Kerry advance to the All-Ireland TG4 Semi-finals

All-Ireland
Ladies Football Quarter Final Kerry 5-10, Monaghan
3-11

Kerry advance to the semi-finals of the All-Ireland
after a superb 5-10 to 3-11 victory over Monaghan.
Both teams harboured All-Ireland ambitions going
into the game and they played out an exciting
and open match.

Monaghan will feel slightly aggrieved by having
conceded two penalties and suffered three sin
bins but Kerry advance and it will take a very
good team to stop them now. In a breathtaking
first half that possessed everything that was
good in Ladies Football, both teams played the
game at enormous pace with total commitment.

After 15 minutes, 11 times All-Ireland champions
Kerry raced into a 2-2 to 0-3 lead, tearing the
Monaghan defence apart with some fantastic movement
and attacking football. A superb individual goal
by Ger O’Shea after she ran nearly half the length
of the pitch, gliding past several desperate challenges
to bury a blistering shot from 14 metres out was
the highlight of a cracking first half.

Points from Edel Byrne, Niamh Kindlon and Therese
McNally kept Monaghan in touch but Sarah O’Connor
added a free to double her tally while Ger O’Shea
converted a penalty on 14minutes to stretch Kerry’s
lead to 5 points. At this stage the Ulster champions
looked in trouble. Monaghan responded in style,
with points from Niamh Kindlon and Orla Callan
to reduce the deficit to three points. Both teams
seemed to take a breather and neither registered
a score between the 17th and 27th minutes, with
Monaghan guilty of some wayward shooting (In all
they would kick 8 first half wides). The game
came back into life when a Monaghan high ball
was broken down by the impressive Brenda McAnespie,
setting up Aisling Tierney who made no mistake
when slotting the ball past the advancing Andrea
O’Donoghue. The sides were level at 2-2 to 1-5
before Monaghan’s corner back Christina O’Reilly
was harshly sin binned for a foul on the dangerous
O’Shea.

O’Shea then scored a point from play to push Kerry
ahead but on the stroke of half time Kerry’s Grainne
O’Malley was also sin binned, in what looked very
much like referee Tony Clarke was balancing the
books. Niamh Kindlon scored a late injury time
point to leave the sides level at the interval.
Monaghan got the perfect start to the second period,
a goal by Therese McNally after 30 seconds followed
by a Niamh Kindlon point. Player of the game Ger
O’Shea replied for Kerry with a point before Donna
Teal was sin binned and O’Shea pointed the resulting
free. Noreen Fealey scored a Kerry goal to punish
Monaghan’s numerical disadvantage.

Brenda McAnespie scored a point but a point from
O’Shea and another Fealey goal put Kerry in control
at 4-7 to 3-8. Monaghan could never get close
despite the best efforts of Edel Byrne and Niamh
Kindlon as Kacey O’Driscoll came into the game
for Kerry adding two points. A second Ger O’Shea
penalty was the nail in the > coffin and Monaghan
suffered a third sin bin when Ciara Mulligan was
punished. Kerry ran out 5-10 to 3-11 winners in
the end and will now be one of the favourites
after this impressive win over an excellent Monaghan
team who suffered from the three sin bin decisions
and two penalties.

Scorers:

Monaghan: N Kindlon 0-5, E Byrne 0-3, O Callan
2-0, A Tierney 1-0, T McNally 0-2, B McAnespie
0-1
Kerry: G O’Shea 3-4 (2-0 pens), S O’Connor
0-2, N Fealey 2-1, K O’Driscoll 0-2
Kerry: A O’Donoghue, G O’Malley, G Ni Fhlatharta,
J Murnane, K Gleeson, E O’Connell, R Ni Chineide,
C Kelly, J Murphy, S Delaney, S O’Connor, P Dennehy,
N Fealey, G O’Shea, K O’Driscoll
Substitutions: K Kenneally for P Denney
(17mins) D Corridon for S Delaney (41 mins),
Monaghan: V Quigley, D Teal, M Croarkin,
C Reilly, M Lavelle, C Brady, U McNally, J Greenan,
C Mulligan, T McNally, N Kindlon, E Byrne, O Callan,
B McAnespie, A Tierney
Substitutions: A Smith for U McNally (47
mins)