Report Neil Loughran 

Photo Philip Walsh

Allianz National Hurling League Division 2A: Down 2-23 Kerry 1-19

KERRY left Down battered and bruised when they last visited Ballycran – but this time the Kingdom faced the longest of trips home the after a stunning second half surge sealed the Ardsmen’s first League victory of the season.

Trailing by seven at half-time, Down won by seven in the end, that nice little bit of scoreboard symmetry just about summing up a game that started at breakneck speed before Ronan Sheehan’s men managed to wrestle away control.

Second half goals from Daithi Sands and Danny Toner - making a first competitive start in red and black since 2020 - helped turn the screw, so too the class of Pearse Og McCrickard.

But this performance was founded on the most solid of foundations as a dogged rearguard action kept a previously rampant Kerry to just four after the break.