Results – Munster U20 football semi-finals
- Cork 2-14 Limerick 0-6
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Kerry 1-20 Clare 4-9
(after extra-time)
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KERRY AND CORK will face off in next Monday night’s Munster U20 football final but they endured contrasting routes to victory in tonight’s semi-final ties.
It will be a repeat of last year’s decider where Kerry won by seven points and marks the seventh time in eight seasons that the Kingdom and the Rebels have met in the final at this grade.
Cork enjoyed the more comfortable win as they had 14 points to spare against Limerick in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Goals in either half from attacker Hugh O’Connor and substitute Niall Kelly helped pave the way for their success by 2-14 to 0-6.
Kerry had to withstand a ferocious test from Clare before winning after extra-time in Tralee by 1-20 to 4-9.
🏐 Full Time (after extra time) in Austin Stacks Park in the Semi-Final of the 2023 EirGrid Munster U20 Football Championship, Kerry v Clare.#WeAreKerry #CiarraíAbú pic.twitter.com/UD6Yh0ln8E
— Kerry GAA (@Kerry_Official) April 17, 2023
William Shine was their top scorer with 0-10 while a Keith Evans goal in extra-time clinched the game for Tomás Ó Sé’s team. But Clare raised four green flags, inspired by early strikes by Joe Rafferty and Paul Frawley, and really tested Kerry in a game where it finished 3-7 to 0-16 at the end of normal time.
Kerry recovered from the concession of the early Banner strikes to lead 0-8 to 2-0 at half-time, and gained further control in the second half before Frawley’s second goal put Clare back into contention. They came close to grabbing a winner before extra-time was ordered and Kerry put distance between the teams in the additional period.
Clare’s brilliant midfielder Brian McNamara notched their fourth goal late on in injury-time but Kerry had built up a sufficient cushion by that stage with Shine (0-10), Robert Monahan (0-5) and Aaron O’Shea (0-3) all pointing the way.
Cork knocked over the opening two points of their game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, senior defender Tommy Walsh the first player on target, before Limerick cancelled that out with David O’Shaughnessy, their top scorer on the night with 0-4, on the mark.
But Cork took over for the remainder of the half to hit 1-4 without reply, a storming run by Walsh setting O’Connor up as he raced through before finishing to the net. Cork were ahead 1-8 to 0-2 at the interval, before they tacked on the points in the second half with Kelly’s goal increasing their advantage to 2-11 to 0-4 at that stage.
O’Connor struck 1-2 with fellow attackers Olan Corcoran and Richard O’Sullivan contributing 0-4 and 0-2 respectively. Substitutes Kelly (1-1) and Ross Corkery (0-2), son of former Cork senior Colin, both made their mark off the bench.
— Cork GAA (@OfficialCorkGAA) April 17, 2023
Scorers for Cork: Hugh O’Connor 1-2 (0-1f), Olan Corcoran 0-4 (0-1f), Niall Kelly 1-1, Richard O’Sullivan 0-2, Ross Corkery 0-2, Tommy Walsh 0-1, Liam O’Connell 0-1, Sean Dore 0-1.
Scorers for Limerick: David O’Shaughnessy 0-4 (0-4f), Darragh Murray 0-1 (0-1f), Diarmuid Ryan 0-1 (0-1f).
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Scorers for Kerry: William Shine 0-10 (0-5f), Robert Monahan 0-5 (0-1 ’45), Keith Evans 1-1, Aaron O’Shea 0-3 (0-1 mark), Cian McMahon 0-1.
Scorers for Clare: Paul Frawley 2-0, Brendy Rouine 0-4 (0-2f, 0-1 mark), Brian McNamara 1-1, Joe Rafferty 1-0, Tom Curran 0-2 (0-1f), Cillian McGroary 0-2.
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