Maurice O'Connor starred for Kerry with 13 points as Kerry ran out eight-point winners against Down to maintain their 100% start in the Joe McDonagh Cup.
They were level at half-time, 0-10 to 2-04, with Down’s goals coming through Daithi Sands and Caolan Taggart, but an impressive second-half performance from Kerry saw them double-score their Ulster counterparts by 0-16 to 0-08 to secure victory.
This was despite Kerry playing against the wind in the final 35 minutes after recording a worrying 12 wides when with the breeze in the opening half. Kerry had just three wides in the second half.
The impressive O’Connor top-scored for Kerry while Down had a spread of eight different scorers in a game where both sides were level on eight different occasions.
Kerry, playing with a strong breeze in the opening half, were three points to the good inside 10 minutes as O’Connor (two) and Ronan Walsh raised white flags.
However, Down were level a minute later after Sands was first to a long free into the box from Taggart to draw the sides level with a well-taken goal. Louis Dee had come out to meet the long free, but Sands did well to get a flick to the net.
A sign of things to come, Down prised open the Kerry defence with ease on the 16th minute when Sands turned provider with a defence splitting pass, but Pearse Óg McCrickard could only watch on as his effort on goal drifted wide of the far post.
Kerry got their first score in nine minutes when captain Fionán Mackessy slotted over just shy of the 20-minute mark, but his point was quickly cancelled out when Down got their second goal two minutes later.
Captain Caolan Taggart took full advantage of a superb pass from Eoghan Sands to raise the green flag for the second time to put four between the sides - 2-02 to 0-04 in favour of Down.
Kerry, however, scored the next four without response - three O’Connor points (two frees) and a Dan Goggin point with his first touch after coming on as a substitute moments earlier - to bring the sides level.
They were level four more times after the restart before a sending off for Down’s Sands, who had scored 1-01 from play, turned the game on its head.
Kerry had led for the first time since the ninth minute in 52nd minute when O’Connor slotted over his fifth free of the afternoon.
Down were reduced to 14 with 10 minutes to go when Sands got a second yellow card for a foul on Kerry corner-back Daithí Griffin.
In what was the fourth ever Joe McDonagh Cup meeting between the two counties, Kerry looked likely to secure their third Championship win over Down from here on in and did so in style when Stephen Molumphy’s charges scored seven unanswered points after the sending off.
Kerry got nine of the last 10 points to run out eight-point winners.
With four of Kerry’s substitutes scoring seven points between them, Molumphy’s changes certainly helped the Kingdom on their way to securing the vital win.
Kerry: Louis Dee: Daithí Griffin, Flor McCarthy, Evan Murphy; Kyle O’Connor, Eric Leen, Fionán Mackessy (capt) (0-2, 0-1f); Colin Walsh (0-1), Darragh Shanahan; Niall Mulcahy, Killian Hayes (0-1), Ronan Walsh (0-2); Luke Crowley, Michael Leane, Maurice O’Connor (0-13, 0-7f)
Subs: Dan Goggin (0-4) for Mulcahy (24), Gavin Dooley (0-1) for Leane (45) Brandon Barrett (0-1) for Shanahan (49), David Woulfe (0-1) for Crowley (61), Tom Doyle for Hayes (72)
Down: Stephen Keith; Matt Conlan, Conor Cassidy, John McManus; Tom Murray, Caolan Taggart (capt.) (1-0), Ruairi McCrickard; Donal Hughes (0-1), Tim Prenter (0-2); Paul Sheehan (0-3, 0-3f), Eoghan Sands (0-2), Liam Savage, Daithi Sands (1-1), Chris Egan (0-2), Pearse Óg McCrickard
Subs: Tom McGrattan for McCrickard (45), Finn Turpin (0-1) for Egan (52), Marc Fisher for McManus (57), Oisin MacManus for Sheehan (62), Barry Trainor for Eoghan Sands (69)
Referee: Conor Doyle (Tipperary)
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