Waterford Under-20s outclassed by outstanding Kerry display

Munster Under-20 Football Championship Phase 2 Round 1

Waterford 0-10 

Kerry 2-27

Waterford were comprehensively defeated by an impressive Kerry side at Páirc Naomh Bríd on Thursday night, as the Kingdom sent out a statement to their title rivals.

Gearóid Whyte starred with a whopping 1-9 from play, as the Déise were always second best on the night.

Not since the famed provincial decider of 2003 have Waterford beaten Kerry at any grade, and the Kingdom were keen from the outset to quell any hopes of an upset.

The five-in-a-row seekers started brightly as Paddy Lane turned his man and curled over effortlessly after a minute, before Daniel Kirby rolled his man and used the breeze to his advantage to move Tomás Ó Sé’s men three in front.

Waterford did have opportunities but failed to work the scoreboard, and Kerry had no such issues. A free from Lane pushed the gap to four, before the same man used his weak foot from miles out to suddenly extend that to six.

Callum Royle looked the Déise’s best outlet, and he won a free, allowing Joe Brennan to get them off the mark approaching 11 minutes, but again Kerry’s class prevailed in response as Gearóid Whyte provided the next orange flag despite seemingly having no room to do so.

Beautiful feet from Ronan Carroll continued to emphasise the gulf in class, but Royle again drew a foul, and Brennan made no mistake. Carroll’s second made it 10-2 midway through the opening period. Whyte’s second scoring contribution was every bit as impressive as his first as Waterford struggled to live with the quality of Kerry’s forwards.

The same man repeated the trick for a third time when directly in front of the posts, before Kerry provided a further sucker punch in the form of the opening goal on 27 minutes - a fast break down the left flank led to Carroll cutting inside and leaving all in his wake before firing into an unguarded net.

The Déise responded admirably as Brennan kicked a fine dead ball against the breeze to yield two points, but fittingly the last word of the half went to the wonderful Whyte - the John Mitchels’ man’s fourth strike of the half brought his personal tally to eight points.1-16 to 0-4 at the break.

A Paddy McCarthy free gave the hosts the first score of the second half, but on 34 minutes, Daniel Kirby offloaded to Whyte, and he cut through the Déise defence like butter before firing under Conor Drohan for goal number two.

Another point from Whyte added to Waterford’s growing misery, before Carroll capitalised on a mistake to move his tally to 1-3. Jack O’Sullivan extended the lead to 20 points before McCarthy responded with a two-point free for Waterford.

Máirtín McKivergan got in on the act before Carroll kicked another two approaching the final quarter. It was the 53rd minute when Waterford notched their first score from play, and it was a most impressive one from Brennan, which yielded an orange flag.

McKivergan struck his second before Evan Boyle brought the Kerry tally to thirty, as fatigue began to show. Dara Stack, a Carroll free and a fine Ben Kelliher strike, rounded out the scoring for the Kingdom, while Royle got a deserved score at the finish for Waterford.

Next up for Paul Power’s men is a trip to Clare, as they seek to avenge an earlier Phase 1 defeat by the Banner.

Scorers for Waterford: Joe Brennan (0-6; 1tpf; 1tp; 2f); Paddy McCarthy (0-3; 1tpf; 1f); Callum Royle (0-1) 

Scorers for Kerry: Gearóid Whyte (1-9; 4tp); Ronan Carroll (1-5; 2f); Paddy Lane (0-4; 1tp; 1f); Daniel Kirby (0-2; 1tp); Máirtín McKivergan and Ben Kelliher (0-2 each); Evan Boyle, Dara Stack; Jack O’Sullivan (0-1 each) 

Waterford: Conor Drohan; Andrew Ryan, Ben Boland, Corey Lyons; David Nyhan, Fergal O’Brien, Darragh Jacob; Diarmuid Mackle, Daithí Colleran; Ben Qualter, Ciarán Power, Aaron Curran; Joe Brennan, Paddy McCarthy, Callum Royle.

Subs: Ciarán Cotter for Darragh Jacob (29); Paul Bagnell for Ben Qualter (HT); James Hickey for Ciarán Power (45); Darragh Murphy for Paddy McCarthy (45); Niall Fahey for Ben Boland (49) 

Kerry: Kacper Robak; Michael Lynch, Gearóid Evans, David Mulvihill; Sean Ó’Cúinn, Aodhna Ó Beaglaoich, Pa Walsh; Mark O’Carroll, Evan Boyle; Daniel Kirby, Máirtín McKivergan, Jack O’Sullivan; Gearóid Whyte, Paddy Lane, Ronan Carroll.

Subs: Ben Kelliher for Paddy Lane (38); Paudie Finucane for Gearóid Whyte (41); Dara Stack for Aodhna Ó Beaglaoich (45); Ronan Sheridan for Gearóid Evans (49); Eoin O’Flaherty for Pa Walsh (49) 

Referee: John Ryan (Cork)