Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All Ireland Minor B Championship Semi-Final – Kerry 1-16 Westmeath 0-13

Kerry defeated Westmeath by 1-16 to 0-13 in the Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All Ireland Minor B Championship Semi-Final on Saturday August 17th at Moneygall.

Electric Ireland All Ireland Minor B Championship Semi Final

Kerry 1-16 Westmeath 0-13

A storming second half during which they outscored their opponents by 11 points to 6 earned Kerry an Electric Ireland All Ireland Minor B Championship Final spot at Moneygall Co Tipperary on Saturday evening. They now meet Meath, conquerors of Donegal in the other semi final, on Saturday September 7th.

Kerry, with the aid of the strong wind, got off to a fine start with points from Jason Wallace and Philip Lucid and had doubled this tally by the 15th minute with points from Daniel O’Carroll and Lucid again. Westmeath kept the scoreboard ticking over at the other end before Michael O’Leary struck for a point followed by a goal straight from the puck out in the 25th minute to leave Kerry leading by just a single point at the break 1-5 to 0-7.

The Kerry Management team of Pat Ryan, Ian Brick and Kieran Houlihan made some shrewd half time switches that saw Michael O’Leary go back to bolster the defence against the wind, while Keith Carmody and Mike Lynch revelled in their roving attacking roles. Indeed the defence as a unit were outstanding in that second period while up front the likes of Jordan Brick, Aaron Murphy and Jason Wallace excelled in the open space and between them they accounted for the bulk of the second half scores. Kevin Bowler, just introduced for the exhausted Jordan Brick, added on the insurance score as the game ticked into added time.

Overall a very satisfying win especially when you consider that 10 of the side were on last year’s Under 16 side heavily defeated by the same opposition.

Kerry now have three weeks to prepare for the final against Meath who had a big 4-18 to 2-8 victory over Donegal in the other semi final to add to their 4-16 to 1-15 victory over Kildare in the opening round.