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Within three minutes of the second half, the lights were out for Mid Kerry and back-to-back cheer for the East County men.
Trailing two at halftime, Mid Kerry, continuing their first-half wastefulness, failed to convert either of the two chances they created early in the second period.
First, it was Liam Carey who deflected with a free kick, then Fiachra Clifford dropped his shot into the grateful hands of goalkeeper Shane Ryan.
In 34 minutes, they were made to pay dearly. David Clifford, out of nowhere, fired a shot that went into the upper right corner of Mid Kerry’s goal. It was a moment of pure Clifford magic, Mid Kerry’s defenders were horrified to have conceded a goal when one didn’t seem remotely possible.
If there was a nagging feeling that Mid Kerry wouldn’t be able to salvage a 1-9 to 0-7 deficit, less than three minutes later there was a resounding confirmation that they would not close a 12-year gap with the late Bishop Moynihan of the United States. division. Success, as Paudie Clifford fed Darragh Roche and he delivered his second goal to put eight between them.
From there, this County Kerry final was a procession, East Kerry sailing towards a ninth title.
Evan Cronin, Darragh Roche and Dara Moynihan nailed the goal to increase East Kerry’s lead to 11 points in the second water break.
Summing up Mid Kerry’s nightmare in the second half was their inability to ramp up their first-half count until the 56th minute.
While Mid Kerry would have been more satisfied with their first-half work rate, forced turnovers, and approach play, a clinical end product left them too many times. The Peter O’Sullivan charges kicked eight wide in the first half, hitting the post with a shot and coming up short.
That level of extravagance that a team just can’t afford when it’s East Kerry in the furthest corner of the ring.
One of those Mid Kerry scoring opportunities was a Ronan Murphy scoring opportunity, and East Kerry goalkeeper Shane Ryan opened wide to reduce Murphy’s angle.
East Kerry got his own green flag shot shortly after, Darragh Moynihan feeding Dan O’Donoghue instead of taking his mark, the low shot from center, though it was well held by Stephen Cahillane.
Despite not enjoying as much possession as their opponents, the reigning champions were ultra-efficient on their shots in the first quarter and led 0-6 to 0-3 at the break for water.
David Clifford is good at soccer pic.twitter.com/sRHd8rEOWW
– Eoin Sheahan (@EoinSheahan) September 26, 2020
David Clifford, who was being chosen by a new addition to the Kerry panel, Mike Breen, kicked two of East Kerry’s six opening white flags and had a hand in two more. The two-time All-Star won the free practice Darragh Roche converted and provided the assist for Darragh Moynihan’s point.
A pair of Liam Carey after the game resumed reduced the deficit to a minimum, but three widths thereafter stifled his efforts.
At the other end, Clifford and Roche didn’t need to be asked twice when an opening came up, the two forwards for East Kerry restoring their team’s three-point lead.
David Roche and Carey (free) sandwiched a fine Evan Cronin mark to leave the interval marker reading 0-9 to 0-7.
The second half lacked seven minutes when Mid Kerry had stayed to terribly regret their wasting of the first half.
It has to be David Clifford’s goal. He opened a five-point gap when he reached 34 minutes and, more pertinently, the blissful scoring compounded Mid Kerry’s waste up to that point. Totally deflated, the contestants offered nothing for the remainder of the procedure.
East Kerry’s second-half performance, easily his best half-hour of football in this year’s county championship. As Paul Murphy said later, they couldn’t have timed it better. Jerry O’Sullivan’s charges landed 2-5 unanswered, while keeping opponents scoreless for 26 minutes.
Consecutive county glory for East Kerry, the first division to successfully defend the Bishop Moynihan Cup since South Kerry made three straight games in 2006. And when you consider that East Kerry earlier this year won a fifth consecutive county minor title, the dominance of the division shows no signs of abating in the short term.
Mid Kerry will look back with great regret for their eight goals in the first half, as well as the two missed opportunities just before East Kerry’s two-goal outburst early in the second period. Two points in the second half is a comeback with which they will be most disappointed.
David Clifford. He kicked 1-4 from the game, his most daring goal being. He also had a straight hand on two first-half scores from teammates, winning a free kick that Darragh Roche converted and providing the initial point assist for Darragh Moynihan.
Mid Kerry handed David Clifford’s brief to Mike Breen, but the Beaufort defender was not overjoyed. Pa Kilkenny, who was expected to pick up Clifford in the corner, took Breen’s place in center back, winning his duel with the older of the Clifford brothers.
Bar threw a pair of yellow cards in the first half, including one to David Clifford, Paul Hayes stayed out of the proceedings as much as he could.
Several players from both sides will be on duty next weekend as the County Kerry Junior and Intermediate Championships draw to a close.
D Clifford (1-4); D Roche (1-3, mark 0-1, 0-1 free); E Cronin (mark 0-3, 0-1); R Buckley, D Moynihan (0-2 each); B O’Donoghue (0-1 each).
L Carey (0-6, 0-4 free); D Roche, C Kennedy (0-1 free), G O’Grady (0-1) each.
East Kerry: S Ryan (Rathmore); N Donohue (Firies), J Sherwood (Firies), C O’Donoghue (Glenflesk); S Cronin (Spa), D O’Donoghue (Spa), P Murphy (Rathmore); M Ryan (Rathmore), R Buckley (Listry); D Moynihan (Spa), P Clifford (Fossa), B O’Keeffe (Rathmore); D Clifford (Fossa), D Roche (Glenflesk), E Cronin (Spa).
M Foley (Spa) by O’Keeffe, D O’Brien (Glenflesk) by M Ryan (both 47 min); B O’Donoghue (Glenflesk) for S Cronin, J O’Donoghue (Glenflesk) for E Cronin (both 56); P Doyle (Gneeveguilla) by Moynihan (58).
S Cahillane (keel); D Mangan (Laune Rangers), P Wrenn (Milltown-Castlemaine), M Breen (Beaufort); P Crowley (Laune Rangers), P Kilkenny (Glenbeigh-Glencar), J Brosnan (Glenbeigh-Glencar); C McGillycuddy (Glenbeigh-Glencar), R Murphy (Beaufort); D Roche (Milltown-Castlemaine), C Kennedy (Beaufort), F Clifford (Laune Rangers); G O’Grady (Glenbeigh-Glencar), L Carey (Beaufort), D O’Sullivan (Glenbeigh-Glencar).
C Teahan (Glenbeigh-Glencar) for Clifford (40); J O’Connor (Beaufort) by Kennedy (45); C Moriarty (Milltown-Castlemaine) for O’Sullivan, G Horan (Milltown-Castlemaine) for Brosnan (50); S O’Brien (Beaufort) by Roche (52).
P Hayes.
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