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Mike O’Halloran reports on Kerry’s outing against Waterford in the Munster Senior Hurling League match played in Killarney yesterday afternoon, with photos by Gavin O’Connor…
Kerry 0-8
Waterford 0-17
Kerry’s Jason Diggins looks to drive in a ball to his forwards. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Kerry hurlers played their last game in the Munster Senior Hurling League where they came up short against a Waterford team that included quite a lot of their big names like Shane and Darragh Fives, Noel Connors, Jake Dillon, Austin Gleeson and Maurice Shanahan.
Kerry had gone through the league without a win against either Limerick, Clare and Cork and speaking to the Kerry captain after the game, Kerry had hoped to win this game and were disappointed that they came up short.
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The chance of Kerry winning this game did not look good from very early on as Waterford were in total control for all of the first half.
Even though the scoring was not very high, with Waterford only leading by six points on 17 minutes despite their huge amount of possession. In fact it took Kerry 18 minutes to register their first wide, a free from Shane Nolan.
The Kerry panel before the match against Waterford on Saturday at Fitzgerald Stadium. Photo by Mike O’Halloran
It was 27 minutes before Shane opened Kerry’s account with a pointed free, he made it two a minute later. By this time, Waterford had seven points on the board, four of the points coming from the stick of Maurice Shanahan with Jake Dillon, Colin Dunford and Michael Walsh having one each.
Shanahan added two more before halftime with one coming from Austin Gleeson. Shane Nolan had one more from a free.
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Kerry manager Ciaran Carey. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Ten points to three at halftime did not look too bad and there was hope that the Kerry challenge would improve.
Kerry tried as hard as they could to curtail the Waterford dominance and were a little better for the final ten minutes of the game.
Kerry seemed fitter than Waterford and were as physical as their opponents but the skill level, speed of execution and thought did not match the boys in blue and white.
Waterford played the full 70 minutes without putting on any subs.
Kerry’s Jordan Conway, looks to tap the ball past Waterford’s Shane Fives. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Waterford ran out 0-17 to 0-8 winners, and the Deise spurned a goal chance when Shanahan opted for a point rather than take on Martin Stackpoole who had brought off three fantastic saves during the game.
Philip Lucid, who had replaced Pa Kelly at halftime, tapped over three points from frees when Shane Nolan was replaced by Brendan O’Leary. Jack Goulding had the only point from play for Kerry with a few minutes to go.
Kerry had started well in this competition scoring 0-18 points in their first two games against Limerick and Cork and the hope from the manager was that they would get to 20 points per game.
The results in the Munster Senior Hurling League may not be as important as the experience gained by the younger players against top quality opposition as Kerry face into the National Hurling league in two weeks.
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Kerry’s Daniel Collins goes up with Maurice Shanahan. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
The young guns like Jason Diggins, John Buckley, Jordan Conway,Darragh Shanahan and Jack Goulding have gained valuable experience at the top level and if Kerry can survive in Division 1B for a couple of years we will hear more of these boys.
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Kerry: Martin Stackpoole, Sean Weir, Bryan Murphy, Darren Dineen, Daniel Collins, Thomas Casey, Jason Diggins, John Griffin, Johnny Buckley (Jack Goulding), Colum Harty (James O’Connor), Patrick Kelly (Philip Lucid), Shane Nolan (Brendan O Leary), Keith Carmody, Michael O’Leary ( Michael Boyle), Jordan Conway.
Scorers: Shane Nolan 4 points (3 frees 1, 65). Philip Lucid 3 points (3 frees) Jack goulding 1 point.
Shane Nolan scores a first half free. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Kerry’s, Shane Nolan, looks for a pass off Michael O’Leary. Photo by Gavin O’Connor
Kerry’s Shane Nolan takes off with Waterford’s Colin Dunford trailing behind. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Waterford’s Shaune McNulty lays off a pass while Kerry’s Micheal O’Leary looks on. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Kerry’s Jordan Conway tries to stop Waterford’s Darragh Fives. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
The great Dan Shanahan was on the line for Waterford. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
The Kerry panel lines up before the match. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
