Swatragh’s Eugene McGuckin with a supreme piece of skill to thwart Kerry’s David Butler. (picture: Margaret McLaughlin)
by Michael Wilson (@MickeyTips)
Derry 3-09 Kerry 4-24
Derry's Allianz National Hurling League Division 2A campaign got off to a demoralising start in Ballinascreen on Sunday when Ger Rogan's young side were dismantled by superior Kerry outfit well worth their 18-point victory.
The Kingdom were on top from first whistle to last, despite Derry briefly leading after Paddy McCloskey's brilliant 8th minute goal put them 1-00 to 0-02 ahead. That goal was as good as it got for Derry who were indebted to goalkeeper Darrell McDermott for a string of top class saves that stopped the final scoreline being even more emphatic.
All over the pitch the men in green and gold were stronger, quicker and more accurate. Where Derry looked forward in hope, Kerry went forward with expectation and were rewarded almost every time they attacked.
Early points from the hugely impressive Shane Nolan – who finished with 1-10 – and Daniel Collins were cancelled out by McCloskey's goal when he plucked a high Alan Grant free out of the sky, turned and finished superbly but from there it quickly descended into exhibition territory for the dominant visitors.
That goal was Derry's solitary score in the opening 29 minutes and Kerry had already hit 1-11 by the time Grant sent over a free six minutes before half-time, the visitors goal coming from that man Nolan who took a pass from Collins and finished well.
Grant's opening point was followed almost immediately by two further Kerry goals, full-forward Aidan Boyle brilliantly flicking a long free into the Derry net before Collins did even better to reverse Boyle's high centre past McDermott who deserved better protection from his defenders.
Even Grant's rather fortuitous goal straight from a 65m free on the stroke of half-time could do little to lift the Oak Leaf spirits as Kerry went into the break 3-12 to 2-01 ahead and with the game already won.
The Oak Leafers did improve second half but could do little to halt the Kerry onslaught which began with a Colm Harty point 10 seconds after the restart. With Derry's midfield and half-back line being over run, the Kingdom midfielder John Egan and Darragh O'Connell controlled the game with the latter probably just shading the 'man of the match' honours with a personal tally of seven points, all from play.
The Kingdom's fourth goal on 44 minutes saw a superb bit of improvisation from Nolan who gathered a pass and found Daniel Collins in one fluid movement but it had long since reached damage control for Derry who simply had no answer to their more experienced opponents.
Jonathan O'Dwyer did register a third Derry goal after Kerry keeper Tadhg Flynn had spilled an Grant effort which dropped short, but Kerry's relentless scoring meant it made little difference to a scoreboard Derry will want to forget in a hurry.
Derry: Darrel McDermott; Anton Rafferty, Liam Og Hinphey, Eugene McGuckin; Ruairi McCloskey, Oisin McCloskey (0-01), Dermott O'Neill; Michael Warnock, Brendan Rodgers (0-1); Alan Grant (1-04, 2f, 1 sixty-five), Stefan McCloskey (0-01), Tiernan McCloskey; Jonathan O'Dwyer (1-01), Paddy McCloskey (1-0), Paul Cleary. (Subs) Malachi O'Hagan for D O'Neill, 46mins; Chrissy Convery (0-01) for R McCloskey, 46mins; Turlough Henry for P Cleary, 56mins;
Kerry: Tadhg Flynn; Dougie Fitzell, Brian Murphy, Jason Leahy; Sean Weir, Anthony Fealy, Keith Carmody; John Egan (0-01), Darragh O'Connell (0-07); Mikey Boyle (0-01), Daniel Collins (1-02), Colm Harty (0-01); Shane Nolan (1-11, 5f, 3 sixty-five), Aidan Boyle (2-00), David Butler (0-01). (Subs) Jason Casey for J Leahy, 39mins; Philip Lucie (0-1) for D Collins, 50mins; Brendan O'Leary for K Carmody, 50mins; Paudie O'Connor for D Butler, 58mins; Kevin Orpen for S Weir, 58mins;
Referee: Garrett Duffy (Antrim)
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