East Kerry and North Kerry reach minor decider after impressive wins

The sides will face off next Thursday.

East Kerry will hope to be boosted by the  availability of Fossa duo Jack Hallissey and Fionn Doyle once the Kerry IFC concludes this weekend.

East Kerry reached a ninth MFC final in 14 years -- but a first since 2023 -- with a 3-15 to 0-11 win over Dr Crokes, who struggled in the absence of midfielder Sean Kiely. 

Although Mark O’Carroll scored the opening point for the club side, East Kerry responded with a goal from Daragh Keane as they raced towards a 1-8 to 0-3 lead at half-time with Keane scoring 1-2 and Liam O’Brien 0-4 for the district side.

The second-half offered little change as East Kerry’s second goal was rather fortunate in the 43rd minute as a Damian Moynihan pass across the goalmouth came off a Crokes defender and went into the net. It pretty much ended the contest at 2-13 to 0-5. 

Substitute Dean O’Riordan scored East Kerry’s third goal in the 52nd minute as the final margin between the two sides stood at 13 points. Ben Kelliher scored 0-6 (4f, 1tpf) for Crokes as a Finn O’Donnell two-pointer at the end reduced the final margin before the hooter, While East Kerry will be happy to progress they know they have work to do on their finishing ahead of the final next Thursday night as they will hope to be boosted by the potential availability of Fossa duo Jack Hallissey and Fionn Doyle once the Kerry IFC concludes this weekend.

East Kerry’s opponents will be North Kerry who beat St Brendan’s 4-19 to 0-19 at Austin Stack Park, thanks to four second-half goals in as many minutes.

North Kerry were much the more efficient side during the opening half. Tadgh O’Connell led their scoring charge as they established a 0-10 to 0-5 lead by half time. St Brendan's registered six wides in the opening half despite playing with the breeze and three of those were gilt-edged goal chances, with Dara Harty striking a post and Oscar McElligott clearing Nick Lacey’s effort off the line.

St Brendan’s began the second half with renewed purpose. Jason Gaynor scored twice; Lacey added another and a Sean Hickey two-pointer, saw the gap reduced to a single point.

North Kerry responded with a Mikey Somers points and an O’Connell two pointer to lead 0-14 to 0-10 by the 40th minute. But four goals for North Kerry in a crazy three-minute spell just before the end of the third quarter put North Kerry well in control.

Tadgh O’Connell’s dropping delivery found the St Brendan’s net before Fionn Byrne and Mikey Somers also finished their chances with aplomb. Then Adam Heffernan got his hands to a high delivery to steer it past the keeper from a tight angle.

This killed off any chance that St Brendan’s had of reaching a second consecutive final and now North Kerry will fancy their chances of beating East Kerry. Tadgh O’Connell top scored for North Kerry with 1-7 while Nick Lacey scored 0-10 for St Brendan’s.