Kerry minor footballer, Gearoid White.
Electric Ireland Munster MFC quarter-final
Kerry 2-18 (2-2-14) Cork 2-8 (2-1-6)
Kerry had a comfortable 10-point win over Cork in their Munster minor football quarter-final in Pairc Uí Rinn, but both will be back in action in a week’s time in a pair of provincial semi-finals against Clare and Tipperary respectively.
Having gone to the interval level, Kerry scored five unanswered points in the third quarter to establish a lead, and then fourth quarter goals from Ben Kelliher and Tadhg O’Connell gave the defending champions some breathing space as they recovered from a Cork goal scored by Donagh Flynn just two minutes into the match.
After that tonic start from Cork, points from Ben Corkery-Delaney and Paddy Murphy pushed them four ahead, 1-2 to 0-1, after a cagey opening 20 minutes.
Kerry captain Gearoid White followed a beautifully converted two-point score with a white flag, and then Nick Lacey and John Curtin pointed for the visitors to nudge them ahead, 0-6 to 1-2.
Corkery-Delaney then landed a two-pointer for the Rebels, followed by points from Murphy and Joe Miskella as the home side led by three again.
Kerry had the final say of the first half, with White firing over a two-point free before Kevin Griffin’s late score sent the teams to the interval inseparable at 1-6 to 0-9.
Kerry wrestled the early initiative after the restart with Griffin expertly sending back to back ‘45s’ over the crossbar before Ben Kelliher converted three frees in succession to send the Kingdom five clear by the 40th minute, 0-14 to 1-6.
That gap grew to eight points three minutes later when Kelliher scored Kerry’s first goal to make it 1-14 to 1-8, and captain White made it a nine-point margin right on the three-quarter stage of the game.
Cork – who like Kerry were playing their first game in this championship – showed commendable resilience to mount a comeback of sorts, with Tom Whooley scoring a point and then a goal to cut the deficit to a more manageable five points.
Kelliher pointed for Kerry and then Tadhg O'Connell slapped the ball to the net to put the game beyond Cork, 2-16 to 2-7, with 10 minutes to play.
Kerry now play Clare – who lost the Phase 1 final to Tipperary – in next week’s semi-final, while Cork take on Tipperary in the other semi-final.
Scorers for Kerry: Ben Kelliher 1-5 (0-5fs), Gearóid White 0-7 (1tp, 1tpf, 0-1f), Kevin Griffin 0-3 (2 ‘45’); Tadhg O’Connell 1-0, Nick Lacey 0-1, John Curtin 0-1, Pádraig Ó Mainnín 0-1
Scorers for Cork: Tom Whooley 1-1, Ben Corkery Delaney 0-3 (1f, 1tp), Donagh Flynn 1-0, Paddy Murphy 0-2, Cathal McCarthy 0-1, Joe Miskella 0-1
KERRY: Ruairí Kennedy; Ronan Sheridan, Eoghan Joy, Tadhg Ó Slatara; Danny Murphy, David Sargent, Marcus Clifford; Maidhc Ó Sé, John Curtin; Mark O’Carroll, Gearóid White, Kevin Griffin; Nick Lacey, Ben Kelliher, Tadhg O’Connell. Subs: Pádraig Ó Mainnín for Lacey (48), James Kissane for Ó Sé (54), Liam O’Brien for Griffin (54), David McCarthy for Sheridan (54), Alex Tuohy for O’Connell (59), Tadhg O’Sullivan for Curtin (temp, 66-ft).
CORK: Rory Twohig; Ben Coffey, Aaron Keane, Matthew Kiernan; Jerry O’Leary, Cathal McCarthy, Brian Cronin, Samuel Kelliher Leavy, Ronan Hayes; Niall O’Callaghan, Donagh Flynn, Seán O’Sullivan; Paddy Murphy, Ben Corkery Delaney, Eoghan Aherne. Subs: Joe Miskella for O’Sullivan (25), Eamonn Ger O’Sullivan for Aherne (38), Tom Whooley for Murphy (38), Eoin Looney for Kelleher Leavy (48), Jack Hanrahan for O’Leary (55).
REFEREE: Timmy McGrath (Limerick)
