St Brendan's survive ET thriller against East Kerry to book Kerry minor final spot with favourites St Kierans
MIDFIELD ACE: Kerry U20 Killian Dennehy helped St Kieran's ease into a second consecutive Kerry MFC final with their win over Legion. Pic: Matt Browne/Sportsfile
ST BRENDAN'S and East Kerry were involved in a thrilling Kerry MFC semi-final Thursday night in Tralee before the Tralee-based amalgamation edged into a final against defending champions St Kieran's, 2-14 to 0-18.
East Kerry went out on their shields though having forced an equaliser late in normal time when Joey McCarthy landed an equalising point from a close in free to level it up at 1-11 to 0-14.
It was a semi played against the backdrop of capricious elements as East Kerry enioyed first win dadvantage and led 0-11 to 1-3. Two pointers from James Clifford, Joey McCarthy and Eanna Murphy along with points from play by McCarthy, Dylan O’Meara, James Clifford with two and a free from Liam O’Brien had East Kerry in front.
Kerry minor captain Gearoid White scored a cracking goal for St Brendan's in the opening half while Aaran Harty kicked two and Sean Hickey completed the St Brendan's first half tally.
St Brendan's shaded the second half with Eoin O’Flaherty kicking a massive two-pointer while Gearoid White added two frees and Tom Lenihan landed a point that would have counted for two but East Kerry keeper Caolan Mitchel tipped it on the way over. It was Kerry minor and Munster U18 Rugby player David Sargent who landed a monster two to level the game at 1-9 to 0-12.
Liam O’Brien and Nick Lacey swapped scores before St Brendan's fullback Michael O'Sullivan kicked them in front for the first time. But Joey McCarthy had other ideas as he levelled with the final action to send the game into extra time.
Another Joey McCarthy two-point free had East Kerry 0-18 to 1-14 but the crucial score came early in the second period of extra time with Gearoid White scoring the goal that gave St Brendan's a 2-14 to 0-18 win.
Reigning champions St Kieran's earlier overcame a gutsy Killarney Legion side, coming good in the final quarter to win 2-18 to 1-6
St Kierans are searching for back-to-back county minor final wins and are very strong outfit featuring a number of the Ballymacelligott players who claimed a MFL Division 1 title last month - plus Kerry U20 Killian Dennehy from Cordal in midfield.
St Kieran's made an encouraging start playing against the strong wind and rain with Michael Horan scoring a goal in the opening minute while Jack Joy then kicked a fine point.
Samuel Scroope opened Legion’s account but they were finding the scoring difficult with the wind. However, Ronan O’Brien was shackling Michael Horan while Bryan Walsh and Luke Courtney were doing well in the Legion backline.
Killian Dennehy and Mairtin McKivergan had to fight hard at midfield as Jake Coffey and Kevin Looney battled hard for Legion. Conor Cahill added a point but Legion got to the pace of the game and added four unanswered points from Brian O’Shea, Oisin Fleming with a brace and Fionan Blackwell. Conor Cahill ensured that St Kierans led 1-3 to 0-5 at half-time.
St Kieran's came out strong in the second half and in the final 10 minutes they stretched clear of Legion. Legion only managed two second half scores, with former Cork City Academy player Brian O’Shea scoring 1-1.
The introduction of Gerard Costello appeared to give St Kierans a lift kicking 1-2 off the bench while Conor Cahill and Michael Horan added 0-3 each with Jack Joy from Ballymac landing a monster two pointer at the death as St Kieran's advanced to the final with a slightly misleading 15-point win.
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