February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Mike Fitzpatrick
Kerry 3-11, Monaghan 0-10
This junior B football final opened with both sides firing forward at every opportunity.
The first half was an even affair, the midfield battle between Monaghan’s Ruairi O’Neill and Kieran Clerkin and Kerry’s duo of Brendan Lynch and Liam Hartnett having been one of the main highlights, with Hartnett eventually winning the war between the sides in what was a fabulous personal performance.
Monaghan certainly put the scares on their opponents with some accuracy in front of the posts from Paul McGlynn, Mickey McEntee and Bernie McEntee.
The sides went into the interval even at five points apiece, and it seemed as if the Ulster side were in line for an upset.
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The second half opened with Kerry on the attack, a killer goal from Hartnett gave the Kingdom a three point lead.
Kerry continued to press forward with another couple of points to increase the lead to five, and Monaghan looked severely troubled. Another point followed, then Mark Burke fired a goal in past the despairing arms of Stephen McCarron to leave Monaghan trailing by nine points.
Monaghan attempted to fight back, looking for the goal that would bring their side back into the hunt, but despite the best efforts of McGlynn and the McEntees, they could find no way past Pat Driscoll, Adrian Riney and Tim Lynch. Monaghan managed to hit between the sticks courtesy of PJ Rogers and Dave Gannon, but Ronan Wells third Kerry goal gave the Munster men a deserved ten point victory.
Kerry has completed the first half of their championship double, and the senior side hope to finish off the second leg in a couple of weeks time.
Kerry: John Fogarty, Pat Driscoll, Adrian Riney, Tim Lynch, Adrian Finn, Peter Riney, Mark Burke (1-0), Liam Hartnett (1-2), Brendan Lynch (0-3), Emmet Kelly (0-2), Dan O’Connor, Kieran Cull (0-1), Mike Herlihy, Brendan Kiely (0-3), Tommy Noonan. Subs: Paidi Hanley, Sean O’Leary, Ronan Wells (1-0)
Monaghan: Ronan McCarron, Barry Duggan, Stephen Rushe, David Hughes, Willie Dempsey, Bernie McEntee (0-1), Gerry Coleman, Ruairi O’Neill, Kieran Clerkin, Mickey McEntee (0-3), Enda Bennett, Sean Carbin (0-1), Niall McKenna, Marshall McAdoo, Paul McGlynn (0-3). Subs: PJ Rogers (0-1), David Gannon (0-1), Carl Campbell, Pat Brosnahan.