Michael Murphy scored a great goal for Donegal today but it wasn’t enough.
Donegal’s impressive league run came to an abrupt end in Tralee today after a bruising encounter with Kerry.
Rory Gallagher’s men were quite simply out-thought and out-fought by a Kerry side who were all a little cuter than the visitors who eventually went down on a scoreline of 1-13 to 1-8.
From the throw-in, it was obvious that this was going to be a no-holds barred encounter at Austin Stack Park.
Two red cards, two black cards and a number of yellow cards reflected the attitude of two sides who hold no great love for each other.
But it was Kerry who got under Donegal’s skin time and time again with that man-mountain Kieran Donaghy leading the charge.
Donegal found themselves 0-7 to 0-2 behind after less than half an hour thanks in part to a strong breeze in favour of Kerry.
But despite Donegal pulling the game back to 0-7 a piece in the second half, it was Kerry who drove on to canter away in the final stages.
Kerry wer cruising midway through the second half with a six point cushion on a scoreline of 1-10 to 0-7.
But a finely fielded ball from Michael Murphy saw the Glenswilly man hit the back of the Kerry net form the resulting shot.
And when the Donegal captain lofted over another point, there was just two points between the sides.
Donegal can also count themselves unlucky with what appeared to be some dubious referee decisions as well as striking the uprights on at least three occasions.
But it was Kerry who persisted and thanks to points from veterans Brian Sheehan and Colm Cooper, the gap just proved too wide for Donegal to gap.
Rory Gallagher can have no complaints but will be thankful with some decent performances from the likes of the superb Ryan McHugh and Patrick McBrearty although Neil Gallagher stills looks a long way form being match-fit.
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