Munster Minor Football S-Final – Tipperary 2-12 Kerry 3-8

Tipp claw back 11-point deficit to stun Kingdom

Kerry 3-8 Tipperary 2-12

By Jackie Cahill, Thurles for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Thursday, May 19, 2011

TIPPERARY manager David Power received the perfect birthday present at Semple Stadium last night as his side came from 11 points down to defeat Kerry in a sensational Munster minor football semi-final. Liam McGrath, cousin of Tipperary senior hurling star Noel, bagged the winning point in the sixth minute of stoppage time to crown a magnificent Premier County revival. Extra-time loomed as the sides were deadlocked at 2-11 to 3-8 in a see-saw battle before McGrath held his nerve to drill over a superb left-footed winner. Cork referee James Bermingham had signalled for five minutes of extra-time and Kerry looked to have rescued themselves when full-forward Ciaran Keating levelled proceedings in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Keating’s score arrived after Tipp had taken the lead in the 59th minute through full-forward Michael Quinlivan, but there was still one late, decisive twist to come in an extraordinary tale. Bermingham allowed a final attack to develop and McGrath’s late effort, more than 30 seconds over the allotted extra five minutes, sealed Tipp’s passage to a first Munster minor final since 2009.

Tipp’s victory was their first over Kerry in the Munster MFC since 2002 and it was a most unlikely win as the visitors twice led by 11 points in the opening half, and by 10 at half-time, 3-6 to 0-5. But, remarkably, Tipp outscored Kerry 2-7 to 0-2 in the second-half as the visitors failed to register a score after the break until the 57th minute. Tipp, playing with the aid of a second-half breeze, blowing into the town end, were a team transformed after a disastrous first-half showing.

Kerry had three goals registered within 16 minutes to take a firm grip on proceedings. Tipp goalkeeper Gearóid Slattery, who showed up well against Limerick in the quarter-final, endured a nervy evening on this occasion and scored an ‘own goal’ in the seventh minute. Slattery appeared to have Pádraig Boyle’s speculative delivery under his control but the ball spilled from the Cashel custodian’s grasp and into the net. Two minutes later, Kerry corner-forward Jamie Moriarty lobbed Slattery for the Kingdom’s second goal before Ciarán Keating cracked home a well-taken third in the 16th minute. Trailing 0-2 to 3-4 at that stage, Tipp faced what appeared to be an impossible task. Kerry were relatively untroubled until half-time as Tipp struggled into the breeze and few would have predicted what was about to unfold.

But Quinlivan’s goal seven minutes after half-time revived the home challenge and sub Colman Kennedy ensured parity, 2-10 to 3-7, with a stunning second goal for Tipperary in the 58th minute. Tipperary will meet Cork in the provincial final on July 3, in what will be the first Munster minor football decider between the two counties since 1995.

Scorers for Tipperary: C Kennedy 1-1 (0-1f), M Quinlivan 1-1, I Fahey 0-4 (2f, 1 45), L McGrath 0-2, S O’Brien, G Henry, TJ Ryan & P Quirke 0-1 each.

Scorers for Kerry: C Keating 1-2, J Moriarty 1-1, P Boyle 1-0, K McCarthy 0-2, J O’Donoghue 0-2f, S McCarthy 0-1.

TIPPERARY: G Slattery; N O’Sullivan, C O’Sullivan, S Kennedy; A McGuire, D Fitzell, B Maher; S O’Brien, D Butler; I Fahey, G Henry, D Lonergan; L McGrath, M Quinlivan, TJ Ryan.

Subs: P Quirke for Butler (17), C Kennedy for Lonergan (ht), C O’Riordan for McGuire (ht), J Lonergan for Henry (59).

KERRY: S Murphy; P Ó’Sé, T Morley, C Fitzgerald; M O’Connor, R Murphy, K Murphy; G O’Leary, S Keane; I McCarthy, P Boyle, J O’Donoghue; J Moriarty, C Keating, K McCarthy.

Subs: N Sheehy for O’Donoghue (30+1), S McCarthy for I McCarthy (40).

