Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice gave his bench an opportunity to stretch the legs at Croke Park, and the awesome quality of the extended squad was illustrated in all its glory as the All-Ireland champions steam-rolled Kildare with a 7-16 to 0-10 quarter-final win over Kildare.
Darran O’Sullivan and Barry John Keane came in and hit a combined 3-4, while former Aussie Rules player Tommy Walsh stepped into the midfield and laid on an exhibition of high fielding.
“All the lads contributed, they have been going well in training, and if we can keep that squad mentality going, hopefully we can continue winning games,” said Fitzmaurice after his side coasted through to the semi-finals with a massive 27 points winning margin.
“If fellows are going well in training, mostly they will bring that to the pitch as well, and thankfully they did.”
The display of Colm Cooper was another huge plus for the Kingdom, a 2-3 tally from the Gooch signalling his full recovery and rehabilitation from a cruciate knee injury suffered last year.
“It was great for him to get 70 minutes under his belt,” said Fitzmaurice.
The Kerry boss added: “We’re delighted with the win. Training has gone well in the past couple of weeks, and we were really looking forward to this, and thankfully there was a big performance in us.”
Seven second-half goals left the Lilywhites a demoralised and bewildered side, having suffered one of the heaviest defeats in the county’s history.
“We just seemed to get in for goals and the lads took the goal chances,” said Fitzmaurice.
“But it was all about winning, by a point or a bigger margin. Once we got through we were happy enough. We’re just delighted to be in the All-Ireland semi-final.”