Monaghan slipped further into the relegation mire as Kerry scored a 14-point victory in Killarney.
Monaghan trailed by just a single point at the half-time interval in tough playing conditions at Fitzgerald Stadium. However, it wasn’t enough as Gabriel Bannigan’s men remain winless in division one.
Monaghan led by two points up until the 18th minute thanks to scores from Cameron Dowd, Oisin McGorman, Karl Gallagher and Dessie Ward.
Keith Evans and Joe O’Connor brought Kerry level before Paudie Clifford gave the Kingdom the narrowest of leads at half-time.
Kerry gained the wind advantage in the second-half and fully availed of it thanks to a pair of Sean O’Shea scores which was followed up by another for Paudie Clifford.
Robbie Hanratty and Andrew Woods offered some hope for Gabriel Bannigan’s side, before Kerry took full control.
They brought David Clifford off the bench and he made an instant impact. He converted a two-pointer before finding the back of the net just three minutes later.
Ryan O’Toole produced a fine response for Monaghan but Kerry kept the pressure on, with Donagh O’Sullivan and Armin Heinrich finishing the scoring and sealing a third win in this year’s league for the Kingdom.
Kerry scoring a 14-point win, 1-18 seven points.
