Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship Semi-Final – Tipperary 0-11 Kildare 0-9

Tipperary defeated play Kildare by 0-11 to 0-9 in the Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship Semi-Final on Sunday August 30th at Croke Park.

Tipperary beat Kildare to seal minor final spot

ELECTRIC IRELAND ALL-IRELAND MFC SEMI-FINAL: TIPPERARY 0-11 KILDARE 0-9

By Arthur Sullivan for GAA.ie

Tipperary will face Kerry in the All-Ireland minor football championship final after battling to victory over a below-par Kildare at Croke Park on Sunday.

Tipperary were beaten by the Kingdom in the Munster final, but will get a chance for revenge on September 20 after seeing off Kildare despite having wing-back Emmett Moloney sent off with more than 15 minutes to go. Despite their numerical advantage, Kildare weren’t able to punish Tipperary sufficiently and after the Lilywhites spurned a glorious goal chance on 51 minutes through Shea Ryan, Tipperary pressed on with confidence.

Aidan Buckley and Michael Connors hit late points for them, and despite some Kildare probing, Tipperary held on quite comfortably to progress. The sides were level at the break on six apiece, Tipperary having been the better side in the first 15 minutes before Kildare finished the half the stronger.

Tipperary led 0-3 to 0-1 after 10 minutes, Alan Tynan (free), Jack Kennedy and Brendan Martin pointing, with Conor Hartley hitting the Kildare score. The sides traded frees until the 18th minute, when Tipperary centre-half-back Brian McGrath steamed upfield and landed a fine point. Tipperary should have gone five ahead on 21 minutes. Some magic from Brendan Martin created a glorious goal chance for Aidan Buckley, but his finish was very poor, firing to the left with only Declan Campbell to beat.

Kildare improved steadily after that and frees from Ciarán Kelly (2) and Jimmy Hyland left them one ahead before Tynan ended the first half scoring with an excellent score off his left. Tipperary registered the first two points of the second half, Jack Kennedy with both to leave them 0-8 to 0-6 ahead after 40 minutes.

After Tipperary then went close with another goal chance – Michael Connors’ flicked effort hitting the bar – Kennedy slotted his third of the half to push Tipp three ahead as the game ticked towards the final quarter. A Jimmy Hyland free and arguably the score of the game from Matthew Kelly left Kildare just one behind at 0-9 to 0-8 but a fine score from Aidan Buckley restored the Tipperary two-point lead with 10 minutes to go.

Kildare had a glorious chance to go in front on 51 minutes, but in a carbon copy of Buckley’s first half miss for Tipperary, Shea Ryan pulled his shot to the left and wide. Conor Hartley’s point for Kildare moments later cut the gap to one, but Michael Connors kept Tipperary two ahead with a fine score on 56 minutes.

That’s the way it stayed until the end, and Tipperary will now be looking to repeat their 2011 achievement of winning the title.
***
Scorers for Kildare: C Kelly 0-4 (4f), C Hartley 0-2, J Hyland 0-2 (2f), M Kelly 0-1

Scorers for Tipperary: J Kennedy 0-4 (1f, 1 ’45’), A Tynan 0-3 (2f), B McGrath 0-1, B Martin 0-1, A Buckley 0-1, M Connors 0-1

KILDARE: Declan Campbell; Ronan Slattery, Mike Joyce, Darren Lawlor; Seán Healy, Shea Ryan, Gavin Burke; Daniel Courtney, Rory Feely; Conor Hartley, Ethan O’Donoghue, Brian McLoughlin; Ciarán Kelly, Matthew Kelly, Jimmy Hyland. Subs: Stefan Lawler for S Healy (42), Eoin O’Neill for B McLoughlin (49). Kevin O’Callaghan for E O’Donoghue (57), Ryan Bannon for R Slattery (57), Aaron Murphy for C Kelly (60).

TIPPERARY: Charlie Manton; Tadhg Fitzgerald, Jack Skehan, Tommy Lowry; Danny Owens, Liam Fahy, Emmett Moloney; Jack Kennedy, Tommy Nolan; Aidan Buckley, Alan Tynan, Colin English; Ross Peters, Brian McGrath, Brendan Martin
Subs: Stephen Quirke for R Peters (28), Jamie Bergin for C English (45), Morgan Irwin for B Martin (52), Mark Kehoe for A Buckley (55).

Who'll reach the @ElectricIreland All-Ireland Final? We preview @KildareGAA vs @TipperaryGAA » http://t.co/82kmlExL2j pic.twitter.com/TfB881k7N9

— The GAA (@officialgaa) August 28, 2015

Fixture Details

30.08.2015 (Sun)
Electric Ireland GAA Football All-Ireland Minor Championship Semi Final
Páirc an Chrócaigh 13:30
Cill Dara v Tiobraid Árann
Referee: Noel Mooney (An Cabhán)
(E.T. if Necessary)

Team News

The Tipperary Minor Football team to play Kildare in the Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Semi-Final on Sunday next, August 30th at 1.30pm in Croke Park has been announced. It’s as you were for Charlie McGeever’s side who were most impressive in the win over Connacht champions Galway in the quarter-final.

The team lines out as follows – Charlie Manton (Fethard), Tadhg Fitzgerald (Moyle Rovers), Jack Skehan (Holycross Ballycahill), Tommy Lowry (Arravale Rovers), Danny Owens Capt. (Moyle Rovers), Liam Fahy (Rockwell Rovers), Emmett Moloney (Drom & Inch), Jack Kennedy (Clonmel Commercials), Tommy Nolan (Drom & Inch), Aidan Buckley (St. Patricks), Alan Tynan (Inane Rovers), Colin English (Fr. Sheehys), Ross Peters (Clonmel Commercials), Brian McGrath (Loughmore Castleiney), Brendan Martin (Kilsheelan Kilcash)