IT was a lot closer than many of us expected beforehand.

KERRY............................1-20 IT TRALEE......................1-15

A five point victory after one hell of a battle was Kerry's reward after their first seventy minutes of the season. A five point winning margin that might even have flattered the Kingdom a little, especially when you consider that their first half goal owed as much to luck as to skill.

With just nine minutes on the clock Darragh O'connell was in possession of the ball. Being the classy taker of points that he is, he aimed and shot. The sliotar failed to gain altitude, however. Instead of a defender or the goalkeeper claiming the possession and clearing his line, the ball found its way into the back of the net.

A lucky break and, perhaps, a little unfortunate from Darren Delaney's point of view in the ITT net, as he was surely the last to see the sliotar as it found its way through a thicket of defenders and attackers. It came at a time in the game when Kerry were well on top – three clear with John Egan getting the scoring underway inside two minutes.

As the game progressed, however, it became clear that the IT were well up for this game and well prepared for it. With Eamonn Brosnan leading the line for them up front they battled back into the game. It was 1-5 to 0-5 with twenty minutes gone, comfortable for Kerry on the scoreboard, but not really indiciative of how things were going.

Until that is Brosnan struck for the IT'S goal and Mark Deegan followed up with a fantastic long range free to level matters. It was somewhat tit for that in the lead up to the break with Shane Brick and Mikey Boyle coming to the fore for Kerry, but the IT, w i th Barry O'grady, Fergus Kennedy, Brosnan and Deegan all scoring, edged into the lead before the break.

They continued their strong showing well into the second half. The most they managed to get clear of Kerry was by two points, but really they deserved more. Those in attendance began to wonder whether a shock was on the cards, whether the IT'S longer period of training (they've been together as a group since the beginning of the academic year, whereas Kerry are back in training just a couple of weeks) would be a telling factor.

In the end Kerry finished stronger. Colin Harris came on at half-time and by the middle of the half had steadied matters at the back. Shane Nolan came on song around the same time as he found his way into the game (he too was a half-time substitute).

From about the fifty fifth minute Kerry had reasserted control. The IT'S rebellion had been put down. Darragh O'connell and Shane Brick did all the scoring for Kerry from then on. The IT were always capable of scoring and, even with a glut of Kerry scores going over the bar, guys like Matt Lynch and Donal O'halloran were able to puck points.

KERRY: Bernard Rochford, Paud Costello, Rory Horgan, James Godley, Liam Boyle , Tom Murnane, John Griffin, Darren Dineen, Darragh O'connell (1-4, 1f), Shane Brick (012, 1 '65, 9f), Mikey Boyle (0-1), John Egan (0-2), Pa Joe Connolly, Aidan Boyle, James Flaherty Shane Nolan (0-1) for PJ Connolly, Colin Harris for J Flaherty

IT TRALEE: Darren Delaney (Kerry), Thaigh Morley (0-1), Oisin Gately, Matt Lynch (0-2) (Kerry), Brian Murphy (Kerry), Mark Deegan (0-3, 2f), Michael Cleary, Mikie Kiely, Jason Leahy (Kerry), Colm Harty (Kerry), Barry O'grady (0-1) (Kerry), Fergus Kennedy ( 0- 1), Eamonn Brosnan (1-5, 4f), Podge O'connor, Gearóid O'doherty (0-1)

Paudi Carey for T Morley, Jack Walsh for P O'connor, Donal O'halloran (0-1) for C Harty REFEREE: M ichae l O'connor (Limerick)

- Damian Stack at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney Subs: Subs: