National League: Donegal 1-12 0-5 Kerry
- Published
All-Ireland champions Donegal moved towards Division One safety with a comprehensive 10-point home win over relegation-threatened Kerry.
Skipper Michael Murphy netted a first-half penalty and finished the game with a personal tally of 1-5 and the Ulster county never looked in danger.
Out-of-sorts Kerry did not score until the 18th minute by which stage Donegal had chalked up a goal and three points.
Jim McGuinness says All-Ireland champions Donegal have been improving during their National League campaign.
The Kerry cause was setback further by the dismissal of Tom谩s 脫 S茅.
The five-times All Star received a red card after an off-the-ball incident in the fifth minute of the second half.
"I am happy enough with the performance," said Donegal manager Jim McGuinness.
"We experimented a wee bit, so to also get the result was a big bonus for us.
"It was important to push on. We have been improving a small bit in every game but there is a lot still to come from us.
"We use the league to unearth a few new faces for the Championship squad. If you can do that and get enough points to stay in the division, that's good."
Donegal had a great start with Leo McLoone pointing in the fourth minute, quickly followed by Murphy's penalty which was awarded for a foul on Ross Wherity.
Colm McFadden added a free with Patrick McBrearty scoring from play.
Johnny Buckley and 脫 S茅 got Kerry up and running, but they managed only one more point before the break with Eoin Brosnan on target.
Murphy kicked another point from an acute angle and Ryan Bradley got the last point of the half for a 1-5 to 0-3 lead.
Murphy, McLoone, Neill Gallagher and Rory Kavanagh scored unanswered points for Donegal and Kerry, down to 14 men, were in deep trouble.
The dismissal of veteran defender 脫 S茅 came after a linesman brought referee Derek Fahy 's attention to something which happened off the ball.
Murphy added two frees for Donegal while Darran O'Sullivan and Johnny Buckley (2) got Kerry's second-half points.
To cap Kerry's disappointing afternoon, substitute Kieran O'Leary had a penalty saved by Donegal keeper Paul Durcan.
Allianz Football League results
Saturday 9 March
Division One
Down 0-13 0-11 Mayo
Division Two
Derry 0-16 0-16 Armagh
Division Three
Fermanagh 0-12 0-14 Monaghan
Division Four
Clare 0-10 1-13 Tipperary
London 0-14 1-10 Waterford
Sunday 10 March
Division One
Donegal 1-12 0-5 Kerry
Kildare 2-7 2-20 Dublin
Tyrone 0-8 0-14 Cork
Division Two
Longford 3-7 3-11 Galway
Louth 2-9 2-13 Wexford
Westmeath 1-10 1-8 Laois
Division Three
Roscommon 0-12 2-11 Meath
Sligo 2-9 1-12 Cavan
Wicklow 2-7 1-10 Antrim
Division Four
Leitrim 0-8 0-9 Offaly
Limerick 0-10 0-9 Carlow
- Published3 March 2013
- Published9 February 2013
- Published2 February 2013