Kerry 0-22
Down 0-6
Orla Bannon reports from Páirc Esler.
Kieran Donaghy and Colm Cooper had their first outings of 2016 as Kerry coasted to an opening league win of the season by hammering Down in Newry.
Bryan Sheehan top-scored with 0-6 scoring from frees, play and ’45′s for the Kingdom who could not have asked for a more comfortable outing.
Aidan Walsh made his debut for Kerry, who rolled out the big guns for early season game-time with ‘Gooch’ and Tommy Walsh among the substitutes.
Down were off the pace and offered no resistance, going 30 minutes without scoring either side of half time.
Darran O’Sullivan’s pace caused havoc for Down and scored three points in the opening half.
Down did score three points inside four minutes to draw level at 0-3 each after 17 minutes, but Kerry reeled off six points in a row before half time to romp into a 0-9 to 0-3 lead.
The gap should have been greater had Paul Murphy not fisted wide with the goal at his mercy just before the interval.
Conor Maginn stroked over a 45th minute point for Down, their first in half an hour, but immediately Kerry brought on ‘Gooch’ who hit 0-3, two from frees, in a one-sided second half.
Scorers for Kerry: B Sheehan 0-6 (2f, 2 ’45′s), D O’Sullivan 0-4, A Fitzgerald 0-3 (2f), C Cooper 0-3 (2f), BJ Keane 0-3 (1f), B O’Sullivan 0-2, S O’Brien 0-1
Scorers for Down: B O’Hagan 0-2, C Harrison 0-2 (2f), C Maginn, R Mallon 0-1 each
Kerry
1. B Kealy
2.M O Se
3. M Griffin
4. S Enright
5. P O’Connor
6. A O’Mahony
7. F Fitzgerald
8. K Donaghy
9. B Sheehan
10. A Walsh
11. P Murphy
12. D Walsh
13. D O’Sullivan
14. A Fitzgerald
15. S O’Brien
Subs: C Cooper for Walsh (43), P Crowley for O’Connor (48), BJ Keane for A Fitzgerald (59), P Kilkenny for O Se (60), T Walsh for Donaghy (63), B O’Sullivan for D Walsh (64)
Down
1. M Cunningham
2. L Howard
3. G McGovern
4. D O’Hagan
5. C McGovern
6. A Carr
7. D O’Hanlon
8. P Turley
9. M McKay
10. J Murphy
11. M Poland
12. K McKernan
13. C Maginn
14. C Harrison
15. B O’Hagan
Subs: J Flynn for Carr (27), R Mallon for Murphy (37), R Boyle for Howard (41), M Magee for O’Hagan (43), H Brown for Turley (53), D O’Hare for O’Hagan (57)
Referee: Marty Duffy (Sligo)
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