Cillian breaks record as Mayo suffer Killarney setback
MAYO must turn their attention to facing Meath in round two of the Super 8s after being outclassed by Kerry in today's opening group clash in Killarney, losing by 10 points, 1-21 to 0-15.
They came up against a home side in scintillating form and had few answers.
The only compensation for Mayo was Cillian O'Connor setting a new all-time scoring record of 23-285, a record previously held by Kerry legend Colm Cooper.
The big thorn on Mayo's side was man-of-the-match David Clifford, who struck seven points.
While the match was more or less decided in the first half, a 56th minute goal by Paul Geaney ultimately killed off the Mayo challenge.
Mayo trailed by 0-15 to 0-6 at half-time, a clear indication of the pressure they had been under from the outset.
It would have been worse if David Clarke had not denied Clifford a goal with an instinctive reflex save in the 20th minute.
Clarke had been at the centre of much activity during the period, his kick-out strategy being targeted as a central part of Kerry's attacking tactics and successfully so for the most part by winning seven out of ten of his kicks.
At the other end, Mayo missed a goal opportunity of their own which fell to Donal Vaughan.
But the Mayo forwards struggled to accurately string passes together, giving possession away cheaply time and again.
It contrasted sharply with the Kerry attack which could do nothing wrong, scoring at will with precision and skill.
Clifford, David Geaney, Stephen O'Brien, Sean O'Shea and David Moran were exceptionally good to inspire Kerry to their best 35 minutes of football for some time and send out a signal of intent to defending champions, Dublin.
Mayo had lived on scraps, Cillian O'Connor and Darren Coen registering two points apiece in the opening half.
The introduction of Seamus O'Shea helped to bring stability to the Mayo midfield sector.
But there was no way back for Mayo despite every effort to cut down on the margin of Kerry's win.
It's a case now of Mayo dusting themselves down and preparing for the challenge of Meath at Croke Park in seven days time.
Kerry: Shane Ryan; Tom O'Sullivan, Jason Foley, Tadhg Morley; Paul Murphy, Shane Enright, Gavin Crowley; David Moran (0-01), Adrian Spillane; Gavin White, Seán O’Shea (0-07, 6f), Stephen O’Brien (0-03); Paul Geaney (1-02), David Clifford (0-07, 2f); James O’Donoghue (0-01)
Subs: Dara Moynihan for O’Donoghue HT; Graham O’Sullivan (0-01) for Enright 50 mins; Diarmuid O’Connor for Spillane 57 mins; Brian Ó Beaglaoich for Foley 62 mins; Micheál Burns for Geaney 68 mins; Mark Griffin for Crowley 70 mins.
Mayo: David Clarke; Keith Higgins, Brendan Harrison, Chris Barrett; Lee Keegan (0-01), Stephen Coen, Colm Boyle; Donal Vaughan, Aidan O’Shea; Fionn McDonagh (0-01), Kevin McLoughlin, Jason Doherty; Cillian O’Connor (0-06, 3f, 0-01 pen), Darren Coen (0-03), James Carr.
Subs: Seamus O’Shea for McDonagh HT; Andy Moran (0-02) for Carr 46 mins; Ciarán Treacy (0-01) for McLoughlin 47 mins; Fergal Boland (0-01) for Coen 51 mins; James McCormack for Keegan 59 mins; Eoin O’Donoghue for Barrett 65 mins;
Ref: Sean Hurson (Tyrone)