NFL Division One South: Dublin 4-9 Kerry 1-18
COACH Mick Galvin had words of criticism for a “sloppy” Dublin side after they blew their lead against Kerry at Semple Stadium yesterday.
Galvin, who is patrolling the sidelines in the absence of the suspended Dessie Farrell, had to settle for a point after David Clifford converted a penalty in the fourth minute of added-time to earn Kerry a draw in Thurles.
Cormac Costello and Con O'Callaghan starred for the Dubs as they bagged three goals early on to take a six-point advantage in at the break. Costello grabbed his second major in the second period, but the Kingdom ultimately eliminated the gap as the All-Ireland holders managed just 1-3 in the second period.
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“I presume both teams will probably be disappointed with the result,” said Galvin after the game.
“We would have thought we had it within our clutches with a couple of minutes to go. To give away a penalty was slightly disappointing but, listen, it’s early season stuff so we’ll settle for a point.
“The third quarter was disappointing, we gave the ball away a lot of the time – we didn’t mind it – and we were just generally sloppy, to be honest with you. When you do that against a team like Kerry they’re going to capitalise but, in fairness, we steadied the ship a bit in the fourth quarter. We got back into the game, got ourselves into a winning position and I’m disappointed that we weren’t just able to get over the line.”
Conditions weren’t exactly optimal in Thurles, with a strong wind raging, but Galvin wasn’t making excuses for his side’s low points tally.
“Yeah, it was tricky enough out there, but it didn’t stop Kerry – I think they got seven in-a-row at one stage, so when teams were on top they did well, but our poor period really hurt us,” he added.
“Goals haven’t been coming easy to us, but it was great to get them today. Our scoring rate in terms of points – our option taking and execution we’d probably be a little bit disappointed with, but we’ve lots of work to do for the next day and we’re looking forward to that already.”
Elsewhere in Division One South yesterday, Galway won their first competitive game in 15 months as they bounced back from their heavy defeat to Kerry to beat Roscommon, 2-16 to 1-13, at Pearse Stadium.
