Kerry 2-10; Westmeath 0-10: Typical of the charmed life of Páidí Ó Sé that in the months after the break-up with his first and greatest love, Kerry, he should find himself in Mullingar on the rebound managing Westmeath and taking them into what was only the third league meeting ever between the counties.
Afterwards he confessed it had been strange and he was grateful circumstances had precluded his gaggle of nephews lining out in the green and gold yesterday. That said, Páidí would have been uncomfortable.
Yet as he sat impassively gazing at his Westmeath team hurling themselves gamely but none too shrewdly up against Kerry's experience yesterday, Páidí can scarcely have felt too comfortable anyway. Even allowing for several key absences, the most notable of which was David O'Shaughnessy, this was a naive Westmeath performance punctuated by chances and bursts of enthusiasm but lacking decisiveness.
Kerry for their part found the exercise useful. Manager Jack O'Connor said all the right things, thanked Westmeath for making it a decent game and welcomed the form of some of his fringe players. Yet in the second half especially it was established faces who made the difference. Séamus Moynihan was sublime as usual, conducting the game from the middle third of the field and moving forward with an energy and intelligence which seemed cruelly to counterpoint Westmeath's prosaic designs.
Mike Frank Russell, now seemingly restored to full form, was the cutting edge of the attack, and the bonus was in the continued good form of young Declan O'Sullivan, whose ball-carrying ability gave Kerry an additional option as they played into a stout wind.
Kerry had benefited from that breeze in the opening half and despite getting to half-time with a six-point lead they could justifiably have been accused of making scant use of the advantage.
Westmeath beavered away, winning midfield and exploiting the speed of corner forwards Dessie Dolan and Dessie Glennon. All that betrayed them was their shooting. Of their six-point first-half total only two scores came from play. They had many regrets.
From the first free kick, a floater from Fergal Wilson after 20 seconds, Westmeath had a series of chances as the leather pinballed around the square with Kerrymen repelling it and Westmeath men thumping it. Finally it was cleared.
The pattern remained much the same. Westmeath ran at Kerry, zigzagging away till they got within shooting distance and then fluffing their lines. They had ample possession but just a vague idea about how to convert it into scores.
Kerry by contrast were the soul of economy. They gave a debut to Michael Quirke at full forward and the conditions in the first half suited the newcomer perfectly. Quirke is a sort of Bomber Lite, big and hefty and capable of hauling down all sorts of unlikely ball.
He was instrumental in the scoring of Kerry's two first goals, scores which virtually killed off the match and remained the difference between the sides till the end.
The sides were tied on six points each when a high ball found Quirke on 26 minutes. He laid it back to Eoin Brosnan, who thumped it to the net. The sides then traded points by Dessie Dolan and Russell before Quirke hauled another ball down in the danger area and found Declan O'Sullivan, who was fouled. Russell cashed the penalty.
For the crowd of 3,509 it was all rather frustrating after that. Kerry withdrew Quirke on account of the different circumstances in the second half and took to running at Westmeath. The home side continued to have much possession but no gameplan.
Dessie Dolan in particular saw a lot of ball but failed to convert it. In the end Kerry seldom looked threatened. Liam Hassett had the best chance of the second half when with the goal gaping he thumped a shot against the post. So it went.
Kerry, as Ó Sé noted afterwards, have the knack of just producing players from thin air. Jack O'Connor will have learned that even without the Gaeltacht contingent his squad is teeming with talents.
And Westmeath? There will be better days. Still developing, they need all hands on deck before they can be judged adequately. The league is gone; summer comes charging at them.
WESTMEATH: G Connaughton; J Davitt, D Gavin, J Keane; B Morley, A Canning, D Heavin; R O'Connell, G Dolan; F Wilson (0-1), S Colleary, A Mangan (0-1); D Glennon, P Martin, D Dolan (0-7, 0-6 frees). Subs: P Conway for P Martin (43 mins), JP Casey for D Glennon (45 mins), J Fallon (0-1, a free) for S Colleary (57 mins).
KERRY: D Murphy; B Guiney, M McCarthy, T O'Sullivan; S Moynihan, E Fitzmaurice, T Griffin; W Kirby (0-1), D Daly; P Galvin (0-2), D O'Sulliva(0-1), E Brosnan (1-0); D Quill (0-1), M Quirke, MF Russell (1-5, goal a penalty, 0-3 frees). Subs: L Hassett for D Daly (21 mins), A Mahony for B Guiney (27 mins), R O'Connor for M Quirke (43 mins), J Sheehan for T Griffin (44 mins), C Cooper for D Quill (57 mins).
Referee: P McEnaney (Monaghan).
