Limerick floored by Spillane’s late sucker punch as champs survive

MUNSTER JFC SEMI-FINAL

IF you wanted to see a bit of drama on Sunday it came in the curtain-raiser as the Kerry Juniors snatched a dramatic victory from Limerick’s grasp in injury time of a see-saw encounter. Paul O’Donoghue definitely meant to put over a late free to send the game into extra-time but the ball dropped short with Adrian Spillane the quickest to react in fisting the ball into the net. While Michael O’Donnell followed up with a point, Kerry’s second goal was the decisive one and it was maybe tough luck on Limerick’s efforts throughout proceedings as Jamie Lee was a constant thorn in the Kerry side’s defence from start to finish.

The corner-forward kicked 11 points on the day but he will be disappointed not to have put the game beyond doubt in the 52nd minute when leading by two points he had a goal chance saved from close range by Darragh O’Shea that could have ended the match as contest. 12 minutes in it looked as though Kerry would have little to worry about as they led by 1-4 to 0-1.

The goal in the ninth minute saw a passing move involving Patrick Clifford and Brian Ó Seanacháin finished off by Kieran Hurley as the hosts looked set for a comfortable day in Fitzgerald Stadium. However a 20 minute period without a score followed as the visitors reeled off score after score to eventual draw level on the scoreboard as the half-time whistle approached.

Adrian Enright was the only other player bar Lee to score for Limerick in the first period but Kerry’s scoring drought was ended by Hurley in the second minute of injury time to give Kerry the lead again at the break at 1-5 to 0-7.

Kerry started the second half positively through two Paul O’Donoghue points and a Niall O’Shea effort but Limerick pulled them back within a point and a titfor-tat period would follow where Kerry would go ahead by two only to be pegged back to within a point each time by Limerick as Tony McCarthy and Padraig Scanlan added their names to the scoresheet.

A black card for Limerick captain Lorcan O’Dwyer in the 37th minute didn’t unduly affect the Shannonsiders as they kept causing the Kingdom problems every time they came forward with the ball. The next big moment came in the 46th minute when Limerick got their goal, substitute Sean Murphy setting up Enright as the Treaty County went ahead for the first time at 1-12 to 1-10.

After O’Shea’s save from Lee, Kerry missed a goalscoring opportunity themselves in the 54th minute as James Brouder saved Kieran Hurley’s effort and the rebound needed Mike O’Keeffe to scramble off the goal line and prevent Kerry levelling the scores up.

While there might have been some surprise at five additional minutes being announced for the conclusion, Niall O’Shea’s fifth point appeared to be enough to ensure extra-time at 1-15 apiece.

Substitute Brian O’Donovan put Limerick back on course for a famous win for his county in dethroning the reigning Munster and All-Ireland Champions but Adrian Spillane’s vigilant fist shattered any thoughts of a victory for the visitors.

In truth Kerry got out of jail last Sunday with the game’s conclusion. While a bit of character was shown in keeping going right until the final whistle certainly there are aspects of the performance all over the pitch that Stephen Wallace and his management team will need to assess ahead of a third consecutive Munster Final meeting with Cork on Thursday June 30.

While preparing Junior sides can never be easy with all the other commitments on players at this level, matches like last Sunday can be immense in bringing a team forward and the younger members of the panel will have learned a great deal about what it takes to win in a venue like Fitzgerald Stadium.