KINGDOM BLOW BANNER AWAY

Four first-half goals send Kerry on way to routine Munster final win over Clare

- By John O'DOWD

A FOUR-goal first half blitz, put this Munster SFC Final to bed long before the half-time whistle and left Kerry manager Jack O'Connor a contented figure in the aftermath of his side's 11-point win.

With David Clifford raising a brace of green flags in the opening seven minutes, the Kingdom roared out of the starting blocks, and there was no way back for Clare after that.

Micheál Burns and Barry Dan O'Sullivan added further goals for the hosts at Fitzgerald Stadium, leaving the defending provincial champions home and dry by the interval (4-10 to 0-7).

Although Peter Keane's Banner outfit fought back strongly on the resumption, outscoring their much-vaunted opponents in the second 35 minutes (0-14 to 0-10), the Kerry boss was more than satisfied.

"I am a lot happier after today than I was coming out of Ennis last year. There was a bit of an anti-climax that day. I thought we finished that game poorly," he said.

"There were times today when we played really good football, particularly in the first half; the way we moved the ball, we obviously got some great scores.

"It was never going to work out that we'd keep that going for the full hour. We got a little bit sloppy in the second half, and turned over the ball a bit, but it is hard to quibble."