Kerry edge out gallant Tipp

A TWO points victory for Kerry, but, as manager Sean Geaney and team captain Killian Young conceded, the Kingdom were fortunate to stave off a magnificent Tipperary challenge in the Munster U21 FC decider at Ardfinnan on Saturday.

“I saw video recordings of Tipperary’s previous games in the championship and I knew in my heart and soul they were going to be extremely tough opponents,” said a much relieved Geaney, while Cadbury’s ‘Man of the Match’ Young stated “we were lucky to survive”.

A whirlwind start to the second-half, yielding four points without reply from Paddy Curran, impressive substitute Kieran Brennan, Alan O’Sullivan and Curran again, laid the foundations for Kerry’s first success in this grade since 2002. But Tipp made a much vaunted Kingdom side fight to the bitter end.

“We did not come here to make up the numbers, we came here to win and we should have. We had the chances to do so but sadly we squandered them,” said a bitterly disappointed Tipperary manager Peter Creedon, who saw his side crash to a second successive provincial final defeat.

“It’s galling to think that we came so close but even more frustrating is the fact that we should, on the law of averages, have won this game,” he said.

Tipperary did put up a fantastic fight. They took the lead with a point from wing forward Kieran McGrath after only three minutes and although centre-forward Mike O’Donoghue equalised for Kerry shortly afterwards, the home side were on a high after outstanding wing back Brian Fox unleashed an unstoppable drive which nearly took the roof off the Kerry net.

That 11th minute goal was a fantastic boost for Tipperary. Said manager Geaney: “I was worried from start to finish. Tipperary battled all the way and must be applauded. We tried but we could never get away from them and the final outcome was in the melting pot right up to the end.”

The sides were level, 1-4 to 0-7, at half-time and with David Buckley, Ciarán McDonald, John Coughlan and Brian Fox providing a tenacious Tipperary defence, Kerry had it all to do.

Shrewd tactical moves, which saw Young moving to centre-back and Michael Moloney to full-back, as well as the introduction of Kieran Brennan at midfield and the transfer of Alan O’Sullivan to the 40, worked wonders for Kerry after the resumption.

Young was outstanding, while Brennan and O’Sullivan worked like beavers as Kerry struggled. But Kerry did hit the ground running after the resumption and for a time, things looked dire for Tipperary after the Kingdom’s four points blast. But, with tremendous resilience, Tipp refused to let the flood-gates, clawing their way back into contention.

They were right back in the thick of things 12 minutes from the end when full-forward Sean Carey pierced the Kerry net from close range. Two superb points from a much subdued Tommy Walsh and Paddy Curran gave Kerry breathing space again but as victorious captain Killian Young said, “Tipp never took their foot off the accelerator and came back at us every time we threatened to motor away .”

Four points separated them with eight minutes to go when Kerry received a let-off, corner-forward Darrel Darcy’s shot for goal whistling wide of the left hand post. Undeterred by this setback, Tipperary continued to roar forward in waves and cut the deficit to two points with late strikes from goalkeeper Matthew O’Donnell, who converted a 45, and wing back Brian Fox. But time ran out for Tipperary and Kerry hung on.

Triumphant manager Sean Geaney said afterwards: “it’s a great to have this particular monkey off our backs. But the job is only half done. We now face into the All-Ireland series and we will have to show a huge improvement. But I am confident we will succeed because these lads will work their socks off to ensure that the necessary improvement will be forthcoming.”

Scorers for Kerry: P. O’Connor 0-4 (0-3 from frees); P. Curran 0-3; M. O’Donoghue 0-3; Alan O’Sullivan 0-2; K. Brennan, T. Walsh and K. O’Leary 0-1 each.

Tipperary: S. Carey 1-2 (0-1 from free); B. Fox 1-1; K. McGrath, D. Darcy, B. Jones and M. O’Donnell 0-1 each.

KERRY: T. Mac An tSaoir; C. O’Mahony, K. Young, S. Enright; Aidan O’Sullivan, M. Moloney, E. Murphy; D. Moran, Alan O’Sullivan; K. O’Leary, M. O’Donoghue, B. Looney; P. Curran, T. Walsh, P. O’Connor.

Subs: K. Brennan for Looney; J. Buckley for O’Donoghue; J. Doolan for Curran.

TIPPERARY: M. O’Donnell; J. Coghlan, C. McDonald, D. Buckley; C. Alyward, P. Codd, B. Fox; G. Hannigan, P. Donnellan; C. Dillon, B. Jones, K. McGrath; R. Ryan, S. Carey, D. Darcy.

Subs: D. Keogh for Ryan; T. Dalton for Buckley.

Referee: M. Condon (Waterford).