Five-goal Kerry far too strong for sub-par Clare

Adam Moynihan reports from the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick

Munster Sfc Final

Kerry 3-11 | Clare 0-15

GAELIC GROUNDS

First-half goals by Tony Brosnan, Dara Moynihan and David Clifford killed this tie as a contest as reigning All-Ireland champions Kerry secured their 84th Munster title - their 11th in the last 12 years.

It was an emotional occasion for the Clifford brothers following the death of their mother, Ellen, the day before but both David and Paudie exhibited class in abundance at the Gaelic Grounds. David added another goal in the second half and Paudie capped a fine performance with a three-pointer of his own to complete the rout.

Kerry looked sharper, hungrier and fitter than they did in the league and the 14-point margin of victory didn’t flatter them one bit. In truth, Colm Collins’ underdogs barely laid a glove on them. Was it that Kerry were too good, or that Clare were too bad? A little from Column A, a little from Column B.

Gulf

Clare, buoyed by recent victories over Cork and Limerick, were hopeful of causing an upset reminiscent of 1992 but the gulf between the finalists was evident from the off.

Dylan Casey – making his first start in the championship – gave Kerry an early lead with a fisted effort and points by Dara Moynihan and David Clifford (free) quickly followed.

Clare got off the mark in the eighth minute via the boot of goalkeeper Stephen Ryan. At the other end, Gavin White burst forward to kick a lovely score and make it 4-1.

Some bad errors in attack and gaping holes at the back were ominous from Clare’s point of view and sure enough they were punished in the 14th minute when Brosnan played a one-two with Casey before rifling an unsavable shot that rattled the back of the net.

The writing was already on the wall for Clare by this point and when Paul Geaney found Dara Moynihan completely unmarked in the middle of the large parallelogram five minutes later, the Spa man made no mistake. His confident strike widened the gap to eight.

Keelan Sexton and Eoin Cleary tagged on some points for the Banner but Brosnan and Clifford did likewise for Kerry, and it would be fair to say that Kerry were working their openings with far greater ease than their opponents. The play of the game arrived in the 32nd minute when Paudie Clifford gathered possession inside his own 65 and burst forward. As the elder Clifford carried the ball into Clare territory, he pointed for younger brother David to cut back inside his man towards the centre of the goal before lobbing an accurate through ball in between attacker and goalkeeper.

Kerry’s number 14 got there first, steadied himself, sat down a retreating defender, and finished. It must have been a lovely moment for the Clifford and O’Shea clans watching back home. The remaining 40 minutes or so counted for little, really, although Jack O’Connor’s side deserve credit for the way they applied themselves throughout. The only slight concern was a late injury picked up by first-choice full back Jason Foley. The Ballydonoghue man looked to be holding his upper hamstring or glute when he was forced off in the 70th minute.

Both teams will now turn their attention to the new All-Ireland group stage. Kerry have Mayo, Cork and the losers of Dublin and Louth. Clare will need to regroup quickly if they are to successfully navigate a pool that contains Monaghan, Donegal and whoever wins Ulster.

KERRY: S Ryan; D Casey (0-1), J Foley, T O’Sullivan; G O’Sullivan, T Morley, G White (0-1); D O’Connor, J Barry; D Moynihan (1-1), S O’Shea (0-2, 1 45), P Clifford (1-0); T Brosnan (1-1), D Clifford (2-6, 4f), P Geaney (0-1).

Subs: S O’Brien for Moynihan, K Spillane (0-1) for Geaney, B Ó Beaglaoich for T O’Sullivan, BD O’Sullivan for Barry, M Breen for G O’Sullivan.

CLARE: S Ryan (0-2f); M Doherty, C Brennan, C Rouine; C Russell (0-1), J Malone, D Walsh; C O’Connor, D O’Neill; P Lillis, E McMahon (0-4, 2f), D Coughlan; E Cleary (0-6, 4f), K Sexton (0-2), P Collins.

Subs: Ronan Lanigan for Doherty, Brian McNamara for O’Connor, Gavin Cooney for Coughlan, Ikem Ugwueru for O’Neill, Cian O’Dea for Collins.