Munster MFC Semi-Final 2nd Playoff – Kerry 3-9 Limerick 0-5

Kerry find second wind

Kerry 3-9 Limerick 0-5

By Kieran McCarthy, Tralee for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Kerry minor football manager Mickey Ned O’Sullivan has warned his young charges — improve, or face getting dumped out of the Munster MFC in the next round. After watching his team struggle for large parts of last night’s provincial semi-final second play-off victory over Limerick at Austin Stack Park, Tralee before being saved by a second-half scoring burst, O’Sullivan insisted that Kerry must improve ahead of next month’s semi-final against Clare. “We won’t beat Clare on that performance tonight. That’s the reality of it. We need to up our game and get serious. There was a lot of showboating by some of the players. We have to get more honest and play simple football. If we do that then we will do well. We are getting there,” O’Sullivan said.

A first-half Gerald O’Sullivan goal helped Kerry lead 1-4 to 0-4 at half-time but the home side lacked any fluency, while Limerick, despite not scoring for 20 minutes, were well within range of causing a major shock. Points from impressive midfielder David Condron, Robbie Burke, Tony McCarthy and Eoin O’Donnell kept Limerick in touch as Kerry missed two goal chances and just never got into their rhythm, with the exception of full-back Gavin Crowley and midfielder Eanna Ó Conchúir.

Mickey Ned O’Sullivan reflected: “I thought that Limerick played well in the first-half but we played poor and our decision making was poor. There was no bottle there. “In the second-half the players took more responsibility, we played better and got more scores. We’re pleased with how we played in the middle of the field and everyone else seemed to up their game, and we finished strongly.”

After Kerry’s Denis Daly and Limerick’s wing-back Paul White swapped points, Kerry took over as Limerick didn’t score again, despite going all-out for a late goal but by then the Kingdom’s thoughts were already on the provincial semi-final against Clare. Eanna Ó Conchúir’s penalty midway through the second-half, after the effective Conor Keane was fouled pushed Kerry 2-5 to 0-5 ahead. Gaining confidence, Kerry points flowed from Kieran Murphy (45), Greg Horan, Cillian Fitzgerald and Jack Savage as the home side took complete control (2-9 to 0-5), helped by their new-found midfield dominance.

After Limerick’s Robbie Burke hit the post and Kerry keeper Gavin Curran made a smart save from close-range, Kerry rounded off proceedings with a late goal through sub Gavin O’Shea, son of former Kerry senior boss Pat O’Shea. But after three games in 11 days — a first round loss to Tipperary was followed by victory over Waterford last week — Kerry need to improve, and fast, if they want to be considered serious contenders for the provincial crown.

Scorers for Kerry: G O’Sullivan, G O’Shea, E Ó Conchúir (1-0 pen) 1-0 each, N Sheehy (1f), J Savage (1f) 0-2 each, C Keane, D Daly, G Horan, C Fitzgerald, K Murphy (45) 0-1 each.

Limerick: T McCarthy, E O’Donnell, R Burke, D Condron, P White 0-1 each.

KERRY: G Curran; C Ó Luing, G Crowley, S O’Connor; B Crowley, R Murphy, G Horan; E Ó Conchúir, K Murphy; G O’Sullivan, J Savage, C Fitzgerald; N Sheehy, D Daly, C Keane.

Subs: G O’Shea for N Sheehy (41); A Barry for C Keane (54); D Collins for C Ó Luing (58); D Foran for D Daly (60); E Doyle for K Murphy (60).

LIMERICK: J O’Meara; D Greaney, M O’Connor, K Meade; P White, S Cahill, S Barrett; D Condron, R Burke; E O’Donnell, D Daly, T McCarthy; D Stapleton, D O’Donovan, J Breen.

Subs: J Frawley for T McCarthy (41); R McKenna for D Daly (44); D Jones for D Greaney (48); C O’Shea for D O’Donovan (50).

