2021 / 2022 AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Junior Club Championship Semi-Final – Gneeveguilla (Kerry) 5-8 Denn (Cavan) 1-12

Gneeveguilla (Kerry) defeated Denn (Cavan) by 5-8 to 1-12 in the AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Junior Club Championship Semi-Final on Saturday January 29th at Bord Na Mona O Connor Park, Tullamore.

Five-star Gneeveguilla become the latest Kerry side into All-Ireland junior final https://t.co/oTDlxaFtSG

— Irish Examiner Sport (@ExaminerSport) January 29, 2022

Five-star Gneeveguilla become the latest Kerry side into All-Ireland junior final

Report by Jordan Murphy for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Gneeveguilla (Kerry) 5-8 Denn (Cavan) 1-12

A truly powerful display with the aid of the breeze in the first period sent Gneeveguilla into next Sunday’s All-Ireland Junior Club Football Championship final with Kilmeena of Mayo as they punished Denn with four well-worked goals in the first period.

The Cavan side did offer some better resistance in the second period but the goals won it for Gneeveguilla overall.

The East Kerry side’s dominance began in the fourth minute when Padraig Doyle and Mike ‘Stones’ Murphy combined for Shane O’Sullivan to score the first of two first half goals for himself. There was a hint of square ball about John O’Leary’s goal in the 10th minute but it was allowed to stand as their advantage over Denn was 2-2 to 0-0 after 11 minutes.

Ben Conaty got the Cavan side’s first point in the 13th minute but they lacked the composure necessary to get past their well organised opponents in defence. Goalkeeper Mark Fegan put over a free for Denn in the 20th minute to make it 2-3 to 0-3 but Gneeveguilla would have two further goals in the first period. O’Leary passed to Shane O’Sullivan for his second before Sean O’Keeffe found Kerry senior panelist Pa Warren for their fourth goal in the 29th minute.

The half-time score stood at 4-4 to 0-4 as even though Denn would have the aid of the breeze in the second half it was hard to see how they could make amends from there. In fairness to the Cavan side they tried in the second period.

Cavell Keogan scored a goal from the throw-in to give them some home as Conaty pointed to bring the gap down to eight. Matters got a lot more physical between the sides in the second half but the Kerry side managed to keep their nerve and composure when it mattered.

Seven points was the closest Denn got on the scoreboard at 4-7 to 1-9 as a goal for Gneeveguilla substitute Jack Cremin in the 57th minute pretty much killed the game off as a contest. Thomas Edward Donohoe scored only four frees for Denn on the day as Conor Herlihy and John O’Leary were immense for Gneeveguilla in their comfortable win.

They bid to become the 11th Kerry side to win this competition next week as although the final scoreline suggests a big win, both sides still got scored 13 times each in what was a game where conviction mattered.

Scorers for Gneeveguilla: S O’Sullivan (2-1), C Buckley (0-4, 1f), J O’Leary, P Warren and S O’Keeffe (1-0 each), P Doyle, S O’Keeffe and P O’Leary (f) (0-1 each).

Scorers for Denn: TE Donohoe (0-4, 4f), C Keogan (1-0), B Conaty and M Fegan (3f) (0-3 each), O Kiernan (0-2).

GNEEVEGUILLA: P O’Riordan; E Fitzgerald, P O’Leary, P Brosnan; P O’Connor, D Brosnan, C Herlihy; P Warren, R Collins; M Murphy, C Buckley, J O’Leary; S O’Keeffe, S O’Sullivan, P Doyle.
Subs: C O’Connor for M Murphy (39), M Murphy for J O’Leary (44), J Cremin for P Doyle (47), D Cronin for M Murphy (52) and S Crowley for S O’Keeffe (55).

DENN: M Fegan; L Cobey, T Corr, M Gaffney; M McSherry, O Kiernan, J Brady; C O’Reilly, B Gaffney; C McCabe, C Keogan, S Donohoe; TE Donohoe, B Conaty, B Keogan.
Subs: A Cusack Smith for T Corr (Blood, 35-38), E Reilly for C Keogan and J Reilly for B Conaty (both 43), A Cusack Smith for B Keogan (54).

Referee: J Hickey (Carlow).