Referee: J Bermingham (Cork)

Match Preview

By Alan Conway from the Sportsnews Ireland web site

Tipperary will clash will Kerry at Semple Stadium this Wednesday night in the Munster Minor Football Championship Semi-Final(Kick off 7.00pm) with a place in the final against Cork or Clare awaiting the winners. Kerry who last won the Munster Minor title in 2009 come into this game in much the better from. Led by captain Gary O’Leary Kerry who last year defeated Tipperary and Limerick before losing the final to Cork have had another fine campaign. They opened their season with a convincing defeat of Waterford by 4-16 to 0-06 in Tralee. That day Kerry displayed a potent mixture of high intensity football and fierce defending. One of the players who stood out that day was Thomas Hickey who scored 1-5 that day with four of his points coming from frees. Another player who had a huge game that day and who will be vital if Kerry are to defeat Tipp was Padraig Boyle. Boyle scored two goals against Waterford and will be looking to increase that number against Tipp. Along with Boyle and Hickey Jeff O’Donoghue will once again have to produce a high class effort if the Kingdom are to win.

The challenge that Tipperary face is a huge one. But one that they will take on. Tipp began their season with a narrow and hard fought win against Limerick by a score line of 1-13 to -0-09. That performance was a marked improvement on last season when they were beaten by Kerry in the first round of the competition. Tipp did recover from that defeat against Kerry and a victory over Clare set up a huge semi-final with Cork where they were defeated 2-12 to 2-09. Their record in winning Munster Minor Championship is not impressive having landed their last title in 1995. But with players like Liam McGrath, Phillip Quirke and Dean Lonergan they will have every chance of beating Kerry however each player will have to be right on top of their game if they are to prevail. Their last meeting in the Championship went the way of Kerry who narrowly shaded the game 1-12 to 2-07. The game in Semple Stadium promises to be another cracker with Kerry getting the vote to book a place in the final.

Team News

The Tipperary minor football team to play Kerry in the Munster championship semi-final at Semple Stadium on Wednesday evening is –

1. Gearoid Slattery (Cashel King Cormacs)

2. Niall O’Sullivan (Moycarkey/Borris)

3. Conor O’Sullivan (Galtee Rovers)

4. Seamus Kennedy (Clonmel Commercials)

5. Adrian McGuire (Kilsheelan/Kilcash)

6. Dylan Fitzell (Cashel King Cormacs)

7. Bill Maher (Kilsheelan/Kilcash)

8. Steven O’Brien (Ballina)

9. Darragh Butler (Loughmore/Castleiney)

10. Ian Fahey (Clonmel Commercials)

11. Greg Henry (Killenaule)

12. Dean Lonergan (Cahir)

13. Liam McGrath (Loughmore/ Castleiney) Captain

14. Michael Quinlivan (Clonmel Commercials)

15. TJ Ryan (Rockwell Rovers)

KERRY MINOR TEAM V TIPPERARY ANNOUNCED

The Kerry Minor football team to play Tipperary in The Munster GAA Semi Final on Wednesday next the 18th May in Thurles is as follows:

1. Shane Murphy (Kilcummin) 2. Padráig Ó Sé (An Ghaeltacht) 3. Tadhg Morley (Templenoe) 4. Cillian Fitzgerald (Dr. Crokes)

5. Michael O’Connor (Derrynane) 6. Ronan Murphy (Beaufort) 7. Kieran Murphy (Kilcummin)

8. Gary O’Leary (Captain) Kilcummin 9. Shaun Keane (Legion)

10. Ian McCarthy (Na Gaeil) 11. Padraig Boyle (Ballyduff) 12. Jeff O’Donoghue (Glenflesk)

13. Jamie Moriarty (John Mitchel’s) 14. Ciarán Keating (Skellig Rangers) 15. Kevin McCarthy (Kilcummin)

Subs: Gavin Curran (Dingle) James Devane (Kilcummin) Sean McCarthy (Currow) Diarmuid Behan (Ballydonoghue) Tom Kavanagh (Lios Póil) Niall Sheehy (John Mitchels) Pa Wrenn (Milltown/Castlemaine) Damien O’Leary (Kilcummin) & Gary O’Sullivan (Listry)

Selectors: Pat O’Driscoll (Ardfert ) – Manager Mike Moynihan (Na Gaeil) Padraig Corcoran (Dingle) Willie Maher (Kilcummin) John Shanahan (Valentia)

For the Record

MUNSTER GAA FOOTBALL MINOR CHAMPIONSHIP 2011

First Round

Wednesday April 13^th

@ Kilmallock                                     Tipperary 1-13 Limerick 0-9

@ Austin Stack Park Tralee           Kerry 4-16 Waterford 0-6

@ Pairc Uí Rinn                               Cork 2-10 Clare 0-11

Semi-Final Play-off 1

Saturday April 16^th

@ Fraher Field Dungarvan                        Clare 4-14 Waterford 1-9

Semi-Final Play-off 2

Saturday April 23rd

@ Gaelic Grounds Limerick           Clare 1-10 Limerick 0-10

Semi-Finals

Wednesday May 18^th

@ Semple Stadium Thurles           Kerry v Tipperary 7:00pm

@ Cusack Park Ennis                    Cork v Clare 7:00pm

EXTRA TIME IN ALL GAMES UP TO THE FINAL

Final

Sunday July 3^rd

2011 Munster Minor Football Championship Matches played to date

Tipperary 1-13 Limerick 0-9 – April 13^th @ Kilmallock (Munster First Round)

Tipperary: G Slattery; O O’Flynn, C O’Sullivan, P McGuire; B Maher, F Ryan, C O’Riordan; S O’Brien, D Butler; J Martin, P Quirke, I Foley; L McGrath, M Quinlivan, TJ Ryan.
Subs: D Lonergan for Martin (30); C Kennedy for Quirke (50); G Henry for Fahey (55); L Vance for O’Brien (59); E Fitzgerald for TJ Ryan (63)

Limerick: D Condron; S Barrett, K O’Donoghue, B McCarthy; E O’Donnell, S O’Connor, K Brosnan; D Tracey, T Griffin; J Quaid, D O’Dea, F O’Riordan; D Neville, K Larkin, D Frewen.
Subs: W Shanahan for Larkin (35); D Lillis for Quaid (43); K Meade for Barrett (48); L Hanly for Neville (52); N Mann for O’Dea (57)

Referee: Sean Jay (Kerry)

Cork 2-10 Clare 0-11 – April 13^th @ Pairc Uí Rinn (Munster First Round)

Cork: J McDonnell; J Davis, C Dorman, K Hayes-Curtin; K Crowley, K Fulignati, K O’Hanlon; S Kiely, M Sugrue; B O’Driscoll, A Cadogan, D Harrington; D McEoin, S O’Mahony, C O’Sullivan.
Subs: D Murphy for O’Hanlon (half-time), S Ryan for Fulignati (42), J Corkery for Harrington (55), K McIntyre for Cadogan (57).

Clare: D Sexton; C Gavin, C O’Brien, O Vaughan; J Colleran, S Lineen, D Bolton; A O’Neill, D McDonagh; E Cleary, C Cleary, A Murrihy; M O’Leary, N Hickey, J Malone.
Subs: W Flynn for Malone (38), J Rouine for Bolton (42), C Devitt for O’Leary (52), J Sweeney for O’Brien (56), J Scanlon for Murrihy (58).

Referee: Richard Moloney (Limerick)

Kerry 4-16 Waterford 0-6 – April 13^th @ Austin Stack Park Tralee (Munster First Round)

Kerry – S Murphy, P O’Se, T Morley, C Fitzgerald, M O’Connor, R Murphy, K Murphy, G O’Leary, S Keane, T Hickey, P Boyle, J O’Donoghue, D O’Brien, C Keating, J Moriarty
Subs: P Wrenn for K Murphy ( 54), K McCarthy for J Moriarty ( 54), I McCarthy for D O’Brien ( 56)

