Sharp-shooting minors capable of beating Kildare to set up shot at treble

ALL-IRELAND MFC SEMI-FINAL

Sunday, August 28 Croke Park 1.30pm (live on TG4) Ref: Martin McNally (Monaghan)

FOLLOWING a victory over Derry in the quarter-finals that drew a lot praise from different quarters, the Kerry Minors are now just 60 minutes away from the county having a chance at winning the Tommy Markham Cup for the third consecutive year.

A goal and 24 points is magnificent shooting in any form of a football match and while concerns remain about the tendency to concede high totals, the Minors appear happy to use attack as their best form of defence in the heat of battle. No side can continue on such a path though and against what is expected to be a physical test against Leinster Champions Kildare, Kerry certainly need to mindful of the need to keep a tight rear-guard.

The Lilywhites are a county that have featured well at underage level in recent years, beaten by the Kingdom in the 2014 Quarter-Final before reaching last year’s semi-final and being undone by Tipperary. Victories over Wicklow and Westmeath got their campaign going before they overcame a fancied Meath side after extra-time in the Leinster semi-finals. They were impressive in seeing off Laois in the decider to retain their provincial title before overcoming a tough encounter with Mayo in the All-Ireland Quarter-finals on the August Bank Holiday Monday.

Matters threatened to boil over on a number of occasions in that encounter but Kildare kept their composure and managed to record an eventual six point win. Ciaran Kelly, Brian McLoughlin and Jimmy Hyland make up a pretty strong full-forward line with Jack Robinson a big threat in the half-forward line. David Marnell and Aaron Masterson give them a strong presence at midfield while John O’Toole and Tony Archibold stand out in defence for the Leinster side.

Kerry have met every challenge decisively so far however with Sean O’Shea really rising to the occasion against Derry as David Clifford and David Shaw with five points each provided great support. Kerry’s defence was an awful lot better in the second-half of that match in only conceding four points but the concession of seven goals in their campaign so far along with a total of 6-83 scored in their five games so far from Kildare mean that Kerry will have to be vigilant in defence against the Lilywhites.

The strength of Kerry’s half-back line has been a good feature of the campaign so far with Michael Potts, Daniel O’Brien and Michael Foley all offering good effort behind a midfield of Mike Breen and Mark Ryan. Dara Moynihan and Bryan Sweeney have been strong in the Kerry forward line as well as physicality appears to be the big challenge ahead for the Minors on Sunday.

Two years ago, Kerry were well able for it from the 2014 Kildare Minors but no two years are the same as we all know so past results against the Lilywhites can’t be taken as a guarantee for success. There has been something majestic about watching the Kerry Minors in full flight so far this and while it is by no means certain that they will go all the way again, you sense that whoever is going to stop them is going to have to put in one hell of an effort to do so.

There might be a certain irony to praise from Joe Brolly considering his remarks about the Kerry production line in the not too distant past but with the generally poor standard of senior football at present it is probably natural that people will rejoice in seeing a side play with such a positive and attack minded attitude.

Stage fright shouldn’t be an issue now for Kerry ahead of the third trip to Croke Park for some of the panel already this year on Sunday. Coming towards the closing stages as the crowd gets bigger for the main event at 3.30pm could be a factor in a tight game but you sense with the plaudits that there has been for the Minors so far, a few more casual observers might want to get in early and see what this latest minor team is like.

As a contest you feel if Kerry are allowed to play the way they want to then they should be expected to come out on top. Kildare shouldn’t be naïve enough to let Kerry dictate the terms and this is where Kerry’s ability to cope with Kildare’s physical strength will be vital. The Lilywhites will feel they are progressing towards a Minor success in much the same way the Kingdom feel they can follow on from the class of 2014 and 2015.

Both defences could have a big say in the outcome if it turns into a shootout. However you have to believe that Kerry should have the ability to set up a meeting with Galway in the final if they find the same spark that they managed in the win against Derry.

VERDICT: Kerry