Donegal 0-13 Kerry 1-9: Tir Chonaill men fight back to shock Kingdom in Ballybofey
- Published
Darragh Roche's three first-half points helped Kerry lead 1-6 to 0-3 after 24 minutes but Donegal fought back to triumph
A youthful Donegal recovered from six points down in the first half to stun All-Ireland champions Kerry 0-13 to 1-9 in the Football League opener.
Dara Moynihan robbed Brendan McCole after a short kickout to put Kerry 1-2 to 0-2 up after 14 minutes and they extended their lead to 1-6 to 0-3.
But seven straight Donegal points either side of half-time put the home side ahead by the 42nd minute.
Kerry levelled three times but Patrick McBrearty's late point sealed victory.
New Donegal captain McBrearty was a subdued presence for most of the contest but his towering injury-time point proved decisive amid the wind and rain in Ballybofey.
A third point from man of the match Caolan McColgan appeared to have won it for Donegal only for Kerry substitute Donal O'Sullivan to level in the final minute of normal time.
Following the match, Kerry boss Jack O'Connor insisted that McColgan's second point on 30 minutes - Donegal's fifth - should have been signalled a wide although from this observer's viewpoint, it did appear that the curling shot was a legitimate score.
Amid a frantic finish at MacCumhaill Park, a seemed likely after Jamie Brennan saw a goal chance blocked by Kerry keeper Shane Murphy and sub O'Sullivan left another shot short at the other end but McBrearty had other ideas.
Kerry manager Jack O'Connor had words with referee Liam Devenney after the final whistle about Caolan McColgan's disputed second point
Muff club-man McColgan joined Mark Curran and Johnny McGroddy in making competitive debuts for Donegal under new boss Paddy Carr with another new boy Luke McGlynn getting on the scoresheet with his first touch after his second-half introduction.
The young Donegal side, entering a post-Michael Murphy era, seemed to struggle physically to deal with Kerry in the opening 25 minutes but they summoned up a huge effort to turn the game around.
Kerry lined out with five starters from the All-Ireland Final - full-backs Graham O'Sullivan, Jason Foley and Tom O'Sullivan plus Tadhg Morley and Jack Barry with the Spillane brothers Adrian and Killian in attack having made crucial contributions as substitutes in the win over Galway last July.
Shaun Patton, Brendan McCole, Caolan Ward, Caolan McGonagle, Jason McGee and Patrick McBrearty were the only Donegal starters from the championship mauling by Armagh last June.
An initial perusal of the team sheets suggested Kerry had the stronger handed despite the absence of 10 of the All-Ireland Final starters which included David Clifford.
The first half largely followed that script as Donegal were turned over in the tackle on numerous occasions with Kerry's skipper for the day Tadhg Morley and Paul Murphy doing effective sweeping jobs in defence, in addition to setting up attacks from deep.
After Kerry's league debutant Darragh Roche notched the opening point, McColgan's first score and a Dara O Baoill effort had Donegal ahead by the ninth minute but the Kingdom responded with an unanswered 1-3 as Moynihan stroked to an empty net after dispossessing McCole, following keeper Patton's short kickout to debutant Curran.
Donegal hammering looked in prospect
As energetic full-forward Roche brought up his tally to 0-3 by the 24th minute, Kerry stretched their lead to 1-6 to 0-3 and by that stage, the home side seemed set for a hammering.
But to their immense credit, Donegal responded with three straight points of their own before half-time as Carndonagh man Conor O'Donnell continued the good work by the team's Inishowen contingent by slotting his second point before McColgan's disputed score and a fine McGrotty effort, after a delightful dummy by the Downings forward, left a kick of the ball between the sides at the interval.
Despite Donegal's rally before half-time, Kerry still appeared in control but a change in the elements breathed more fire into the home side, with the wind now favouring Carr's side, instead of blowing across the pitch which had been the case in the opening 35 minutes.
Within six minutes of the restart, Donegal were on terms as Brennan levelled following points from impressive duo O Baoill and O'Donnell.
It got even better for the Tir Chonaill men a minute later as McGlynn marked his entry to the inter-county stage by firing them ahead.
The remainder of the contest saw Kerry level on three occasions with the sides going point for point before McBrearty finally escaped the shackles of the Kingdom defence as he stroked over a the wind-assisted winner from 45 metres amid deafening noise from the home fans.
After this opening win, suddenly next weekend's contest in Omagh against Tyrone may not seem quite so foreboding for Donegal while Kerry will aim to regroup in their home game against Monaghan in Killarney.
Donegal: S Patton (0-1); M Curran, B McCole, C Ward; C McColgan (0-3), S McMenamin, M O'Reilly; C McGonagle, J McGee; J McGroddy (0-1), D O Baoill (0-2), C O'Donnell (0-3); H McFadden, P McBrearty (capt) (0-1), J Brennan (0-1).
Substitutes: L McGlynn (0-1) for H McFadden 42; Jeaic McKelvey for McGroddy 63
Not used: M Lynch, B O'Donnell, J Bradley Walsh, K Barrett,, R McFadden, R McHugh.
Kerry: S Murphy; G O'Sullivan, J Foley, T O'Sullivan (0-1); M Breen, T Morley, P Murphy (0-2); J Barry, B O'Sullivan; M Burns, D Moynihan (1-0), A Spillane; T Brosnan, D Roche (0-3), K Spillane (0-1).
Substitutes: R Buckley (0-1) for A Spillane 47, P Warren for M Breen 47, D O'Sullivan for M Burns 57, S Okunbor for B O'Sullivan, G Horan for Moynihan 61
Not used: D Burns, J O'Shea, D Casey, B Mahony, P Geaney
Referee: L Devenney (Mayo)