Wins for Kerry and Clare in Waterford Crystal Cup
John Meyler's Kerry hurlers made history this afternoon as they claimed the county's first ever Waterford Crystal Cup win by overcoming IT Tralee.
The Kingdom staged a strong finish at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney, notching seven of the final eight scores to win the preliminary round tie by 1-20 to 1-15.
It was all Kerry early on as they broke into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead, aided by a smashing 10th minute goal from midfielder Darragh O'Connell whose long range shot flew into the roof of the net.
John Egan, O'Connell and chief free-taker Shane Brick scored the early points for Meyler's men, but the students' corner forward Eamonn Brosnan soon helped them find their rhythm in attack.
He sent over four points and collected a 22nd minute goal thanks to a low, well-placed shot. Indeed, IT Tralee managed to move ahead for half-time at 1-10 to 1-9 with centre-back Mark Deegan striking over three points from far out and Brosnan, Barry O'Grady and Fergus Kennedy accounting for the other points.
Brick was Kerry's leading scorer in the opening half with 0-5 and the Kilmoyley clubman was in accurate form after the break, adding seven more points to finish with a handsome tally of 0-12 (0-9f, 0-2 '65').
A point from Matt Lynch kept the Tralee outfit in front at 1-13 to 1-12, but Kerry proved too strong in the end as scores from corner forward Shane Nolan, O'Connell and the excellent Brick settled the issue.
Kerry's reward for beating IT Tralee is a quarter-final date with neighbours Cork next Sunday, while today's other winners, Clare, will take on Limerick in the last-eight of the early season competition.
In new manager Davy Fitzgerald's first competitive game in charge, Clare coasted to a 3-25 to 0-5 preliminary round victory over Waterford IT in Sixmilebridge.
Colin Ryan pointed them ahead after just 40 seconds and the Banner men never looked back, with Aaron Cunningham (1-4), Daire Keane (1-6) and Eoin Hayes (1-6) finishing off the goals.
By the 23-minute mark, Clare were 2-14 to 0-2 ahead with free-taker Ryan tallying up 0-7 and setting up Keane for his goal.
That lead was further strengthened early in the second period by points from Nicky O'Connell, Cunningham, Jonathan Clancy and Conor Cooney, with the students struggling to make an impact.
WIT goalkeeper Stephen O'Keeffe was in impressive form, but outfield the Waterford side offered little and Clare were never really pressed after opening up a comfortable lead.
Keane and Clancy clipped over the final points for Fitzgerald's charges, and Waterford's Noel Connors also blocked a penalty effort from James McInerney in the closing stages.
