Jack O'Connor: Kerry's performance in league win over Mayo was only 6 out of 10

A last-gasp David Clifford point was the difference as Kerry edged Mayo in their Division 1 clash in Tralee on Saturday evening, a performance that was "6 out of 10", according to Kingdom boss Jack O'Connor.

For a lot of the encounter at Austin Stack Park the hosts looked the better side but Mayo, who were reduced to 14 men following Sam Callinan's dismissal for a second yellow just shy of the hour mark, rallied well, with Ryan O'Donoghue levelling matters as the game ticked it into added time.

A patient Kerry move was eventually rewarded and not for the first time it was the younger of the Clifford brothers who took on the responsibility to kick the winning score.

It's a second Allianz Football League win on the bounce for O'Connor's side but the manager wasn't fully singing his team's praises when speaking to RTÉ Sport afterwards.

"I'm delighted to get the win but you have to say you wouldn't be overly happy with the performance," he said.

"You'd be giving it 6 out of 10 maximum.

"We learned a bit from the Derry game [where O'Connor lamented "butchered" goal opportunities] and showed good composure for the last play."

Indeed, on the build-up that led to the winning score, O'Connor was more complimentary, adding: "In the end it came down to the last play. We had a similar situation against Derry a couple of weeks ago and we messed that one up.

"We spoke about that and worked a bit on it; the boys were a bit more composed and got the ball to our main men Seanie [O'Shea] and David [Clifford] and no better man to kick over a great score to win it."

In the opening half, Kerry were, perhaps, taking too much out of the ball as they mounted attacks. A more direct approach paid greater dividends in the second period.

"We spoke about that