Dublin 2-8
Kerry 1-10
JACK MCCAFFREY GRABBED the winning point as 14-man Dublin claimed victory over Kerry in tonight’s Allianz Division 1 football league opener at Croke Park.
Second-half substitute McCaffrey punched the ball over the bar in the 65th minute as Dublin recovered from being five points down after 23 minutes and the 45th minute sending-off of defender Sean George to claim victory.
George was shown a red card for an off-the-ball incident at a stage when Dublin trailed by 1-9 to 2-4. But big guns like Michael Darragh Macauley and McCaffrey came off the bench to help Dublin fashion victory.
Eamon Fitzmaurice’s young and inexperienced Kerry side got off to a terrific start with Barry John Keane’s point-taking and a classy James O’Donoghue goal helping them lead by 1-5 to 1-0 after 17 minutes.
Dublin found the net in the 10th minute when Cormac Costello laid a chance on a plate for Kevin McManamon who palmed the ball to the net. They raised another green flag five minutes before half-time when Eoghan O’Gara struck past Brendan Kealy after being fed by Ciaran Reddin.
Kerry went in at the break leading by 1-7 to 2-3 and extended that lead after the interval with newcomer Stephen O’Brien showing up well in attack while Peter Crowley gave a man-of-the-match performance in defence.
But Dublin took control as the second-half wore on to the delight of the majority of the 26,487 supporters in Croke Park. Jim Gavin watched his side get their league campaign off to a great start when McCaffrey hit the winning score.
Scorers for Dublin: Kevin McManamon 1-1, Eoghan O’Gara 1-0, Shane Carthy 0-3 (0-2f), Cormac Costello 0-2 (0-2f), Paul Mannion (0-1f), Jack McCaffrey 0-1 each.Scorers for Kerry: James O’Donoghue 1-3, Barry John Keane 0-4 (0-3f), Stephen O’Brien 0-2, David Moran 0-1 (0-1 ’45).
DUBLIN: Stephen Cluxton; Sean George, Michael Fitzsimons, Philly McMahon; Eric Lowndes, Cian O’Sullivan, Johnny Cooper; Declan O’Mahony, Shane Carthy; Ciaran Kilkenny, Alan Brogan, Ciaran Reddin; Kevin McManamon, Eoghan O’Gara, Cormac Costello.
Subs: Michael Darragh Macauley for O’Mahony (45), Jack McCaffrey for Reddin (49), Paul Mannion for McManamon (53), Davy Byrne for O’Gara (57), Kevin Nolan for Carthy (64), Darragh Nelson for Cooper (67).
KERRY: Brendan Kealy; Paul Murphy, Mark Griffin, Shane Enright; Peter Crowley, Brian McGuire, Jack Sherwood; Anthony Maher, David Moran; Jonathan Lyne, Michael Geaney, Donnchadh Walsh; Barry John Keane, James O’Donoghue, Stephen O’Brien.
Subs: Aidan O’Mahony for Geaney (46), Conor Cox for Lyne (53), David Culhane for Sherwood (59), Paul Geaney for Walsh (62), Pa Kilkenny for Murphy (67), Alan Fitzgerald for Crowley (70).
Referee: David Coldrick (Meath)
