Kerry were in the All-Ireland final last year, Monaghan fell at the semi-final stage, but the teams appear to be worlds apart after this anaemic contest in Killarney, with Kerry seeming to have one foot already in the quarter-finals after what might have been considered their toughest game in the group.
Thirteen points head at half time, the only reason Kerry lost the second half was because they throttled down from third gear to second, with a consolation goal from Gary Mohan on the hour mark putting a modicum of respectability on a score that could have got really ugly for the visitors had Kerry had a mind to really go for it.
Paudie Clifford pointed Kerry into the lead after 12 seconds, and while Mohan equalised from a mark within a minute, and Karl O’Connell drew a smart save from Shane Ryan a couple of minutes later, it quickly became one-way traffic.
David Clifford converted a couple of frees, Paul Geaney and Tony Brosnan scored from the attack, Paul Murphy and Tom O’Sullivan (2) came up from the defence to score, and by the time Micheal Bannigan kicked Monaghan’s second point in the 19th minute they were 0-9 to 0-2 behind.
By half time the fat lady was clearing her throat, Kerry out of sight at 0-15 to 0-2.
Monaghan sub Andrew Woods converted a mark and Conor McCarthy kicked a point as the visitors tried to find something within themselves, but Kerry kicked on with points from Geaney (2) and Tom O’Sullivan, while Joe O’Connor had a close-range shot on goal saved by Rory Beggan.
Still, by the time Mohan smacked the ball to the Kerry net after Shane Ryan had batted down McCarthy’s high shot from under the crossbar for the game’s only goal, Kerry were still comfortable with a 0-21 to 1-6 lead.
It all ran its due course from there, Sean O’Shea adding three late scores, as Kerry move on to a meeting away to Meath in Navan in a fortnight, while Monaghan bring Louth to Clones the same weekend.
Scorers – Kerry: P Geaney 0-5, D Clifford 0-5 (3f), S O’Shea 0-4 3f), T O’Sullivan 0-3, P Murphy 0-2, T Brosnan 0-2, P Clifford 0-2, D Moynihan 0-1. Monaghan: G Mohan 1-1, M Bannigan 0-2, R Beggan (f), R O’Toole, C McCarthy, S O’Hanlon, C McManus (f), D Ward, A Woods (m), J Wilson (m) (0-1 each).
Kerry: Shane Ryan, Paul Murphy, Jason Foley, Tom O’Sullivan, Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Tadhg Morley, Gavin White, Diarmuid O’Connor, Joe O’Connor, Tony Brosnan, Paudie Clifford, Dara Moynihan, David Clifford, Seán O’Shea, Paul Geaney. Subs: Cillian Burke for Moynihan (50), Barry Dan O’Sullivan for J O’Connor (50), Armin Heinrich for Ó Beaglaoich (55), Stephen O’Brien for Brosnan (55), Darragh Roche for Geaney (66).
Monaghan: Rory Beggan, Ryan Wylie, Barry McBennett, Ryan O’Toole, Karl O’Connell, Killian Lavelle, Conor McCarthy, Gary Mohan, Micheal McCarville, Stephen O’Hanlon, Micheal Bannigan, Michael Hamill, Jason Irwin, Sean Jones, Conor McManus. Subs: Dessie Ward for McCareville (ht), Andrew Woods for Jones (ht), Ciaran McNulty for McBennett (46), Joel Wilson for O’Connell (50), Thomas McPhillips for Ward (53).
Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone).