Munster Senior Football Semi Final – Kerry 4-21 Waterford 1-4

Kerry 4-21 Waterford 1-04

Report from the RTE.ie web site

Kerry cruised into the Munster SFC final on 7 July with minimum of fuss after a 4-21 to 1-04 win over a very limited Waterford side before 4,719 supporters in Killarney. Following a frustrating first half, Kerry raced clear in the second with goals from Kieran Donaghy, Declan O’Sullivan, Anthony Maher and a Bryan Sheehan penalty. Kerry had established a 0-6 to 0-1 lead by the 16th minute but points from Paul Whyte, Shane Aherne and Tony Grey brought the Deise right back into the contest at 0-6 to 0-4. Kerry then struggled during the latter stages of the half due to Waterford’s defensive resistance, but two late Johnny Buckley frees steadied the Kingdom somewhat as they led 0-8 to 0-4 at the interval.

Click to view photos from this game on Munster GAA Facebook

But for some poor handling, Kieran Donaghy might have done better with two goal chances for Kerry in the first half, while at the other end Whyte and John Hurney bore down on the Kerry goal and had to be dispossessed by some fine defending. It was a different Kerry that emerged in the second half, and Donaghy’s goal four minutes into the second half opened the floodgates. Declan O’Sullivan added a second four minutes later as the Waterford challenge completely evaporated. Anthony Maher stole in for a third goal in the 48th minute as Kerry turned the match into target practice, and by the time Bryan Sheehan rolled an injury-time penalty past Stephen Enright Kerry were already 3-21 to 1-4 ahead.

Tony Grey did creep through the Kerry defence to score a consolation goal past Brendan Kealy but Kerry’s minds were already on a Munster final meeting with Cork or Clare in five weeks. In the end up the scoreboard did not reflect the Waterford challenge in the first 35 minutes, but the savage gap in standard overall was evident by the huge 26-point margin of victory.

Kerry: B Kealy, M O Se (0-01), A O’Mahony, F Fitzgerald (0-01), T O Se (0-02), K Young, P Crowley (0-01), A Maher (1-00), J Buckley (0-04, 0-02f), P Galvin (0-02), C Cooper (0-04, 0-02f), D Walsh (0-01), Declan O’Sullivan (1-00), K Donaghy (1-00), J O’Donoghue (0-02).

Subs: Darran O’Sullivan (0-01) for D Walsh (44mins), E Brosnan for T O Se (50 mins), B Sheehan (1-01, 1-00pen, 0-01f) for Maher (51 mins), S Enright for M O Se (56 mins), K O’Leary (0-01) for Donaghy (60 mins).

Waterford: S Enright, T O hUallachain, N Walsh, T O’Gorman, C Phelan, S Briggs, J Hurney, M O’Gorman, T Prendergast, T Grey (1-01), S Aherne (0-01), A Doyle, P Whyte (0-02, 0-01f), G Hurney, R Aherne.

Subs: C O’Keeffe for C Phelan (47 mins), L O Lonain for A Doyle (47 mins), P Hurney for R Aherne (53 mins), S O’Hare for Prendergast (66 mins).

Referee: Martin Higgins (Fermanagh)

‘Far harder days ahead’ for Kerry as Deise blitzed

Report from the Irish Independent newspaper

Kerry 4-21, Waterford 1-4

Accumulating 43 points more than their two opponents to date isn’t the best preparation for a Munster final, but Kerry boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice was happy to see his side raise their game in the face of Waterford’s plucky display in Killarney. Niall Carew’s side had the locals twitching nervously at half-time on Saturday evening, but they were unable to live with Kerry’s slick play once the hosts found their groove. “I thought we were fairly well tested in the first half,” Fitzmaurice said. “If we continued to play the way we did in the first half we wouldn’t have won by 26 points. It would have been a tighter game, more physical. “In the second half we upped the tempo and, to be fair to Waterford, they’ve been playing in Division 4 all year and it’s just a different standard. “We know there are far harder days ahead but it’s just a matter of doing your job as best you can, and we’ve done our job and we are happy at that.”

Kerry held Waterford to one Tony Grey goal in the second period. The result was put beyond doubt nine minutes after the break when the Tomas O Se-inspired Kingdom hit 2-3 in a scoring blitz. Goals from Kieran Donaghy and a sublime Declan O’Sullivan effort were sandwiched by three points from the top drawer by O Se, Peter Crowley and Colm Cooper. Waterford never recovered, as Carew conceded. “You will get away with it for 35 or 40 minutes but after that you struggle,” Carew said. “The energy levels drop, and when Kerry got the goal it gave them a lift and it has the opposite effect on us. Once the first goal went in then the floodgates opened. We were happy enough at half-time. We needed everything to go right for us to have any realistic chance. Scores give you that energy to keep going. “I think we are 35 minutes, a full half, off Kerry at the moment. Getting up two divisions would be realistic for Waterford. I think had we played any Division 3 team, or a bottom of Division 2 team, we would compete very well with them.”

Kerry have already secured at least a place in the final round of qualifiers, where they will surely come up against more experienced exponents of defensive tactics. With that in mind, the management will have been happy with the patience their side displayed in the first half – if not the returns garnered – when picking their way through Waterford’s blanket cover. “We didn’t cope that well with it in the first half. We found it hard to get space up there, but patience is very important when you’re coming up against that blanket defence,” said Fitzmaurice. “We could have had a couple of goals in the first half but we just weren’t that clinical in front of goal. At the same time, overall, we’d have to be happy. “One of the words we were preaching this week was ‘patience’. “We felt we had to be patient because we knew they were going to get bodies behind the ball, we knew that it might take into the second half before we got a bit of a lead and a bit of momentum going. “It was good to score a few goals but there will definitely be far tougher tests ahead.”

Yet another Munster championship stroll in the park has been ticked off by Kerry. If Cork beat Clare in the manner expected in their semi-final, both teams will go into the provincial decider without a significant test. The Munster championship needs a strong finale.

Scorers – Kerry: C Cooper (3fs), J Buckley (2fs) 0-4 each, B Sheehan 1-1 (1-0 pen, 1f), A Maher, K Donaghy, Declan O’Sullivan 1-0 each, J O’Donoghue, P Galvin, T O Se 0-2 each, M O Se, F Fitzgerald, P Crowley, D Walsh, Darran O’Sullivan, K O’Leary 0-1 each. Waterford: T Grey 1-1, P Whyte 0-2 (1f), S Aherne 0-1.

Kerry – B Kealy 7; M O Se 7, A O’Mahony 6, F Fitzgerald 7; T O Se 9, K Young 7, P Crowley 7; A Maher 7, J Buckley 8; D Walsh 8, C Cooper 8, P Galvin 8; Declan O’Sullivan 7, K Donaghy 8, J O’Donoghue 7. Subs: Darran O’Sullivan 7 for Walsh (45), E Brosnan 7 for T O Se (50), B Sheehan 7 for Maher (53), S Enright 7 for M O Se (57), J O’Leary 6 for Donaghy (60),

Waterford – S Enright 7; T O hUallachain 7, N Walsh 6, T O’Gorman 7; J Hurney 6, S Briggs 6, C Phelan 6; M O’Gorman 7, T Prendergas 6; S Aherne 7, T Grey 8, A Doyle 6; P Whyte 8, G Hurney 7, R Aherne 6. Subs: C O’Keeffe for Phelan (48), L O Lionain 6 for Doyle (48), P Hurney 6 for Aherne (54), S O’Hare 6 for Prendergast (66).

Ref – M Higgins (Fermanagh)

The game at a glance

Man of the match

Tomas O Se (Kerry)

When Kerry struggled to break down Waterford in the opening half, their longest-serving player was often the man to provide the crucial overlap. And his second-half point off his weaker left foot gave Kerry the great start they needed.

Turning point

Four minutes into the second-half Kieran Donaghy got on the end of an Ó Sé garryowen and flicked past Stephen Enright. In an instant all of Waterford’s good work in the opening half unravelled and Kerry took advantage of the shell-shocked Déise.

Talking point

What purpose is this pancake-flat Munster SFC serving? Three facile victories for Cork and Kerry have done little for the reputation of this ailing competition. Here’s hoping for a red-hot Munster final.

Magic moment

Kerry’s second goal was hammered to the net by Declan O’Sullivan and it really punctured Waterford’s resolve. But in the build-up Kerry displayed everything that’s beautiful about their game, with Colm Cooper, Donaghy and James O’Donoghue all involved in the move of the game.

Ref watch

Martin Higgins had a fine outing. Early on he penalised each side for infringing during a sideline kick, but he dealt with each incident without fuss. Mostly invisible – always a good sign for a ref.

What they said

Eamonn Fitzmaurice (Kerry manager): “If you’re any way off, then you can make the game very hard for yourself.”

Niall Carew (Waterford manager): “We are where we are. We are a Division 4 team. Our level of fitness wouldn’t be near what Kerry’s is or any of the top five or six.”

Match statistics

Wides :

Kerry 7 (4 first half)

Waterford 7 (4)

Frees:

Kerry 18 (11)

Waterford 13 (8)

Yellow cards:

Kerry: 0

Waterford 2 (J Hurney 47, T O hUallacháin 52)

What’s next?

Kerry play Cork or Clare in the provincial final; Waterford go into the qualifiers draw.

Team News

The Kerry Senior Football Team to play Waterford in the Munster GAA Football Championship Semi Final in Fitzgerald Stadium on Saturday next at 7pm is unchanged from the side that started against Tipperary on Sunday last. Jonathan Lyne and Shane Enright re-join the Substitutes list.

The Kerry team will line out as follows:

1.Brendan Kealy (Kilcummin)

2.Marc Ó Se (An Gaeltacht)

3.Aidan O’Mahony (Rathmore)

4.Fionn Fitzgerald (Dr Crokes)

5.Tomás Ó Se (An Gaeltacht)

6.Killian Young (Renard)

7.Peter Crowley (Laune Rangers)

8.Anthony Maher (Duagh)

9.Johnny Buckley (Dr Crokes)

10.Paul Galvin (Finuge)

11.Colm Cooper (Dr Crokes)(Capt)

12.Donnchadh Walsh (Cromane)

13.Declan O’Sullivan (Dromid Pearses)

14.Kieran Donaghy (Austin Stacks)

15.James O’Donoghue (Killarney Legion)

16.Brian Kelly (Killarney Legion)

17.Bryan Sheehan (St Marys)

18.Darran O’Sullivan (Glenbeigh/Glencar)

19.Kieran O’Leary (Dr Crokes)

20.Mark Griffin (St Michaels/Foilmore)

21.Brian McGuire (Listowel Emmets)

22.Eoin Brosnan (Dr Crokes)

23.Michael Geaney (Dingle)

24.Patrick Curtin (Moyvane)

25.Shane Enright (Tarbert)

26.Jonathan Lyne (Killarney Legion)

Michael O’Donoghue (Spa),Jack Sherwood (Firies) and James Walsh (Knocknagoshe) are part of the extended Panel.

The following players are unavailable for Selection due to injury: David Moran (Kerins O’Rahillys), Paul Geaney (Dingle)

Additional Information

•The team features 12 of the side that took the field in Kerry’s defeat by Donegal in the All Ireland Qtr Final (1-12 to 1-10) last August while Johnny Buckley was introduced as a sub. Shane Enright, Eoin Brosnan and Bryan Sheehan, all of whom are named among the substitutes, are the absent trio.

•Colm Cooper, who turns 30 on Monday, needs just 1 more point to top up 250 points in Championship Football – he is currently on 19goals and 249points from 72 Championship games.

•Last Sunday’s victory by Kerry over Tipperary increased to 21 the number of games the Kingdom are unbeaten in Championship Football in Fitzgerald Stadium since their last defeat back in 1995 at the hands of Cork.

•Kerry and Waterford have played 29 times in Championship Football – the last being in 2007. Kerry have won 26 of those, Waterford 2 (1911 and 1957) and there was 1 Draw in 1905.

Waterford Senior Football team to play Kerry announced –

Stephen Enright Ballinacourty

Tadhg Ó hUallacháin An Rinn

Niall Walsh Kilrossanty

Thomas O’Gorman Nire

Conor Phelan Brickey Rangers

Shane Briggs Ballinacourty

John Hurney Ballinacourty

Maurice O’Gorman Nire

Tommy Prendergast Kilrossanty

Tony Grey Stradbally

Shane Aherne Stradballly

Andy Doyle Stradbally

Paul Whyte Kilrossanty

Gary Hurney Ballinacourty (Captain)

Robert Aherne Stradbally

Ticket details

This match is an unreserved seating game

Adult Stand €20 – Students and OAPs buy their Full Price ticket and receive €5 back at the stile (with valid ID)

Adult terrace €15 – Students and OAPs buy their Full Price Ticket and receive €5 back at the stile (with valid ID)

U16’s are free to the Terrace ONLY

Stand Family Tickets – limited amount – Adult €20 Juvenile €5

Group Discounts (bought through the club or county board)

Stand – €15

Terrace – €10

– Group discount of €5 available when purchasing 15 or more tickets through your club

– The group discount for clubs is for adult tickets only & cannot be combined with other concessions

For the Record

Contact Munster GAA PRO Ed Donnelly at pro.munster@gaa.ie for more information

Munster GAA FOOTBALL Senior Championship 2013

Quarter-Finals

Saturday May 25^th

@ Pairc na nGael                            Cork 3-17 Limerick 0-8

Sunday May 26^th

@ Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney    Kerry 2-19 Tipperary 0-8

Semi-Finals
Saturday June 1^st

@ Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney    Waterford v Kerry @ 7:00pm

Sunday June 16^th

@ Cusack Park Ennis                    Clare v Cork @ 3:30pm

Final

Sunday July 7^th

2:00pm throw-in

Useful Information

Last Meeting – 2007 Munster Senior Football Championship Semi-Final at Fraher Field Dungarvan

Kerry 2-15 Waterford 0-4
Kerry: D Murphy, P Reidy, T O’Sullivan, M O’Se (0-1), T O’Se (0-1), A O’Mahony, K Young, D O’Se, M Quirke, Declan O’Sullivan, E Brosnan (2-2), P Galvin (0-2), C Cooper (0-5, 0-2f), K Donaghy, M F Russell.

Subs: S O’Sullivan (0-1) for P Galvin, P O’Connor (0-2) for M F Russell (0-1), S Scanlon for M Quirke, M Lyons for K Young, Darren O’Sullivan for Declan O’Sullivan.
Waterford: T Wall, J Walsh, T O’Gorman, S Briggs, J Phelan, E Rockett, P Ogle, M Aherne, G Hurney, J Hurney, A Hubbard, G Power, W Hennessy, B Wall, L O’Lionain.

Subs: E Walsh for P Ogle, L Lawlor for L O’Lionain, M O’Gorman for G Power, J Ryan for J Phelan, A Aherne for J Hurney.
Referee: G Kinneavy (Galway)

Waterford have won 2 matches in the Munster Senior Football Championship since 1988. Both victories have come at the expense of Clare in games played at Fraher Field Dungarvan – a 1-6 to 0-7 victory in 2007 and a 1-10 to 0-9 win in 2010.

Since 2000, Kerry have drawn as many matches in the Munster Senior Football Championship than they have lost, 5 draws (4 v Cork & 1 v Limerick) as compared to 5 defeats (all v Cork) in 35 matches played.

Kerry had the worst scoring record in the Allianz Football League Division 1, racking up an aggregate of 72 points (average of just over 10 per game). This compares to an aggregate of 97 points for Cork and 129 points for Division 1 champions Dublin.

There was an 18% decrease in the number of scores in the 2012 Munster Senior Football Championship as compared to 2011 (33 scores per game versus 27) but overall the trend is up over recent years – 2008 (21 scores per game), 2009 (24 scores per game), 2010 (28 scores per game), 2011 (33 scores per game), 2012 (27 scores per game).

Limerick’s Ian Ryan was the top scorer in the 2012 Munster Senior Football Championship with 1-17 (0-11 frees) in two matches. Colm Cooper (Kerry) with 0-9 (0-5 frees) and Colm O’Neill with 0-9 (0-3 frees) finished joint second.

Last Five Championship Clashes

2007: Kerry 2-15 Waterford 0-4 (Munster semi-final)

2006: Kerry 0-16 Waterford 0-8 (Munster quarter-final)

1996: Kerry 3-16 Waterford 0-8 (Munster semi-final)

1988: Kerry 3-19 Waterford 1-7 (Munster semi-final)

1987: Kerry 3-15 Waterford 2-8 (Munster semi-final)

Kerry 5 Waterford 0

2013 Munster Senior Football Championship Matches played to date

Cork 3-17 Limerick 0-8 – May 25^th @ Gaelic Grounds Limerick (Munster Quarter-Final)

Cork – Ken O’Halloran; Paudie Kissane, Michael Sheilds, Damien Cahalane; James Loughery, Graham Canty, Tomas Clancy; Alan O’Connor, Pearse O’Neill; Ciaran Sheehan, Paddy Kelly, John O’Rourke; Daniel Goulding, Brian Hurley, Paul Kerrigan.
Subs: Fintan Gould for Paddy Kelly (49mins), Noel O’Leary for Graham Canty (49mins), Donncha O’Connor for Ciaran Sheehan (49mins), Andrew O’Sullivan for Pearse O’Neill (55mins), Mark Collins for Paul Kerrigan (58mins).

Limerick – Donal O’Sullivan; Andrew Lane, Johnny McCarthy, Mark O’Riordan; Stephen Lavin, Pa Ranahan, Paudie Browne; Bobby O’Brien, John Galvin; John Riordan, Thomas Lee, Seanie Buckley (capt); Ger Collins, Iain Corbett, Eoghan O’Connor
Subs: Derry O’Connor for Thomas Lee (h-t), Seamus O’Carroll for Bobby O’Brien (h-t), Mike Sheehan for Iain Corbett (h-t), Stephen Lucey for Seanie Buckley (51mins), Lorcan O’Dwyer for Mark O’Riordan (55mins).

Referee – Michael Duffy (Sligo).

Kerry 2-19 Tipperary 0-8 – May 26^th @ Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney (Munster Quarter-Final)

Kerry: B Kealy; M Ó Sé, A O’Mahony, F Fitzgerald; T Ó Sé, K Young, P Crowley; A Maher, J Buckley; P Galvin, C Cooper, D Walsh; Declan O’Sullivan, K Donaghy, J O’Donoghue
Subs: Darran O’Sullivan for D Walsh (50), B Sheehan for P Galvin (56), M Griffin for M Ó Sé (60), K O’Leary for Declan O’Sullivan (62), B Maguire for T Ó Sé (63).

Tipperary: P Fitzgerald; J Coghlan, P Codd, C McDonald; R Kiely, D Leahy, A Campbell; G Hannigan, R Costigan; C Sweeney, I Fahey, P Acheson; A Maloney, B Grogan, P Austin
Subs: Shane Leahy for Alan Campbell (35), Brian Mulvihill for Robbie Kiely (HT), Aldo Matassa for Alan Maloney (HT), L Egan for G Hannigan (59), H Coghlan for I Fahey (63)

Referee – Conor Lane (Cork)

2013 Top Scorers – Munster Senior Football Championship

Munster GAA FOOTBALL Senior Championship Roll Of Honour

Kerry (74) – 1892, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1919, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011

Cork (37) – 1890, 1891, 1893, 1894, 1897, 1899, 1901, 1906, 1907, 1911, 1916, 1928, 1943, 1945, 1949, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012

Tipperary (9) – 1888, 1889, 1895, 1900, 1902, 1918, 1920, 1922, 1935

Clare (2) – 1917, 1992

Waterford (1) – 1898

Limerick (1) – 1896

Munster GAA FOOTBALL Senior 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 1888 – https://munster.gaa.ie/history/sf_teams/

Munster Senior FOOTBALL Cup

No Name – Presented by Munster Council in 1928

All Ireland GAA FOOTBALL Senior Championship

In the Senior Football All Ireland Roll of Honour, Kerry are top with 36, 14 ahead of the next county – Dublin. Cork are 4^th in the roll of honour with 7 titles. Tipperary have won 4 All-Ireland’s, their last in 1920 while Limerick won the first ever All-Ireland Senior Football Championship played in 1887 and also won the All-Ireland in 1896.