Waterford – C Mulcahy, P Houlihan, D Power, P Curran, L O’Corrain R O’Ceallaigh, S Hyslop, E O’Toole, D Hallihan, G Nugent, E Power, T Burke, E Kiely, R Donnelly, M Kiely
Subs: M Curry for D Power (41), J Jones for E O’Toole ( 51)

Referee: Keith O’Brien (Tipperary)

Clare 4-14 Waterford 1-9 – April 16^th @ Fraher Field Dungarvan (Munster Semi-Final 1^st Playoff)

Clare – Darren Sexton; Conor Galvin (Captain), James Malone, Oisin Vaughan; Jarlath Colleran, Darragh McDonagh, Stan Lineen; Alan O’Neill, Conor Cleary; Eoin Cleary, Ciaran Devitt, Adrian Murrihy; Martin O’Leary, Niall Hickey William Flynn
Subs: Jack Scanlon for Adrian Murrihy, Conor McNeils for Jarlath Colleran, Luke Brannock for William Flynn, Cathal McConigley for Eoin Cleary, Paudie Nugent for Ollie Vaughan

Waterford – Conor Mulcahy; John Heffernan, Ray O Ceallaigh, PJ Curran; Lorcan O Corrain, David Hallihan, Sean Hyslop; Emmet O’Toole, Gavin Nugent; Michael Curry, Eamonn Power, Tadhg Burke; Michael Kiely, Ryan Donnelly, Eoin Kiely
Subs: Paul Connors for Emmet O’Toole, Dale Sheridan for Eoin Kiely, Jeff Jones for Michael Kiely, Adam O’Donoghue for Ryan Donnelly, Daniel Power for Sean Hyslop

Referee: James Bermingham (Cork)

Clare 1-10 Limerick 0-10 – April 23rd @ Gaelic Grounds Limerick (Munster Semi-Final 2nd Playoff)

Clare: Darren Sexton; Conor Gavin, Jamie Malone, Oisin Vaughan; Stan Lineen, Darragh McDonagh, Craig O’Brien; Alan O’Neill, Conor Cleary; Eoin Cleary, Ciaran Devitt, Adrian Murrihy; Martin O’Leary, Niall Hickey, Daragh Bolton
Subs: William Flynn for Adrian Murrihy (injured), Joey Rouine for Daragh Bolton, Jack Scanlon for William Flynn, James Sweeney for Craig O’Brien

Limerick: David Condron; Kevin Brosnan, Brendan McCarthy, Kevin O’Donoghue; Eoin O’Donnell, Shane O’Connor, Sean Barrett; Dara Tracey, Tommy Griffin; Dean Lillis, Denis O’Dea, Francis O’Riordan; Danny Neville, William Shanahan, Danny Frewen
Subs: Jamie Quaid for Francis O’Riordan (injured), Eoin Roche for William Shanahan, Kieran Larkin for Danny Neville, Kevin Meade for Denis O’Dea

Referee: Jer Lynch (Kerry)

2011 Top Scorers – Munster Minor Football Championship

Niall Hickey (Clare)  2-12 (0-7 frees)
Conor Cleary (Clare) – 1-6
Eoin Cleary (Clare) – 0-8 (0-5 frees)
Thomas Hickey (Kerry) – 1-5 (0-4 frees)
Danny Frewen (Limerick) – 0-8 (0-3 frees)
Martin O’Leary (Clare) – 1-4 (1-0 penalty)
Dan MacEoin (Cork) 1-4 (0-2 frees)
Padraig Boyle (Kerry) –  2-1
Tadhg Burke (Waterford) 0-7 (0-6 frees)
TJ Ryan (Tipperary) – 0-6 (0-3 frees)
Jeff O’Donoghue (Kerry) – 0-5 (0-3 frees)
Michael Quinlivan (Tipperary) – 1-2
Gavin Nugent (Waterford) 0-5
Jamie Moriarty (Kerry) –  1-1
Adrian Murrihy (Clare) – 1-0
Cian O’Sullivan (Cork) 0-3
Stephen O’Mahony (Cork) 1-0
Francis O’Riordan (Limerick) 0-3 (0-2 frees)
Dara Tracey (Limerick) 0-2
Dean Lillis (Limerick) 0-2
Eamonn Power (Waterford) 0-2
Ciaran Keating (Kerry) –  0-2
Philip Quirke (Tipperary) 0-2 (0-1 free)
Dean Lonergan (Tipperary) 0-2
Jamie Quaid (Limerick) – 0-2

