Gritty Royals put Kerry on the back foot

Necessity has meant Jack O’Connor has had to draw deeper from his resources this year but on the basis of this display there remain shortcomings in the panel.

Jack O’Connor: ‘We couldn’t win the breaking ball.’ Pic: Inpho

All-Ireland SFC: Meath 1-22 (1-4-18) Kerry 0-16 (0-1-15)

A Kerry performance and a result that at any other time would demand a postmortem but there is no time for such an examination. Besides, and the next point is important, they aren’t dead.