All too easy for minors in Kerry

Clare   6-24

Kerry   1-8

MUNSTER champions Clare had a easy win over Kerry in the opening round of the provincial minor hurling championship at Austin Stack Park in Tralee on Wednesday evening.

After a competitive first half, at the end of which Clare led by seven points, there was little to suggest that the second half would be such a one-sided affair.
Two goals inside the first two minutes of the second half put Clare in the driving seat and from here on, the only question was what the winning margin would be.
Kerry did quite well in the first half and were unlucky to be seven points behind at half-time but they were outplayed after the break.
Oisín Hickey scored the winners’ first-half goal and he completed his hat-trick with a brace in the first two minutes of the second half. The final pass for all three came from Shane O’Donnell. Hickey returned the compliment later in the second half when he provided the pass for O’Donnell to score his goal. The remaining two goals were scored by Alan Mulready late in the game.
Such was Clare’s dominance in the second half that they were able to introduce the full complement of five substitutes.
It took Clare a while to get a grip in this tie and they were fortunate not to have been two goals down in the early minutes. Kerry managed just one point from two clear-cut goal chances with full-forward Pádraig Boyle causing problems for the Clare defence.
As the Clare midfield pairing of Tony Kelly and Colm Galvin got a grip on matters, the Clare forwards enjoyed a plentiful supply of ball and Aaron Cunningham caused problems for the Kerry defence, finishing the half with four points to his credit. The midfield pairing also had four points, with three coming from Kelly, while his Ballyea clubmate, Gearóid O’Connell, was very influential at wing-back and he also chipped in with a point.
Points were exchanged twice in the first 10 minutes before Colm Galvin and Aaron Cunningham found the target in quick succession to put Clare two clear but the lead didn’t last long. Clare full-back, Niall O’Connor was penalised for a foul on Pádraig Boyle after the highly rated Kerry dual star won possession from Muiris Delaney’s delivery. He took the resultant penalty himself and gave the Clare defence no chance as he restored his side’s lead.
A brace from Cunningham had Clare back in front at the start of the second quarter and they added like scores from team captain, Tony Kelly and Cathal O’Connell before Oisín Hickey scored a cracking goal after good work by Shane O’Donnell.
Clare went on to lead at half-time when the score was 1-12 to 1-5 and while the defending champions deserved to be in front, the margin was a little flattering.
Clare won’t have learned much from this, such was the one-sided nature of the second half but Seadna Morey, Gearóid O’Donnell, Jamie Shanahan, Colm Galvin, Tony Kelly, Aaron Cunningham and Cathal O’Connell were prominent throughout.
In the Munster semi-final at the end of June, Clare will play the winners of the losers’ group, which involves Cork, Tipperary and Kerry.

Clare: Eibhear Quilligan (Feakle); Jack Browne (Ballyea), Niall O’Connor (Newmarket), Seadna Morey (Sixmilebridge); Martin Moroney (Parteen), Jamie Shanahan (Sixmilebridge), Gearóid O’Connell (Ballyea); Colm Galvin (Clonlara), Tony Kelly (Ballyea, captain); Alan Mulready (Sixmilebridge), Cathal O’Connell (Clonlara), Frank Melody (Newmarket); Aaron Cunningham (Wolfe Tones), Oisín Hickey (Meelick), Shane O’Donnell (Éire Óg).
Subs: Peter Duggan (Clooney-Quin) for Melody (half-time), Jarlath Colleran (Doora-Barefield) for Moroney, Shane McGrath (Feakle) for Cunningham (50 minutes), Damian Moloney (Meelick) for Morey (50 minutes), Dave Barry (Clooney-Quin) for G O’Connell (56 minutes).
Scorers: Oisín Hickey (3-1), Alan Mulready (2-2), Aaron Cunningham (0-6), Cathal O’Connell (0-6, 4f), Shane O’Donnell (1-1), Tony Kelly (0-3), Colm Galvin (0-3), Gearóid O’Connell (0-1) and Jarlath Colleran (0-1).
Kerry: Kieran Fitzgibbon; Tadhg Moore, Dougie Fitzell, Mikey O’Halloran; Daniel Collins, Tommy Barrett, Kevin O’Sullivan; Eric O’Connor, Muiris Delaney; Ricky Heffernan, Pa Joe Connolly, Luke Fitzell; David Goulding, Pádraig Boyle, Shane Dunne.
Subs: Tom B McElligott for M O’Halloran (40 minutes), Paul McGrath for Goulding (46 minutes) and Darren Leahy for D Fitzell (51 minutes).
Scorers: Pádraig Boyle (1-1), PJ Connolly (0-3), Muiris Delaney and Sean Dunne (0-2) each.
Referee: John O’Brien, Tipperary.