Michael O’Connor (Kerry), Shaun Keane (Kerry), Brian O’Driscoll (Cork) (0-1 free), Kevin Crowley (Cork), Killian McIntyre (Cork), Jamie Malone (Clare), William Flynn (Clare), Liam McGrath (Tipperary), Denis O’Dea (Limerick), Jack Scanlon (Clare), Alan O’Neill (Clare), Cathal McConigley (Clare), Dale Sheridan (Waterford), Emmet O’Toole (Waterford), Danny Neville (Limerick) – 0-1 each

Munster Minor Football Championship Roll Of Honour

Kerry (41)

1931, 1932, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009.

Cork (29)

1939, 1952, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2010

Tipperary (5)

1934, 1935, 1955, 1984, 1995

Clare (3)

1929, 1930, 1953

Limerick (1)

1956

Munster Minor Football Cup

The Tadhg Crowley Cup was presented by Munster Council in 1990 to commemorate late Munster Council Treasurer. Tadhg was elected as Munster Council Treasurer in 1968 and served until his death in December 1989. A teacher by profession, he also served as Kerry County Board Secretary from 1955 until 1970. Tadhg was recognized as a specialist in organizing and handling styles and gates at big Munster Championship games.

All Ireland Minor Football Championship

In the Minor Football All Ireland Roll of Honour, Kerry top the charts with 11 titles while Cork are tied for second with Dublin with 10 titles. Clare won the first All-Ireland Minor Football title in 1929 while Tipperary only All-Ireland success at this grade came in 1934. Between them Munster counties have accounted for 23 All-Ireland Minor Football titles, ahead of Leinster and Ulster (20 titles each) and Connacht (17 titles).

The All-Ireland Minor Football title has not been won by a Munster county since Cork’s 2-12 to 0-13 victory over Mayo in the 2000 Final. Since then, Ulster counties have won 7 of the 10 finals played, Connacht 2 titles and Leinster have 1 title.

Kerry were All-Ireland Minor Football Champions in 1931, 1932, 1933, 1946, 1950, 1962, 1963, 1975, 1980, 1988, 1994

Cork were All-Ireland Minor Football Champions in 1961, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1974, 1981, 1991, 1993, 2000

Odds and Ends

Cork are the defending Munster Minor Football Champions following a 1-8 to 1-7 victory over Kerry at Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney. Corner-forward Brian Hurley scored 1-6 for the winners, including a 58^th minute goal to complete a come from behind victory.

The winning Cork team and scorers were as follows – David Hanrahan; Kevin Fulignati , Damian Cahalane, Darren Murphy; Sean Ryan, Tom Clancy, Jamie Wall; Jamie Burns, John O’Rourke; Kevin Hallissey (0-1), Mark Sugrue, Alan Cronin; Kevin Sheehan (0-1 free), Shane Duggan, Brian Hurley (1-6, 0-4 frees)

Subs: Daniel Fitzgerald (Captain) for S Ryan (45), Dan McEoin for M Sugrue, Stephen O’Mahony for S Duggan (50).

Since 1956, Cork and Kerry have won every Munster Minor Football title with the exception of 1984 and 1995 when Tipperary were successful.

Tipperary have played 45 matches in the Munster Minor Football Championship since 2000, more than any other Munster county.

Waterford have won 1 Munster Minor Football Championship match out of 14 played since 2005.

Cork, Kerry and Tipperary have won at least 1 match in the Munster Minor Football Championship every year since 2001.

The Kerry manager Pat O’Driscoll was the manager of The Ardfert Senior Football team that captured All Ireland Club Junior Championship honours in 2006 and won the All-Ireland Club Intermediate Championship in 2007.

Clare Minor Footballers Eoin and Conor Clancy from the Milltown club are twin brothers.