Kerry thrash Kildare to march into All-Ireland semi-finals
Tuesday 4 August 2015 15:05, UK
Ruthless Kerry laid down a marker to their rivals for the Sam Maguire Cup as they produced a masterclass to defeat Kildare by 7-16 to 0-10 in their All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park.
The only bad news for Eamon Fitzmaurice came on the injury front as Kieran Donaghy was pulled in the warm-up after failing to recover from a groin injury – granting eight-time All Star Colm Cooper the opportunity to start – while James O’Donoghue came off with an arm injury just before half-time.
The Kingdom began the match in ominous fashion, with reigning footballer of the year O’Donoghue raising a white flag after just 11 seconds.
Kildare enjoyed plenty of possession in the opening stages but struggled to break through a well-organised Kerry defence and looked an entirely different team to the one that dismantled Cork so clinically last Saturday.
Kerry were far more efficient in attack and two points in quick succession from Stephen O’Brien and one from Paul Geaney saw them surge into a four-point lead.
Cooper was quiet up to that point but showed his class on 15 minutes with a wonderful pass to Geaney which split open the Kildare defence, but the Kerry corner forward fumbled on the turn with the goal seemingly at his mercy and the chance was lost.
Kildare centre forward Niall Kelly was outstanding against Cork and it was he who got Kildare into the game with their first score of the game on 16 minutes.
O’Donoghue stretched Kerry’s lead from a free after Cooper was fouled before Kildare cut the deficit to two with excellent points from Alan Smith and Kelly, who was proving a real handful for Killian Young.
Kildare looked like they might make a game of it at this point but Kerry found another gear and rattled off four points from play in quick succession through O’Brien (two), Cooper and O’Donoghue.
The reigning All-Ireland champions were utterly dominant in midfield through David Moran and Anthony Maher and engineered another goal chance just before the half-hour mark.
O’Donoghue won the race to the ball and expertly rounded his man but, as he bore down on goal, Kildare keeper Mark Donnellan made an outstanding tackle to deny him, punching the ball clear as O’Donoghue tried to round him.
O’Donoghue was injured in the collision as he appeared to fall awkwardly on his right arm and had to be replaced by Barry John Keane.
Geaney added another score before half-time to send Fitzmaurice’s men in at the interval with a commanding seven-point lead.
Kildare needed to start quickly in the second half and did so, with Smith kicking his second point of the match, but disaster struck in the 39th minute as Kerry got the goal that eluded them in the first half.
Donnellan failed to claim a high ball into the Kildare square and Donnchadh Walsh seized upon the break, tapping home on the rebound after Ciaran Fitzpatrick originally managed to deny him on the line.
That signalled the end of the game as a contest and, although Kildare managed to get the next two scores through points through Padraig O'Neill and Eoin Doyle, they soon conceded their second goal.
Darran O’Sullivan replaced Geaney in the Kerry attack and displayed his searing pace with a blistering run through the heart of the Kildare defence before laying the ball off to Cooper to palm into the net.
O’Sullivan added a point immediately afterwards and that was soon followed by a goal of his own as Cooper found him running through and he finished decisively past Donnellan.
The floodgates were open at this stage and Kerry soon added four more goals through Barry John Keane, Cooper, O’Brien and O’Sullivan as Eamon Fitzmaurice emptied his bench.
Some Dublin players were in the stands watching as they prepared to face Fermanagh and Kerry will have sent them a clear message that the Sam Maguire Cup will not be easily prised from their grasp.
Kerry: B Kealy; M O Se, A O'Mahony, S Enright; J Lyne, K Young, P Murphy; A Maher, D Moran; S O'Brien (1-4), B Sheehan, D Walsh (1-0); C Cooper (2-3, 1f), P Geaney (0-2), J O'Donoghue (0-3, 0-1f).
Subs: BJ Keane (1-3) for O'Donoghue (31), D O'Sullivan (2-1) for Geaney (42), P Crowley for Ó Sé (50), P Galvin for Walsh (54), J Buckley for B Sheehan (55), T Walsh for A Maher (60).
Kildare: M Donnellan; O Lyons (0-1), C Fitzpatrick, M O'Grady; K Murnaghan, E Doyle (0-1), E Bolton; T Moolick, P Cribbin; E O'Flaherty (0-1f), N Kelly (0-2), P O'Neill (0-2); E Callaghan, A Smith (0-2), C McNally.
Subs: P Kelly for Callaghan (43), F Conway for Murnaghan (51), P Fogarty for Kelly (54), F Dowling (0-1) for Moolick (62), G White for Bolton (67);
Ref: D Coldrick (Meath).
