Kerry 1-12
Tyrone 1-14
Murt Murphy reporting from O’Moore Park, Portlaoise
TYRONE GOT PAST Kerry in this gripping Eirgrid All Ireland U20 Football semi-final thanks to a fortuitous 56th-minute goal and an eight-point contribution from Man of the Match Ruairí Canavan at O’Moore Park Portlaoise this afternoon and will meet Kildare in next weekend’s All-Ireland final.
It was a tight contest throughout with Tyrone responding every time Kerry appeared to seize the momentum.
Kerry made a dream start as they raced into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead thanks to two Dylan Geaney frees and a superb long-range effort from full-forward Kevin Goulding as Tyrone were slow into their stride. However, thanks to some powerful play by Michael McGleenan Tyrone responded with two quickfire points from Ciarán Bogue and a superb Ruairí Canavan effort from play.
Cillian Burke then saw Kerry double their lead thanks to a Cillian Burke point from thirty-five metres.
Kerry were guilty of a series of turnovers and by half-time, they had turned over or lost the ball ten times, as Ruairí Canavan punished Kerry from frees and play. Kerry should have been more ahead at half time but for a poor return up front and although they had played with the breeze they only led 0-6 to 0-5.
Again Kerry made an explosive start to the second half after Canavan had levelled the contest from play. Firstly a great Cillian Burke run saw him part to Dylan Geaney who squeezed the ball to the Tyrone net and Geaney added a point from the kick-our as Kerry moved 1-7 to 0-6 clear with only five minutes gone in the second period.
But Tyrone responded in magnificent fashion with points from Ciaran Bogue and Ruairí Canavan before Ruairí Murphy restored Kerry’s three-point advantage. Tyrone with James Donaghy, McGleenan and Ruairí McHugh in full flow took the game to Kerry who had lost fullback Alan Dineen to a black card in this period. Points from Conor Cush and a Canavan free closed the gap to a single point 1-8 to 0-10.
The sides were again tied at 1-10 to 0-13 in the 54th-minute when after a Canavan cancelled out a Devon Burns free.
The crucial score came in the 56th-minute when the man who could not miss Ruairí Canavan saw his effort for a point come back off the post and Ciaran Bogue was quickest to react as he rounded Burns to fire home to the Kerry net and ensure his side were on the way to the All-Ireland Final.
Kerry had a couple of late chances but Tyrone hung in for another win over the Kingdom.
Scorers for Tyrone: R Canavan ( 0-8, 3fs, 1m), C Bogue 1-2, C Cush ( 0-2), S O’Donnell and M McGleenan (0-1each)
Scorers for Kerry: D Geaney ( 1-4, 2 fs), K Goulding ( 0-4), R Murphy ( 0-2), D Burns (free) and C Burke ( 0-1 each)
KERRY: Devon Burns: Dara O’Callaghan, Alan Dineen, Joey Nagle; Enda O’Connor, Armin Heinrich, Tommy Cronin; Ruairí Murphy, Sean O’Brien; Cillian Burke, Thomas O’Donnell, Evan Looney; Dylan Geaney, Kevin Goulding, Keith Evans.
Subs: Gearoid Hassett for Evans (38 mins), Adam Curran for Curran (42 mins), Jordan Kissane for O’Donnell (48 mins), Tom Doyle for Looney (52 mins), Jack O’Connor for Goulding, injured (58 mins).
TYRONE: Stephen McMenamin; Michael Rafferty, Brian Conway, Eoin Corry; James Donaghy, Steve Donaghy, Niall Devlin; Ruairí McHugh, Ciaran Daly; Conor Cush, Ciaran Bogue, Ruairí Canavan; Sean O’Donnell, Michael McGleenan, Dan Muldoon.
Subs: Gavin Potter for Cush (51 mins), Luke Donnelly for O’Donnell (60 mins), Eoin Montgomery for Bogue (60 mins). Temporary sub: Potter for O’Donnell (34-36 mins).
Referee: Anthony Nolan (Wicklow)