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2022 EirGrid Munster Under 20 Football Championship Semi-Final – Kerry 1-11 Clare 0-8
Kerry defeated Clare by 1-11 to 0-8 in the EirGrid Munster Under 20 Football Championship Semi-Final on Monday April 18th at Hennessy Memorial Park Miltown Malbay.
Clare push Kerry U20's all the way https://t.co/TGo2xx3tEI
— Irish Examiner Sport (@ExaminerSport) April 18, 2022
Clare push Kerry U20’s all the way
Report by John O’Dowd for the Irish Examiner newspaper
Munster U20 FC: Clare 0-8 Kerry 1-11
A transformed side on the resumption, utilising a more direct style of play in attack, Kerry eventually subdued the challenge of a lively Clare outfit to qualify for the Munster U20 football decider following this provincial semi-final in Miltown Malbay.
Three points down after Banner corner-forward Joe Rafferty fired over the opening point of the second half (0-7 to 0-4), Declan O’Sullivan’s charges finally got their act together as they eradicated a lot of the sloppiness that had pock-marked their performance in the opening 30 minutes.
With Ruairi Murphy thundering into the picture around the middle of the field, and the fast delivery into the inside forward line paying rich dividends in the third quarter, Kerry struck for an unanswered scoring blitzkrieg of 1-6 to put the issue beyond doubt by the 47th minute (1-10 to 0-7).
Kevin Goulding and Cillian Burke were the main protagonists in this spell of Kerry attacking excellence, which certainly wasn’t in keeping with what had been witnessed before, or indeed after, as the game completely petered out in the final quarter.
Two points from Goulding, and another from Dylan Geaney, had the sides level, before the towering Burke, now switched into full-forward and proving a serious handful for Clare full-back Fergal Guinnane, struck for the only goal of the game in the 41st minute, with a right-foot effort from a tight angle.
The Milltown/Castlemaine man was ignited by that green flag, and he quickly added two more points from play, with Goulding, much more effective in this period, notching his third point, to really take the wind from the Clare sails, ensuring a comfortable finale to the contest for the visitors.
In contrast, the first half certainly hadn’t been what the doctor had ordered for the Kerry management and their players. Even though Kerry enjoyed plenty of possession, they were turned over frequently, especially in attack, as their decision-making was, on far too many occasions, not of the highest of standards.
Nerves of an opening championship outing played its part in that, but even though they pushed into a two-point lead (0-4 to 0-2) by the 17th minute after quelling the early fire from the Banner, Thomas O’Donnell and Geaney kicking a couple of nice points from play, they wouldn’t register another score in the final 15 minutes of the half.
In that time, with Fionn Kelliher operating effectively as a sweeper, Brian McNamara hugely impressive at midfield, and the Rouines, Eoin and Brendy, Thomas Meenaghan and Rafferty dangerous in attack, Clare hit four points on the spin to take a two-point advantage with them to the interval (0-6 to 0-4).
In the end, however, Goulding, and especially, Burke, were just too good for the Clare defence, when they got a decent supply of ball into their hands, and while the Banner can take great pride in their overall display, Kerry march on, with plenty of work on their hands, to next week’s Munster final against Cork at Austin Stack Park.
Scorers for Kerry: C Burke (1-2), D Geaney (0-4, 1 free), K Goulding (0-3), D Burns (free), T O’Donnell (0-1 each).
Scorers for Clare: J Rafferty, E Rouine, B Rouine (1 free) (0-2 each), T Meenaghan, S McNamara (0-1 each).
KERRY: D Burns; D O’Callaghan, A Dineen, J Nagle; E O’Connor, A Heinrich, T Cronin; R Murphy, S O’Brien; C Burke, T O’Donnell, E Looney; D Geaney, K Goulding, W Shine.
Subs: K Evans for Shine (40), T Doyle for Looney (46), A Curran for Cronin (51), G Hassett for Goulding (52), C Ryan for O’Brien (56).
CLARE: O O’Loughlin; E Casey, F Guinnane, C McMahon; O Cunningham, F Kelliher, E Walsh; B McNamara, M Garry; E Rouine, B Rouine, S Griffin; S McNamara, T Meenaghan, J Rafferty.
Subs: C Meaney for Rafferty (43), J Moloney for Guinnane (50), C McGroary for Garry (50), C Mahony for Meenaghan (52), G Downes for Griffin (59).
Referee: J Ryan (Cork).
Ticket Information
General Admission – €10
Under 16s Free
Live Streaming
This game will be live streamed via GAA BEO – YouTube Spórt TG4
Team News
Team Announcement: Kerry vs Clare – Munster U20 Football Championship Semi-Final
Full details here: https://t.co/uKmC3IgFZG#WeAreKerry #CiarraíAbú #MunsterU20 pic.twitter.com/v7bGjxcBnN
— Kerry GAA (@Kerry_Official) April 16, 2022
