Minors march on

THE Kerry minor footballers’ progress towards a fourth successive All Ireland minor football final continued serenely this month.

At the outset they saw off a gallant Louth side in the All Ireland quarter-final 1-22 to 2-9 in O’Moore Park, Portlaoise. Donnchadh O’Sullivan bagged the Kingdom’s goal, but despite the ten point margin at the end there were certain vulnerabilities exposed in the Kerry defensive net.

That was somewhat of a surprise given how effectively the Kingdom had closed down Clare in the Munster final. Still though it was probably no bad thing that Louth exposed certain weaknesses and bagged two goals of their own. A timely reminder for the championship favourites that nothing can be taken for granted.

The win over Louth set the Kingdom up for an All Ireland semi-final date with Cavan later in the month. The Ulster men came with a decent reputation having seen off a hotly fancied Galway side in the quarter-finals, but when push came to shove the Breffni men were no match for Peter Keane’s side, who ran out twelve point victors – 2-22 to 2-10.

“We’re happy that we achieved what we wanted to in reaching an All Ireland, but there is still work to be done in terms of performance,” Peter Keane said. “I’m not too worried about the winning margin, whether it’s a point or fourteen points.”

The Kerry Under 17s, meanwhile, lost out to Roscommon in the semi-final of the All Ireland championship on a scoreline of 2-15 to 1-13.