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A final flurry of the quarterfinals, including four unanswered points, propelled Galway into the decisive All-Ireland U20 soccer game.
The Westerners, who were unable to score in the game between minute 20 and 50, finished much stronger to set up a final date against Dublin on Saturday.
Kerry was forced to deal with 14 men between the 52nd and 62nd minutes, and midfielder Luka Brosnan took a black card in a crucial period of the game. The Kingdom also lost Paul Walsh and Dylan Casey to injury early in the half.
These setbacks were in addition to the positive Covid case from the Kerry panel that was confirmed Friday afternoon.
Of Kerry’s team featured for the match program, goalkeeper Marc Kelliher, midfielder Darragh Lyne, center forward Patrick Darcy and corner forward Paul O’Shea did not get together.
“Whenever you prepare for an Irish semi-final and you lose four guys who are in top form for a team, three team members, a fourth injured. When do you see that scenario in a semi-final in Ireland? “Kerry’s coach John Sugrue said afterward.
Galway was also left without key players due to the virus, the Moycullen trio of Paul Kelly, James McLaughlin and Daniel Cox were removed earlier this week due to an outbreak at their home club.
Tied at 1-9 apiece in the second half water break, Galway kicked for home plate after play restarted. Cian Monahan ended his half hour wait for a game marker, quickly followed by a free Matthew Cooley.
Cooley, from the game, and impressive midfielder Cian Hernon subsequently doubled Galway’s lead, pushing the result beyond Kerry’s reach.
Kerry goalkeeper Deividas Uosis cut the margin to three when he confidently scored a free kick, but Kerry was caught at the break as they looked to further reduce the deficit, Galway moved the ball over the other end where substitute Nathan Grainger split the poles. A free Patrick Kelly completed a five-point victory for the Connacht champions.
Having been four behind approaching halftime, Galway kicked five in a row on either side of halftime to lead by the minimum, 1-8 to 1-7, in 42 minutes. Four of those white flags came from center forward Matthew Tierney’s boot (three free and one mark). Subsequently, Dylan Geaney opened Kerry’s account in the second half to tie the proceedings, but Tierney (free) again found the target to overcome the Connacht champions.
The sides were level once more before Galway’s four in a row led them to the final.
It was a very different story during a first half in which Kerry had a clear advantage, although this was not necessarily reflected in the score from 1-7 to 1-5.
Kingdom’s goal came in the 27th minute, Ruaidhrí Ó Beaglaoich finished off the net after Eddie Horan touched Sean Keane’s shot to the corner.
That was Keane’s last involvement in the proceedings for a considerable period, the middle forward found himself in the sin bin shortly after for a major challenge over Galway’s Alan Greene.
Kerry’s goal left Galway behind four times, 1-7 to 1-3, but the young Tribes would have been more pleased with the way they responded to the green flag award, Matthew Cooley and Tierney converting free to cut to half the deficit in half. -time. In fact, Galway, who managed just two touchdowns in the game in the entire first half, would have been quite happy to be just two behind at halftime given that their opponents enjoyed a greater share of possession and also created a much larger number. of opportunities. . The latter claim is supported by the general count of six to three in favor of Kerry.
One of those two Galway goals that came out of the game was his seventh-minute goal, Cian Monahan at the end of the play to pass Uosis. They had another scoring opportunity just before the water break, but Uosis was equal to Cooley’s shot.
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