ALL-IRELAND MFC SEMI-FINAL Armagh 2-10 Kerry 0-10: SOMETIMES IT takes time to settle into such salubrious confines. In many cases the opposition does not wait for such a transition to be completed. The Kerry minors were far more generous than their senior brethren yesterday.
Armagh returned to their dressingroom at half-time furious at being three points adrift but surely amazed by the lack of scoring threat offered by such distinguished opponents. They visibly grew in confidence thereafter, pulling up long before the finish with victory secured thanks mainly to the destruction of an uncertain Kerry full-back line.
What really surprised from this underwhelming and highly inaccurate Kerry display was their heavy reliance on the flawless long-range free-taking of Éanna O’Connor. An All-Ireland colleges’ winner with Coláiste na Sceilge last April along with several teammates, O’Connor, like the whole Kerry attack, failed to make an impact from play.
It means we roll into a 16th year since Gaelic football’s most decorated county have captured a minor All-Ireland title. Armagh are waiting 60 years for a visit from Tom Markham. It was 1992 when they last reached the decider. Either Mayo or Down will join them next week.
Kerry manager John Kennedy was given four years to deliver and despite coming up short again he firmly believes the current underage systems are effective. “I think minor football is all about preparing guys for the road ahead. We’ve seen a lot of guys coming through, in our term, on to the senior panel. We’d love to win but I have no doubt two or three of those guys will be in the senior dressingroom next year and that’s what it is about. Once Kerry keep winning senior All-Irelands and we keep pitching through players that’s a victory in itself.”
Twenty five seconds into this affair and Kerry registered a point full of promise by full forward Kieran Hurley. However, there followed a sustained period of poor deliveries, be it weak hand-passes or wayward kicked passes, stemming from the pressure Armagh put them under.
Armagh were also guilty of errors, with four instances of fouling the ball or over-carrying but Eugene McVerry showed well with two excellent points. They were unlucky not to have a goal on 11 minutes due to the outstretched leg of Kerry goalkeeper Paul O’Sullivan off a Rory Grugan shot.
Four O’Connor frees, three from around the 45, had Kerry 0-7 to 0-4 in front but it was O’Sullivan’s good fortune and quick reflexes that denied another Armagh goal, this time off a Conor King shot that hit the post and then the goalkeeper’s back before being scrambled to safety.
Twelve seconds into the second half came the first of two hammer blows as impressive midfielder Peter Carragher burst through the middle before feeding Gavin McParland, whose delicate finish slid under O’Sullivan. Grugan nailed two frees before the whole full-forward line combined for the killer second goal. Robbie Tasker swept an early pass to McVerry who looped possession over to McParland for another neat finish.
Kerry crumbled in the face of the five-point deficit despite a quarter of an hour remaining.
ARMAGH: S O'Reilly; K Downey, D McKenna, K Nugent; R Finnegan, N Rowland, J Morgan; P Carragher, J Donnelly; R Grugan (0-6, 0-3 frees), A Murnin, C King; R Tasker (0-1), E McVerry (0-3), G McParland (2-0). Subs: R Rafferty for E McVerry (62 mins).
KERRY: P OSullivan; M Galvin, P Galvin, P OConnor; G Gibson (0-1), J Coffey, M Brennan; S Carroll, D OSullivan; J Sherwood (0-1), D Kelly, I Galvin; N OShea (0-1), K Hurley (0-1), É O'Connor (0-6, all frees). Subs: J O'Sullivan for D O'Sullivan (35 mins), N Fitzgerald for P O'Connor, P Joy for I Galvin (both 40 mins), M Thiemann for S Carroll (42 mins), M Reen for K Hurley (52 mins).
Referee: M Duffy(Sligo).
