Kerry declare early, sweat late against Donegal

Donegal 1-17 Kerry 2-17: Too close for comfort in the end but a deceptive scoreline in many ways.

Many in this 6,320 crowd had exited O’Donnell Park before Donegal kicked the last six points of the game to come within a goal of the visitors.

But Kerry weren’t going to be denied their first round one win under Éamonn Fitzmaurice. Not since 2012 had they last enjoyed success on league opening day but here the Kingdom were irresistible. David Moran gave a tremendous display against Donegal’s unfamiliar midfield duo, while the full-forward line of Paul Geaney, James O’Donoghue, and Jack Savage scalped 2-10 for themselves, 2-7 from play.