Galway girls to provide a stern test of Kerry in Under 16 final
ALL IRELAND U-16 GIRLS ‘A’ FOOTBALL FINAL
Kerry v Galway
Toomevara, Co Tipperary Wednesday, July 25 at 7.30
KERRY meet Galway in the U-16 All-Ireland ‘A’ football final on Wednesday at 7.30 in Toomevara, County Tipperary, and it promises to be a battle of epic proportions
Both sides came through their provincial championships with relative ease with Kerry recording comprehensive wins over Tipperary and Cork in the round robin stages, before once again seeing off the Premier county on a scoreline in the final. Galway had a handy 5-12 to 4-7 victory over Mayo in the Connacht final before firmly putting Donegal to the sword with a 3-22 to 4-4 win in the All Ireland semi final. In contrast, Kerry had to come through a nail biting extra time win over Kildare in their semi final before eventually coming through by 8 points after an epic encounter.
Kerry will draw on a panel of 30 players and the squad have been training since last November. Their fitness levels certainly told in their semi final victory over Kildare as their conditioning was far superior to their Leinster opponents in the extra time period. Players like Siofra O’Shea, Danielle O’Leary, Maud Kelly, Mary O’Connell, Gemma Kearney and Rachel Kilgallen were superb against Kildare, and they will be expected to give big performances in the final once more. Kerry’s strength lies in their teamwork however, and there isn’t a single weak link throughout the side. The team are captained by centre half back Rachel Dwyer of Southern Gaels.
Galway are no slouches either though. When the sides met two years ago in the semi-final at U-14 level, the Westerners were unlucky to come second best to Kerry. They can draw on really good players like the dangerous Kate Slevin, Therese Kinneavey, Eva Noone, Chellene Trill and Laura Kelly.
It promises to be an entertaining encounter and there may only be a kick of a ball between the sides in the finish.