Kerry hammer Armagh to boost survival hopes

Dylan Geaney scored the first goal for Kerry against the All-Ireland champions

Kerry hammered Armagh by 2-21 to 0-17 to boost their Division One survival hopes in the Allianz Football League.

Goals from Dylan Geaney and Paudie Clifford helped Kerry into a commanding 2-13 to 0-6 half-time lead.

Armagh improved in the second half but fell short as the hosts moved past the All-Ireland champions and into third place in Division One.

The result is bad news for Tyrone and Derry, who both play on Sunday and occupy the relegation places.

Tyrone, who visit Donegal on Sunday, are now two points adrift of safety while Derry are cut adrift on one point and will be relegated if they lose to Mayo.

Kerry raced into an early lead thanks to points from before Geaney squeezed in the opening goal after being fed by David Clifford in the 10th minute.

The Kingdom's second goal came in the 19th minute when Geaney was brought down as he shaped to shoot, but the forward dusted himself down to dispatch the penalty into the bottom corner.

Goalkeeper Shane Ryan made a big save to deny Darragh McMullan, who looked poised to pull a goal back for Armagh, who struggle to get to grips with Kerry in the opening 35 minutes.

Kieran McGeeney's side improved after the restart and started chipping into Kerry's advantage, but the damage was largely done in the first half and the hosts had enough in the tank to withstand any late pressure.