Paudie Clifford and Tom O'Sullivan shine on return as Kerry snap Dublin away day blues

Kerry's second victory of their Division 1 campaign was obvious from a long way out. Dublin were at best workmanlike and the Kingdom should have put them to the sword far earlier than they did.

TONY TIME: Tony Brosnan of Kerry celebrates after scoring his side's first goal past Dublin goalkeeper Evan Comerford during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

NFL Division 1: DUBLIN 1-10 (1-2-6) KERRY 1-16 (1-3-10) 

Kerry endured a late Dublin fightback to claim their first league win over them in Croke Park in nine years.

Their second victory of their Division 1 campaign was obvious from a long way out. Dublin were at best workmanlike and Kerry should have put them to the sword far earlier than they did.

Those in the 25,027 crowd who were in for the Dublin-Wexford Division 1B were treated to entertainment. Those who only caught this were treated to little until the conclusion.

The humdrum nature of the first half continued after the interval. Con O’Callaghan didn’t return for it after picking up an injury later confirmed as a hamstring issue. He was missed by a Dublin side who made little penetration thereafter.

The margin was four points in Kerry’s favour in the 49th minute when Keith Evans intercepted a short Evan Comerford kick-out. He supplied Paudie Clifford who moved the ball onto Tony Brosnan but he skewed his shot wide.

David Clifford was finding Seán MacMahon a sticky marker but brother Paudie, making his seasonal bow, was involved in plenty and stuck over a point in the 54th minute to restore Kerry’s four-point lead.

Brosnan did find the net in the 56th minute. On the left wing, Peadar Ó Cofaigh-Byrne was outnumbered for a Dublin kick-out and Kerry advanced swiftly. David Clifford offloaded to Brosnan and he placed it perfectly to put his side seven points up.

Tom O’Sullivan also returned to the fold following his exploits with Dingle and added his name to the scoring list in the 61st minute.

Kerry threatened to be dragged into yet another dramatic finale when Peadar Ó Cofaigh blasted a 65th minute goal to follow a Seán Bugler two-pointer.

The gap was whittled down to three but up stepped O’Sullivan again as he did for Dingle at the Hill 16 last month to fire over a second point. A Seán O’Shea two-pointer in the final minute sealed the victory.

Kerry led 0-9 to 0-6 at the break although they had been six points ahead in the 25th minute. Their attacks were made deliberate by a Dublin side getting bodies behind the ball. From the throw-in, Kerry retained the ball for two minutes and 12 seconds before David Clifford’s fisted point attempt struck the crossbar.

Seán O’Shea got Kerry up and running with a two-pointer in the fourth minute and Tadhg Morley sent over a one-point version two minutes later.

Paddy Small had a shot smothered by Shane Murphy in the eighth minute. The resultant 45 was converted by O’Callaghan and it was followed by a Ross McGarry point.

Kerry’s kick-outs were the area for improvement in the first half but a one-point lead transformed into five in less than three minutes. Clifford punted over a two-point strike in the 14th minute and Tony Brosnan and Graham O’Sullivan followed it with points.

The O’Sullivan score was a nicely-worked one in which the Dromid Pearses man sprinted from the sideline to take receipt of a Joe O’Connor pass before sliding the ball over the bar.

Some of Dublin’s positional switches were striking – Niall Scully was spending plenty of time in the half-back line and Ciarán Kilkenny began at the edge of the square.

He won a free against Dylan Casey in the 19th minute that O’Callaghan sent over but Kerry responded with a brace of point. Cillian Trant’s came courtesy of a sharp attack. Clifford broke a high ball down, Keith Evans reacted quickly and fed Trant.

Clifford’s 25th minute stretched the visitors’s advantage to six prior to Kilkenny curling over Dublin’s first two-pointer. At the other end, O’Shea appeared to have cancelled it out but HawkEye deemed it missed its target. After 31 minutes, Kerry had recorded their first wide.

Kerry had a slight sniff of a goal seconds later but the hand-pass to Evan Looney broke down. Looney was injured in the process and didn’t return for the second half. O’Callaghan’s 33rd minute free after O’Connor fouled Lorcan O’Dell was the last score of an underwhelming half.

Before the end of it, Clifford’s marker Nathan Doran was booked and subsequently benched a minute before half-time. Seconds after his introduction, his replacement MacMahon was then yellow carded for dunting Clifford, who himself had entered referee Paddy Neilan’s book for fouling Eoin Murchan off the ball.

As captain, O’Callaghan ran from the Kerry half of the field to remonstrate with Neilan as he was about to penalise MacMahon but the match official wasn’t for turning.

Scorers for Dublin: C. O’Callaghan (0-3, 2 frees, 1 45); P. Ó Cofaigh-Byrne (1-0); C. Kilkenny, S. Bugler (0-2, 1 tp each); R McGarry, P. Small, N. Scully (0-1 each).

Scorers for Kerry: T. Brosnan (1-2); D. Clifford (1tp, 1 free), S. O’Shea (2 tps) (0-4 each); T. O’Sullivan (0-2); T. Morley, G. O’Sulllivan, C. Trant, P. Clifford (0-1 each).

DUBLIN: E. Comerford; D, Byrne, N. Doran, E. Murchan; N. Scully, B. Howard, A. Gavin; P. Ó Cofaigh-Byrne, C. McMorrow; S. Bugler, C. O’Callaghan (c), R. McGarry; P. Small, C. Kilkenny, L. O’Dell.

Subs for Dublin: S. MacMahon for N. Doran (34); J. Quigley for C. O’Callaghan (blood, h-t to f-t); L. Breathnach for L. O’Dell (43); K. McGinnis for R. McGarry (45); C Tyrrell for A. Gavin (62); L. Smith for M. O’Shea (63).

KERRY: S. Murphy; E. Looney, J. Foley, D. Casey; G. O’Sullivan, T. Morley, A. Heinrich; J. O’Connor, M. O’Shea; C. Trant, S. O’Shea (c), M. Burns; K. Evans, D. Clifford, T. Brosnan.

Subs for Kerry: P. Murphy for E. Looney (inj), P. Clifford for M. Burns (both h-t); T. O’Sullivan for G. O’Sullivan, D. O’Sullivan for C. Trant (both 54).

Referee: P. Neilan (Roscommon).