More away-day cheer for defiant Monaghan in Killarney

Kerry 1-10 Monaghan 2-8: Monaghan’s Division 1 league schedule had the sheer angle of a cliff-face to it with first month visits to Mayo, Kerry and Tyrone. Now? Not so much.

Five points from six, their only dropped point at home to Cavan as they prepare for a trip to Omagh next Saturday. And they’ll do so with a bounce in their step after a gloriously foul 70-odd minutes yesterday in Killarney.

No team out-toils Monaghan and whether Kerry made that cardinal sin yesterday is a point of debate. The dog day and the defiance of the opposition got the better of them. The Kingdom were limited to two points from play, the same amount Conor McManus pilfered in four clinical second-half minutes. Their manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice described Kerry’s decision-making as “a bit off”, but Monaghan ran them down cul-de-sacs and into tall walls and they did all this while suffering one injury setback after another.