Referee: Michael Rock (Clare)

For the Record

MUNSTER GAA FOOTBALL MINOR CHAMPIONSHIP 2012

First Round

Saturday April 14^th

@ Gaelic Grounds Limerick            Cork 3-13 Limerick 0-6
@ Austin Stack Park Tralee            Tipperary 2-9 Kerry 0-8
@ Cusack Park Ennis                      Clare 2-20 Waterford 0-6

Semi-Final Play-off 1

Tuesday April 17^th

@ Fraher Field Dungarvan  Kerry 1-14 Waterford 1-3

Semi-Final Play-off 2

Tuesday April 24^th

@ Austin Stack Park Tralee            Limerick vs. Kerry @ 7:00pm

Semi-Finals

Wednesday May 16^th

@ Cork venue Cork v Tipperary

@ Clare or Limerick venue Clare v v Winners of Semi-Final Play-off 2

(See venue permutations below)

@ Clare venue                                    Kerry v Clare
(met in 2009 Semi-final at Austin Stack Park Tralee)

@ Limerick venue       Limerick v Clare
(last meeting in 2008 First Round at Cusack Park Ennis)

Final

Sunday July 8^th

Useful Information

Kerry’s defeat to Tipperary in the 2012 first round match broke a 12 match unbeaten run at Austin Stack Park Tralee in this competition dating back to 1993. On that occasion, Cork defeated Kerry by 2-7 to 1-9 in the Munster Minor Football Championship Semi-Final on July 9^th 1993.

Prior to 2012, Kerry’s last defeat in a first round Munster Minor Football Championship game was in March 2002 when they lost to Tipperary by 2-11 to 2-9 at Kilmallock. Kerry avenged that defeat with a 3-16 to 2-6 win over Tipperary in the 2002 Munster Final played at Semple Stadium Thurles.

Kerry have never lost 2 Munster Minor Football Championship matches in the one year.

Limerick have lost 6 of their last 7 matches in the Munster Minor Football Championship dating back to 2008. Their only success in that time was a 3-10 to 2-4 victory over Waterford at Kilmallock in the first round in 2010.

Limerick’s last victory away from home in the Munster Minor Football Championship came on April 16^th 2008 when they defeated Clare by 1-9 to 1-5 at Cusack Park Ennis in the first round thanks to a Cormac Joyce-Power goal.

Dating back to 2005, Waterford have won 1 of their last 17 games in the Munster Minor Football Championship.

Clare’s victory against Waterford in the first round ensured a semi-final place in May. Clare have qualified for the Munster Minor Football Semi-Final in just 2 of the previous 6 seasons dating back to 2006, losing the semi-finals of 2009 (to Kerry) and 2011 (to Cork).

Since 1956, Cork and Kerry have won every Munster Minor Football title with the exception of 1984, 1995 and 2011 when Tipperary were successful.

Tipperary have played 48 matches in the Munster Minor Football Championship since 2000, more than any other Munster county.

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

2012 Munster Minor Football Championship Matches played to date

Tipperary 2-9 Kerry 0-8 – April 14^th @ Austin Stack Park Tralee (Munster First Round)

Kerry: S Cahillane; C Ó Lúing, G Crowley, S O’Connor; B Crowley, R Murphy, G Horan; E Doyle, G O’Sullivan; S Moloney, D Ó Sé, E Ó Conchúir; N Sheehy, D Daly, C Keane.
Subs: K Murphy for G O’Sullivan (18); C Fitzgerald for D Daly (30); A Spillane for E Doyle (41); A Barry for N Sheehy (46); J Savage for D Ó Sé (58).

Tipperary: E Comerford; T O’Donoghue, J Feehan, L Egan; K Fahey, D Fitzelle, B Maher; S O’Brien, P Quirke; J Lonergan, J McGrath, G Henry; J Shelly, I Fahey, C Kennedy.
Subs: D Cass for T O’Donoghue (36); J Maher for G Henry (52); T Kirwan for J McGrath (56); TJ Ryan for J Shelly (58).

Referee: James Bermingham (Cork)

Clare 2-20 Waterford 0-6 – April 14^th @ Cusack Park Ennis (Munster First Round)

Clare: L Corbett, F Pyne, S Garry, J Brown, C McNeilis, C Murray, M Bohannon, J Malone (Capt.), E Hanrahan, S Corry, N Deasy, T Lynch, B Lynch, E Cleary, C Cleary
Subs: S McGuire for Corry (38), C Deasy for T Lynch (38), N Pender for C Cleary (46), E Clancy for Bohannon (48), C Burke for E Cleary (52).

Waterford: A Kirwan, D Fitzgerald, B Looby, S Halley, T Devine, T Burke, J Barron (Capt.), M Houlihan, M Casey, M Curry, M Kiely, S O’Donovan, A O’Donoghue, P O’Connor, R Donnelly.
Subs: C Gleeson for Casey (half-time), D Scanlon for Houlihan (39), C Burke for Fitzgerald (41), L Houlihan for Curry (43).

