Kerry v Armagh recap as Kingdom breeze past Ulster Champions to reach quarter-finals

Kerry 4-18 Armagh 0-17

Kerry’s defence of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship lives on after a crushing win over Armagh at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney.

The Kingdom picked the perfect moments to score key goals, ensuring a facile win against Armagh in a manner eerily similar to last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final win over the same opposition.

Kieran McGeeney’s side actually started the brighter of the two teams and took a deserved three-point lead when Cian McConville sent one over the black spot in the 10th minute.

Moments later, and David Clifford was rounding Ethan Rafferty before finishing soccer style following an excellent pass from Dylan Casey.

The Ulster Champions went about regrouping, and would have been the happier of the two sides as they trailed by just three points with seconds ticking down towards the first half buzzer, especially seeing as they were playing into a stiff breeze.

With goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty up the field, Armagh worked towards a buzzer-beater to sicken Kerry before the interval. Instead, Jarly Óg Burns’ pass went to the deck, and two passes later, Paul Geaney was kicking into an empty net to make it a six-point game.

Disappointment for Armagh: They’re second meltdown at the buzzer in six days after Sam Mulroy’s epic winner for Louth last Sunday.

Geezer’s charges needed a response. Instead, Kerry took the game away from the 2024 All-Ireland champions, and when Joe O’Connor blasted home in the 45th minute, it was all but over.

Armagh tried gainfully, but Kerry kept them at arm’s reach down the stretch to take home the comfortable win, with Keuth Evans’ lovely dink down the stretch adding further gloss to the scoreline.

It’ll be the end of the road for many of those men in orange, but for Kerry, it’s another step closer to Sam Maguire, and they will be the team that everyone wants to avoid in Monday’s quarter-final draw.