Clifford squeezes out Kerry victory over Mayo at the death

A frantic one-point win over Mayo has moved the Kingdom mighty close to securing a League final spot next month after edging to victory on a desperately wet night in Austin Stack Park.

Leading by Tony Brosnan's goal at half time, 1-6 to 0-6, Kerry certainly weren’t counting any chickens at that stage, and, unsurprisingly, Mayo came at Kerry like they always do.

In the end Lee Keegan boomed one long and late effort at the Kerry posts to try and rescue a draw but saw his shot trail narrowly wide, which just about summed up how little there was to separate the joint Division One leaders coming into this contest.

Mayo can take plenty of positives – as will Kerry – from another titanic battle in the Kingdom, but on a night of extremely difficult conditions, the Connacht men turned over a little too much ball, which left them chasing Kerry and the game for most of the 80 minutes played.

In a game in which goals would hold a huge currency Kerry raised the only green flag of the contest, Brosnan’s 21st minute goal, which thrust Kerry into a 1-4 to 0-3 lead, proving a defining score right to the dramatic end.

The Dr Crokes man – a late replacement for Paul Geaney – started and finished a move involving David Clifford and Adrian Spillane to drive the ball past Rob Hennelly in the Mayo goal.

Kerry grab the first goal of the night through Tony Brosnan and it's a beautiful team move. Live now on RTÉ2. pic.twitter.com/258LWyqH3l

A minute later Mayo conjured a similar movement but Aiden Orme lacked Brosnan’s composure and dragged his shot wide before David Clifford’s point put Kerry five points ahead, the widest margin between the sides in the first half.

Central to Kerry’s slight superiority in the opening period was a remarkable work-rate