Referee: David Grogan (Tipperary)

Cork 3-13 Limerick 0-6 – April 14^th @ Gaelic Grounds Limerick (Munster First Round)

Cork:  M Martin; S O’Leary, T O’Rourke, S Cronin; K Crowley, C Hyde, J Davis; P Fitzgerald, A O’Donovan; S T O’Sullivan, C Vaughan, B O’Driscoll; K McIntyre, K O’Connor, C Horgan.
Subs: I Maguire for McIntyre (half-time), A Moynihan for O’Connor (half-time), E Dennehy for Crowley (36), A Murphy for O’Leary (53), P Kelleher for Fitzgerald (58).

Limerick: J O’Meara; D Greaney, M O’Connor, K Meade; P White, S Cahill, S Barrett; D Condron, R Burke; S O’Dea, D Daly, R McKenna; J Frawley, D O’Donovan, E O’Donnell.
Subs: T McCarthy for McKenna (28), C O’Shea for O’Dea (28), J Breen for Frawley (35), G Bateman for O’Donnell (50), C Sheehan for O’Donovan (53).

Referee: Edmund Walsh (Kerry)

Kerry 1-14 Waterford 1-3 – April 17^th @ Fraher Field Dungarvan (Munster Semi-Final 1^st Playoff)

Kerry — G Curran; C U Luing, G Crowley, S O’Connor; B Crowley, R Murphy, J Barry; E O Conchuir, K Murphy; N Sheehy, J Savage, C Fitzgerald; K McCarthy, D Daly, C Keane.
Subs: A Spillane for Fitzgerald (27), S Moloney for Barry (h-t), G O’Shea for McCarthy (h-t), G Horan for O Luing (34), A Barry for Sheehy (54).

Waterford — A Kirwan; C Burke, J O’Donnell, B Looby; S O’Donovan, T Burke, J Barron; T Devine, M Kiely; A O’Donoghue, M Curry, P O’Connor; C Gleeson, L Houlihan, R Donnelly.
Subs: S Halley for C Burke (42), M Casey for O’Donoghue (49), M Troy for Houlihan (54), D Scanlon for Kiely (59).

Referee — Kevin Murphy (Cork)

2012 Top Scorers – Munster Minor Football Championship

Conor Horgan (Cork) – 3-0 (1-0 penalty)
Eoin Cleary (Clare) – 1-6
Ryan Donnelly (Waterford) – 1-6 (1-0 penalty, 0-1 free)
Colman Kennedy (Tipperary) – 2-2 (0-2 frees)
Jack Savage (Kerry) – 0-6 (0-3 frees)
Conor Cleary (Clare) – 0-6
Niall Sheehy (Kerry) – 0-4 (0-3 frees)
Conor Keane (Kerry) – 1-1
Kieran Murphy (Kerry) – 0-4 (0-1 45)
Brian O’Driscoll (Cork) – 0-4 (0-2 frees)
Sean T O’Sullivan (Cork) – 0-3
C Deasy (Clare) – 1-0
B Lynch (Clare) – 0-3
J Malone (Clare) – 0-3
Sean Moloney (Kerry) – 0-2
Dara O’Se (Kerry) – 0-2 (0-1 free)
Robbie Burke (Limerick) – 0-2 (0-1 free)
Alan O’Donovan (Cork) – 0-2
Cathal Vaughan (Cork) – 0-2
TJ Ryan (Tipperary) – 0-2 (0-1 free)
Bill Maher (Tipperary) – 0-2
N Deasy (Clare) – 0-2

D Scanlon (Waterford), L Houlihan (Waterford), M Curry (Waterford), Jason Lonergan (Tipperary), Ian Fahey (Tipperary), Philip Quirke (Tipperary), Adam Barry (Kerry), Eanna O’Conchuir (Kerry), Denis Daly (Kerry), Sean Barrett (Limerick), J Breen (Limerick), G Bateman (Limerick), C Sheehan (Limerick), Ian Maguire (Cork), Paul Fitzgerald (Cork) 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 (6)

1934, 1935, 1955, 1984, 1995, 2011

Clare (3)

1929, 1930, 1953

Limerick (1)

1956

Munster Minor Football Championship – List of Winning Teams

Visit the Munster GAA web site History section to view the complete list of each winning team since the competition began in1929 – https://munster.gaa.ie/history/mf_teams/

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’s two All-Ireland successes at this grade came in 1934 and 2011. Between them Munster counties have accounted for 24 All-Ireland Minor Football titles, ahead of Leinster and Ulster (20 titles each) and Connacht (17 titles).

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