Second-half onslaught sees Kerry ease past Mayo
A barnstorming second-half display by Kerry ensured that the Kingdom collected the league points on offer from their clash with Mayo, the hosts winning by 2-29 to 0-19 at Austin Stack Park, Tralee, in front of an attendance of 9,498, writes Patrick Hennelly.
Mayo trailed by just three points at the interval (0-13 to 0-10) but Kerry took control of proceedings during the second period, with Seán O’Shea and David Clifford in devastating form.
There was one change to the Mayo starting 15 named on Friday night as Kobe McDonald made his first start for Mayo in the league, coming into the team in place of Aidan O’Shea.
The opening quarter of the first half was well contested and Mayo made a bright start, with points from Jordan Flynn (two-pointer), Fergal Boland, Kobe McDonald, Ryan O’Donoghue, who scored a two-pointer and a free, and Jack Carney (two-pointer) establishing a 0-9 to 0-4 lead for Andy Moran’s men after 17 minutes.
However, that was as good as it got for Mayo during the first half, with their next score not arriving until the 34th minute, scored by Sam Callinan.
Mayo also misfired badly in front of goal, kicking 14 wide’s over the course of the tie.
Jack O’Connor’s side dominated the final 17 minutes of the first half, with points from Seán O’Shea (three), David Clifford (two), Dylan Geaney (two), Keith Evans and Graham O’Sullivan helping to garner a three-point cushion for the hosts at the interval.
Mayo suffered a setback five minutes into the new half when Geaney netted a morale-boosting goal for the hosts.
The Green and Red struggled to get into the contest during the second half, and another goal from Geaney on 53 minutes shunted the locals into an unassailable 13-point lead, 2-21 to 0-14.
Kerry moved the ball around the park with great ingenuity and two quick-fire two-pointers from O’Shea, one of which was a sublime soccer-style volley, were warmly greeted by the home supporters.
Kerry closed out proceedings impressively and were deserving victors.
Mayo will be hoping to bounce back from this setback in the next fixture against Roscommon.