Congratulations to the Kerry U14 team who reached the All Ireland final defeating an extremely resilient & talented Galway side on Sunday in Kilmeedy in Limerick. It was a tough game for the Kerry side as they were never really able to pull away from the Western side & only the for the free taking & general all round play of Siofra O'Shea in midfield & the escapades of Ciara Butler in the Kerry goal, it would been the girls from the West preparing for the final. Kerry started brightly with a point within 49seconds of the game commencing from Ella Teahan. It was all Kerry for the opening minutes as Rachel Kilgallon was unlucky as she missed a goal opportunity. Galway however got their composure together & attacked the Kerry goals but unfortunately were not as accurate with 2 wides & Ciara Butler the young Castlegregory called into action early on. Galway opened their account 13 mins into the half with a pointed free. Kerry were under pressure & were struggling to clear their lines, when a good interception from Siofra, lead to quick break down field where a Kerry player was fouled with Siofra pointing. The sides traded scores, with all of Kerry's scorers coming from the boot of Siofra O'Shea capt from frees as Galway gave away frees. Kerry defenders were a little bit more disciplined despite being under siege for a lot of the half with Rachel O'Connor in full back standing up to the test. Ava O'Sullivan Southern Gaels replaced Aoife Dillane coming up towards half time & immediately made an impact as she ran through the Galway defence & was fouled just as she pulled the trigger for a goal. Ref blew his whistle & called for a penalty which again Siofra struck excellently low & hard to the Galway net just at the short whistle. Half time score - Kerry 1-04 Galway 0-05. Galway started the second half much brightly than they did the first with the first point of the half, cutting Kerry lead to a minimum, which they followed up with a wide but it was Galway for those opening minutes. It took Kerry 6 mins to settle back but a pointed free from Siofra O'Shea followed up with a point from play from her club colleague Rachel O'Dwyer who sold a great. Galway then introduced the lively Claire Enahalo who made impact , cutting through the Kerry defence like a hot knife through butter with a devastating run, with goal in front of her blazed over the bar. A let off for Kerry. But Kerry Capt Siofra O'Shea stood up to the challenge & with a great bit of team work & individual play made a similar run but made no mistake with a super strike to rattle the Galway net, score was now Kerry 2-06 Galway 0-07 with 14 minutes gone in the second half. Galway then laid a relentless siege to the Kerry goals with Ciara Butler making 3 outstanding stoves in a row to keep her team in the game. Gemma Kearney came in for Ciara McCarthy wing back with 7 mins remaining. Kerry added 2 further points - Siofra O'Shea free & Daniellle O'Leary. Galway sub Marty NicDhonnacha got the final score of the game a point, with Kerry securing the win at that stage. Final score Kerry 2-08 Galway 0-10. Kerry will now meet Kildare in the All Ireland final on July 2nd/3rd, as they defeated Cavan in the other semi. Oustanding performances from Siofra O'Shea Southern Gaels & Ciara Butler Castlegregory in goals. Also playing well for Kerry was Chloe O'Connor Firies & Rachel O'Connor Corcha Dhuibhne in defence, while Rachel Kilgallon worked very hard, linking play between defence & forwards.

1 Ciara Butler (Castlegregory), 2 Tara Murphy (Legion), 3 Rachel O'Connor (Corcha Dhuibhne), 4 Chloe O'Connor (Firies), 5 Ciara Mc Carthy (Abbeydorney), 6 Maud Kelly (Fossa), 7 Ava Doherty (Glenflesk), 8 Mary O'Connell (Na Gaeil), 9 Siofra O'Shea CAPTAIN (Southern Gaels) (2-05, 1-05F), 10 Rachel Kilgallen (John Mitchels), 11 Ella Teahan (Milltown /Listry)(0-01), 12 Aoife Dillane (Austin Stacks).
13 Rachel Dwyer (Southern Gaels (0-1)), 14 Mary Collins (Rathmore), 15 Danielle O'Leary (Rathmore) (0-1).

SUBS.16 Gemma Kearney (Castleisland Desmonds) for C , McCarthy, 17 Aisling O'Connell (Ballymac), 18 Ava O'Sullivan (Southern Gaels) for A. Dillane, 19 Susan Cahill (Rathmore), 20 Andrea Nolan (Laune Rangers), 21 Maggie Kingston (Beaufort), 22 Cliona Murphy (Southern Gaels), 23 Abi Casey (Na Gaeil), 24 Elaine O'Donoghue (Firies), 25 Rachel Evans (Laune Rangers), 26 Sarah Sheehan (Fossa), 27 Fodhla Houlihan (Laune Rangers), 28 Clodagh Evans (Milltown/Listry), 29 Ruth Moriarty (John Mitchels), 30 Ciara O'Mahoney (Milltown/Listry).

************************************************************************************************Kerry commence their defence of the Munster championship against Cork on Friday in Macroom 7.30pm. Kerry had a good league campaign, reaching the semi finals, where they were defeated by a strong Mayo team. Kerry have had to contend with some injuries in the latter stages of the league notably Aislinn Desmond & Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh. However Manager Alan O'Neill said preparations have gone well & the mood is good, with players being blooded in the league standing up well to test. There is also a quick turnaround between the game & their next game against Waterford on Sat 25th June in a Kerry venue to be named.  

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