Kerry GAA

Cork will play Kerry in Round 1 of the McGrath Cup Football competition on Wednesday January 4th at 7pm in Páirc Uí Rinn. Ticket Information.

Adults General Admission – €10 Under 16s – Free admission when accompanied by an adult Students / OAPs General Admission (Valid ID Required Upon Entry to Venue) – €5

Wins for Meath and Dublin in the O'Byrne Cup; Tyrone, Armagh and Down victorious in McKenna Cup.

The Mourne County were 1-6 to 0-6 ahead at the break, thanks to Andrew Gilmore’s goal. A crowd of 4,510 watched Armagh beat Antrim 2-20 to 2-8 at the Athletic Grounds. Brian O’Driscoll and O’Callaghan raised the green flags in the second half as the home side eased to a comfortable opening night 12-point victory. A late Ultan Kelm goal gave Fermanagh the smallest glimmer of hope, but injury-time points by Emmet McNabb and Donnelly helped Tyrone to see out the contest. But the Royals outscored Carlow 0-6 to 0-1 coming down the stretch. The Rebels led 3-7 to 0-6 at the turnaround, with the first-half goals coming from Brian Hurley, Chris Óg Jones and Colm O’Callaghan.

Eire Og's Colm O'Callaghan lit up Pairc Ui Rinn with a brilliant display, scoring 2-4 from play.

KERRY: S Murphy (Dr Croke’s); D Casey (Austin Stacks), J Foley (Ballydonoghue), J O’Shea (Austin Stacks); J McCarthy (Kenmare Shamrocks), T Morley (Templenoe), captain, C Gammell (Legion); D O’Connor (Na Gaeil), B O’Sullivan (Dingle); A Spillane (Templenoe), R Murphy (Listry), B O’Mahony (St Senan’s); T Brosnan (Dr Croke’s), D Roche (Glenflesk), K Spillane (Templenoe). CORK: MA Martin (Nemo Rangers); M Shanley (Clonakilty), D O’Mahony (Knocknagree), K O’Donovan (Nemo Rangers); R Maguire (Castlehaven), S Meehan (Kiskeam), M Taylor (Mallow); C O’Callaghan (Eire Og), I Maguire (St Finbarr’s); E McSweeney (Knocknagree), S Powter (Douglas), B O’Driscoll (Tadhg MacCarthaigh); C Og Jones (Iveleary), B Hurley (Castlehaven), captain, C Corbett (Clyda Rovers). Cork grabbed their fourth goal after 40 minutes, O’Driscoll at the end of a Corbett pass to score with a thunderous drive, and O’Callaghan claimed his second and his side’s fifth with an equally ferocious shot, eight minutes later, 5-10 to 0-7.

In Jason Foley, Tadhg Morley, Diarmuid O'Connor, the Spillane brothers and Tony Brosnan, Kerry had a strong spine, but as their manager alluded to afterwards, ...

Brosnan converted an early free to offer a glimmer of hope to the small Kerry support in a decent crowd, but Brian O’Driscoll smashed in Cork’s fourth goal after 38 minutes, and that was that. They will look on with interest as Kerry host Clare in Tralee on Sunday where anything less than a big win for the home side will surely see the defending champions relinquish their title. With Cleary also running his bench Cork’s dominance began to wane a little, and that afforded Kerry a little latitude to fight back. A cheap turnover in the Kerry defence led to Hurley playing in Chris Óg Jones for a second goal to make it 2-2 to 0-3 on 20 minutes. Cork looked like a group that might have had their Christmas day dinner in the gym. Twelve months ago it was Kerry winning by 12 points in Killarney.