The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Kerry back in All Ireland junior final
FAVOURITES Kerry sealed a third consecutive All-Ireland Junior Championship Final berth despite a brave challenge from All-Britain champions Lancashire in Manchester on Saturday.
Second-half goals from Kevin O’Sullivan, Kieran Hurley, Niall O’Shea and Robert Wharton put the gloss on proceedings, however, the hosts matched their illustrious opponents in the opening half, with the sides level 1-6 to 0-9 at the break.
Stephen Wallace shook things up with three changes at half-time, and it seemed to do the trick as the visitors hit 1-3 without reply, while a further three goals in a four-minute spell effectively sealed Kerry’s place in the final against Mayo.
Lancashire opened the scoring through a Michael Higgins point on two minutes but were soon on the defensive, requiring an excellent tackle from Craig Owen to stop Michael Ó Conchuir getting a sight on goal after a neat pass from Wharton.
However, with seven minutes played O Conchuir, O’Shea and Hurley had all pointed to give Kerry a 0-3 to 0-1 lead. It looked like Lancashire would be in for a long afternoon in the Manchester humidity.
The hosts didn’t buckle and took the game to Kerry, moving back in front when a low, lunging dive from Asdee’s Darren Russell saw him meet Michael Comney’s ball from the right before punching to the net. With the visitors rattled, Pauric McGuirk easily shook off Cathal Ó Luing before slotting over while a Ciaran Harper free put the hosts 1-3 to 0-3 ahead.
Hurley (2), Fionan Clifford and O’Shea responded but the latter also struck a couple of wides as the frustration started to build. After an excellent point from midfielder Stephen Sands from 35 yards, O Conchuir almost found the net for Kerry when his powerful drive rattled the bar before going over with keeper Michael Donnelly beaten.
The Kingdom had the last say though with David Foran pointing from a tight angle to ensure his side went in level at the break. Wallace then rang the changes with John O’Connor, Patrick Clifford and Lee O’Donoghue replacing Michael O’Donnell, Laurence Bastible and David Foran and Kerry were immediately on the front foot.
After points from Ó Conchuir (2) and O’Connor, a slick, flowing move for Kerry’s opening goal saw them move 1-12 to 1-6 ahead. Adrian Spillane dispossessed Sands in the Lancashire half before feeding Brian Ó Seanachain. The half-forward found O’Shea who knocked the ball into the path of O’Sullivan, who provided the finishing touch for the goal.
Lancashire hit back immediately, Gerard McCaughey goaling after good work from Sands, but the visitors had found their stride, exploiting the gaps at the back as Lancashire continued valiantly to press forward.
Patrick Clifford won the dirty ball from Donnelly’s kick-out and charged upfield, shrugging off the attentions of Sands before picking out Hurley, who made no mistake with only Donnelly to beat.
O’Shea was in the right place to collect the ball and fire home after captain Paul O’Donoghue – on a minute earlier for O’Sullivan – saw his 45 come back off the woodwork. Wharton then finished with aplomb after a neat one-two with Paul O’Donoghue, giving Kerry a 4-12 to 2-6 lead with 13 minutes gone in the second half.
With the game all but sewn up, Kerry took the foot off the pedal as the sides traded points going into the final quarter. Tiring Lancashire’s hunger was rewarded with a late goal, McCaughey rifling home the loose ball after Dessie O’Malley’s shot was blocked, but Kerry saw out the tie to set up a repeat of last year’s final.
Wallace believed the Lancashire test will stand them in good stead ahead of a final meeting with Mayo.
“They put our lads under the cosh, they worked hard, they tackled hard, and they played damn good football. Credit to them, they gave our guys a serious wake-up call and that game will stand to us. If we’re lucky enough to win an All-Ireland, Lancashire have a big part played in it.”
He added: “We’re lucky that we had Paulie O’Donoghue there on the sideline, our captain. He was only 50/50 coming in so we sat him out from the start and he made a big difference.
“It just means there’s competition now for a jersey for an All-Ireland final and that’s what I asked them. I said, look lads, if we’re lucky to go to an All-Ireland final show me that you want the jersey, whether you come on our whether you’re starting.
“If you’re starting, keep it, if you’re coming on take it off your teammate. But we learnt a lot, we can go away we’ve plenty of time to think now and we’ve a couple of questions to ask.”
Disappointed Lancashire manager Liam Coyne said:
“Our lads gave everything in the first half. I’d like to think that we were a lot more physical than them and that was the way we wanted to approach the game. I love to win and I’m gutted when I don’t. I’m gutted that we lost but I’m proud of every single lad. Over the course of the All-Britain Championship we went through about 35 to 40 players and everyone gave their all.” LANCASHIRE: Michael Donnelly, Craig Owen, David McTaggart, Michael Collins, Michael Higgins (0-1), Pauric McGuirk (01), Gary Morris, Stephen Sands (0-3, 1f), Niall Donnelly, Michael Comney, Gerard McCaughey (2-0), Chris Mullen, Darren Russell (1-1, 0-1f), Colm Conway (0-1), Ciaran Harper (0-2f) Subs: Dessie O’Malley (0-1) for Michael Comney (HT); Ryan Devlin for Chris Mullen (44); Denis O’Neil for Niall Donnelly (46); Paddy Murphy for Gary Morris (51); Paddy Murphy for Colm Conway (57) KERRY: Darragh O’Shea, Fionan Clifford (0-2), Jason Foley, Cathal O Luing, Laurence Bastible, Andrew Barry, Robert Wharton (1-0), Adrian Spillane, Michael O’Donnell, Brian O’Seanachain, Kevin O’Sullivan (1-0), David Foran (0-1), Sean Michael O Conchuir (0-6, 2f), Kieran Hurley (1-4), Niall O’Shea (1-2, 0-1f) Subs: John O’Connor (0-1) for Michael O’Donnell (HT); Patrick Clifford for Laurence Bastible (HT); Lee O’Donoghue for David Foran (HT); Paul O’Donoghue for Kevin O’Sullivan (39); Dara Roche (0-1) for Robert Wharton (52) REFEREE: Niall McKenna (Monaghan)