Kerry maintain unbeaten run

Kerry 1-13 Mayo 0-8

Kerry went five games unbeaten and maintained their lead position in Division 1A of the NFL, as a 66th minute Colm Cooper goal copper fastened a win against Mayo at Austin Stack Park, Tralee.

Three early scores for corner forward Mike Frank Russell (2f), from both his left and right sides, edged the Kingdom into a 0-5 to 0-2 lead after 19 minutes.

Russell pointed on 3, 6 and 9 minutes with impressive midfielder William Kirby hitting the first of his match total of 0-4 in the fifth minute.

Predictably it was the twin scoring threats of Austin O’Malley and Damien Munnelly who replied quickly for the visitors.

Another Russell effort, in between a brace for O’Malley and Ronan O’Connor’s first Kerry point on 29 minutes, gave the home side a 0-7 to 0-2 half time lead.

Trevor Mortimer had a chance before the break to goal for Mayo, but his 34th minute effort, with Diarmuid Murphy absent from his goalmouth went wide.

The second half saw more of the same from Russell whose 36th minute point was erased by O’Malley forty seconds later.

Kirby hit his third on 40 minutes before a brace from Billy Joe Padden and Mortimer put just four points between the sides at 0-9 to 0-5.

However scores from Liam Hassett, Russell and Ronan O’Connor again stretched the Kerry lead, and Cooper’s rising shot sealed their third home win of the campaign.