February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Pierce O’Reilly
Kerry 2-15
Fermanagh 1-7
A stunning performance of power and panache from Kerry bulldozed Ulster rivals Fermanagh to one side in this Junior “A” final played at breezey Gaelic Park on Sunday.
The Muster boys were on top from the off and with Patrick Lynch once again in scintillating form in attack, they ran out easy victors. Fermanagh’s objection to Peter Loughran and the Donegal club meant early arrivers were surprised not to see Donegal take to the field. Instead, a midweek executive GAA meeting ruled that the Erne men would contest the final.
The off-field brawl seemed to effect the Ulster men in the opening half and with Kerry moving the ball at pace from the back to attack they ran out easy winners. While the first half was competitive and keenly contested, the second was pedestrian and one-way. The introduction of Kevin Kelly was the turning point for the Kingdom and his deadly accurate passing and ability to find a teammate in space rattled the Fermanagh defense.
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Steven Owens played his heart out for Fermanagh, but he lacked support from most other quarters. Owens rifled a great individual goal in the opening half, but scores in general were very difficult to come by.
In the second half, a much more fluent Kerry attack ran at Fermanagh at every opportunity. Paudie Mulvihill and Alan McNamara rattled the net, and with Lynch, Kelly and Kieran Cull all getting points, they pulled away from their one-paced opposition.
Colm Shannon at corner forward never let his head drop and with time running out he managed to kick two good points, but they arrived much too late to prevent a historic Kerry win.
Kerry: Johnny Fogarty, Pat O’Driscoll, Adrian Riney, Jason O’Connor, Ian Galvin, Peter Riney, Adrian O’Connor, Liam Hartnett 0-1, John Maher, Kieran Cull 0-2, Mick O’Connell 0-3, Patrick Lynch 0-5, Barry Clifford, Alan McNamara 1-0, Paudie Mulvihill 1-0. Subs: Kevin Kelly 0-3, Dean Doherty 0-1, Peter Lanigan.
Fermanagh: Fergie Bogue, Ciaran Donnelly, Noel McGovern, Gene Mulligan, Damien Boyle, Ciaran Lee, Stephen Keating, Darren Doherty 0-1, Sean Melly, Joe Egan, Stephen Owens 1-2, Paul McCaffrey 0-1, Gerry Murphy, Stephen Quinn, Colm Shannon 0-3. Subs: Barry Shannon, Paul McIntyre, Lawrence Kennedy.