A cracking game of football was promised and delivered in Boston on Saturday evening between two great rivals Kerry and the Shannon Blues with the Shannon Blues coming out on top on a scoreline of 1-14 to 1-10. The sides were level at the half at 1-6 a piece with the game's two goals coming in the opening half. Kerry struck first in the 6th minute with their goal coming from Graham Glynn and the Blues goal in the 13 minutes the result of a penalty by Paul O'Connor. James Walsh had the first point of the game for the Blues after 4 minutes and Michael Brennan added a second a minute later. Kerry then struck for a goal by Graham Glynn after being set up by Shane Briggs. Denis McElligot had the sides level in the 11th minutes. Two minutes later the Blues were awarded a penalty and Paul O'Connor struck a daisy cutter into the corner of the net just beating the outstretched Lee Stacey. The Blues were up by 3 but Kerry bounced right back with 3 rapid points, 2 from frees by Robby Croft and a point from play by Niall Sheehy after being set up by Shane Briggs. Kerry would take the lead in the game a minute later when Darren Foley crossed to Shane Briggs and he raised the white flag. The Blues came right back and James Walsh had the sides level again. The ref was also kept busy as he handed out yellow cards - one to Kerry and three to the Blues, Graham Glynn for Kerry, Sean O'Connor, Denis Ellicott and Michael Brennan for the Blues. Kerry missed a couple of easy frees while the Blues added points by David Clifford and Paul O'Connor in the 24th and 25th minutes but Kerry came right back with a 2 pointed frees by Robby Croft to leave the sides level at 1-6 each after a good hard 30 minutes of football. It was too close to call at the half.
The 2nd half started with a tussle on the throw in resulting with the ref having to throw the ball up a second time. Disaster then struck for the Blues a minute into the half with Denis McElligott receiving a second yellow card. Both sides traded points in the first few minutes but as has happened so many times in the past the Blues a man down upped their game and Kerry did not use the man advantage like they should have. Kerry had shots on goal in the 10th minute but Connor Wallace battled hard to clear his lines and Kerry had to settle for a point by Graham Glenn and once again the sides were level. Dara Tracy and Niall Murphy had the Blues up by two while Kerry had some near misses. Some great defensive play by the Kerry backs denied a Blues goal and after 3 attempts they settled for a point. At the other end a foot block on Niall Sheehy could have resulted in a goal. Robby Croft tapped over the resulting free and with just five minutes remaining it was down to the narrowest of margins 1-11 to 1-10 but it was the Blues who finished the stronger adding 3 late points by Niall Murphy and Paul O'Connor for a final score of Shannon Blues 1-14 Kerry 1-10.
Referee James Dorgan did a fine job.
Man of the match for Kerry was Captain Paul Devane and also playing well were Robby Croft, Colm Moriarty, Graham Glynn, Lee Stacey, Shane Briggs, Joey Fitzpatrick and Aaron Fitzgerald

Kerry Team & Scorers
Lee Stacey
Mike Godley
Aaron Fitzgerald
Paul Devane
Shane Briggs - 0-1
Colm Moriarty
Darren Foley
Murtha Condron
Owen McGreevy
Graham Glynn - 1-1
Joey Fitzpatrick
Robby Croft - 0-7
Niall Sheehy - 0-1

Subs
Stephen Lucy
David O'Mahony
Brendan McGonagly
Mike Moriarty
John O'Keefe
Simon Dunne
Joe O'Shea
Dereck Nolan

Shannon Blues
Connor Wallace
Shane Kelly
Cathal Long
Trevor Wallace
Dennis McEllicott
Sean Moriarty
James Walsh
Dara Tracy
Micheal Brennan
David Clifford
Sean O'Connor
Paul O'Connor
Niall Murphy

Subs
Darren Wallace
Cathal Moriarty
Connor Fiztgerald
Steven Coogan
Ciaran Byrne
Cathakl Frelas
Gary Cadden
Vinnei Cadden
Frank O'Neill
Cathal Ryan
Pat Murray
Shane Kavanagh
Connor Mullen
Dereck O'Brien Tweet

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