Sharry, D Harte; D Duffy, R Connellan; K Martin, G Egan, C McCormack; J Dolan, D Glennon, Des Dolan.
Kerry subs: D Walsh for Lyne (31), D Casey for Sheehan (h/t), Darran O’Sullivan for O’Leary (50), A Maher for Buckley (50), J Sherwood for Ó Sé (60), A O’Mahony for Crowley (63).
Westmeath subs: J Egan for Damian Dolan (48), D McCormack for Martin (57), A Giles for Glennon (57), R Foley for Harte (60), K Daly for Duffy (70).
Referee: A Nolan (Wicklow).
