Kerry breathe easy for now after first win in four games

Kerry 0-19 - Kildare 0-14: A first win in four games. A first victory on home soil since January 28 and a first clean-sheet since July of 2017. Significant daylight put between themselves and the relegation zone. All in all, not a bad evening’s work for Kerry.

Six days on from their 12-point hammering, away to Dublin, victory over basement outfit, Kildare, was the minimum acceptable outcome in Tralee.

A fourth consecutive defeat for Kerry would have turned next Sunday’s trip to Omagh into a must-win fixture to avoid the drop. That was motivation enough to get the job done on Saturday and, in the process, condemn former coach, Cian O’Neill, and his Kildare charges, to Division 2 football next spring.