KERRY’S All-Ireland quarter-final clash with Clare is hardly the ideal preparation for Eamonn Fitzmaurice given the huge gulf in class between the sides that was very much in evidence in their Munster semi-final meeting in June.
Kerry had 12 points to spare at the close of that one-sided affair and even though Clare have certainly improved since then, and they will have been relatively happy with their 17-points haul that day, the Kingdom would surely have preferred a sterner test at this stage of the campaign.
Stephen O’Brien with 1-5 and Colm Cooper, who bagged 1-3, were the main architects of Kerry’s 2-23 to 0-17 victory that was played before 11,300 spectators at Fitzgerald Stadium.
The bulk of the damage was done in the opening minutes when Kerry struck for two goals which crushed Clare’s hopes of springing a surprise.
The quarter-final in Croke Park will throw-in at 2.00pm on Sunday, July 31 with the Kerry Minors taking on Derry at noon and Galway facing Tipperary at 4.00pm.
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