February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Connie Kelly
Kerry and the Shannon Blues faced off in a close hard game with the Blues racing out to an early half-time lead of 1-7 to 0-3.
Clinton Hennessy did most of the damage for the Blues with a tally of 1-3. Garret Kelly scored two points and Dara Kennelly had one.
Kevin Lynch accounted for all three of Kerry’s points, two from frees. Michael Doherty’s shot hit the post for Kerry just before half time and things looked good for the Blues.
Darren Lee replaced injured Kieran Shea after 20 minutes and Lee changed the game for Kerry in the second half, knocking over a point within a minute of the restart on a pass from Philip Kirk.
The Kerry backs started to close down the Blues forwards but Kerry had three wides in a row before Mike Doherty found Ger Grimley wide open for a point with just seven minutes gone.
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Grimley added another four minutes later but the Blues had two quick points from Dave Kennelly and with what seemed like a comfortable lead of 1-9 to 0-6 with fifteen minutes left to play.
But Kerry chipped away with two from frees, Colin Doyle on the 17th minute and Ger Grimley on the 20th and it was a four point game.
Kerry brought on Timmy O’Neill for Colin Doyle and moved Philip Kirk up to the forwards. Denis Sayers who played his heart out, tried time and again to get a rally going for Kerry and with all of the play now in the Blues half, something was bound to happen. It came on the 29th minute when Kevin Lynch found Ger Grimley who hammered the ball to the back of the net and we had a one point game.
The Blues found Kevin Lynch on the very next play and as he stepped up to take his free, all Kerry could hope for was a draw. But his shot went under the bar for a goal on the last kick of the game. An unbelievable win for Kerry and a tough loss for the Blues, 2-8 to 1-9.
Man of the Match, Denis Sayers, Kerry.
Juniors win
Kerry pulled off a double when their junior team beat a fancied Donegal side on Wednesday evening on a score of 2-11 to 2-4.
Donegal had a half time lead of 2-3 to 0-7 but it was all Kerry in the second half, holding Donegal to just one point.
Kerry will take on St. Columbkilles on July 1 at 3 p.m. in junior football, and the seniors will play Donegal on July 16 at 2 p.m.
Senior hurling
In senior hurling, Cork had an easy win over Fr. Tom Burkes on a score of 2-11 to 1-5.
Damian McSweeney from Blarney did most of the damage for Cork with two good goals. Rory Dwyer continued his excellent shooting with seven points. Robbie O’Mahoney had three and Luke Mannix one. Also playing well for Cork was Mick Lynch and John Casey.
Best for the Toms, Ronan Hanley, Michael Tracy, Keith Corr and Seamus Higgins.
Junior football
In junior football, the Shannon Blues and Aidan McAnespies played to a 0-11 to 1-8 draw, the goal coming from a penalty by Sean McBride with just five minutes remaining in the game for the Blues. McAnespies were on top at the half, 0-6 to 0-3.
Ladies football
The Boston Shamrocks proved once again that they are the top team in North America when they took on the New York All Stars and came away winners on a score of 2-8 to 1-2.
Fixtures for July 2
11:45 a.m. J.F. Notre Dame vs McAnespies; 1:15 p.m., Int. St. Christophers vs St. Pats; 2:30 p.m., S.F. McAnespies vs Mayo; 3:45 p.m. S.H. Tipperary vs Galway; 5:15 p.m. S.F. Donegal vs Cork.