A fiery game of football in Kerry, looking back at the 2004 drawn Minor hurling final and the only thing decided yesterday at Croke Park.
The Kingdom find themselves in the unusual position of not having an All-Ireland football final to worry about this year so they have been able to get back into the swing of things at club level. It has been pretty tasty according to today’s reports.
In the Kerry IFC semi-final, Finuge edged out Ardfert 0-10 to 0-9 yesterday but that’s not the reason the game is getting national coverage. Finuge’s biggest name is one Paul Galvin and the Kerry star was dismissed after picking up two yellows.
But the former Footballer of the Year wasn’t the only offender on show as Ardfert’s Mairtin Ferris – son of Sinn Fein TD Martin – was also shown red following an incident with Galvin’s brother, Raymond.
If all that wasn’t enough to keep us busy, new Kerry boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice proved he still has it by kicking 0-2 for the victors. See, all the action wasn’t at Croker yesterday.
Who dares to speak of 2004?
Much talk has been made about yesterday’s pair of draws and how unusual a circumstance it was. That is true but draws in the Minor final are far from rare, with the most recent being in 2004, and that game carries a lot of significance ahead of the senior rematch on September 30.
The 2004 Minor hurling final was between Galway and Kilkenny and it ended 21 points apiece (3-12 to 1-18). In the replay, Galway prevailed by a point (0-16 to 1-12), and a very young Joe Canning picked up his first All-Ireland medal.
Canning would go on to add two more Minor titles in 2005 and 2006. We’re sure Anthony Cunningham would settle for just one right now but if history repeats itself, remember where you heard it first.
One thing was settled yesterday…
The game yesterday will be remembered as a duel between Joe Canning and Henry Shefflin, one in which they too tied at 12 points apiece. But the tally that the Kilkenny man racked up has surely ensured that he collects the top scorer’s title yet again.
The Ballyhale man has now registered 3-47 in Championship 2012, as he finally overhauled Limerick’s Shane Dowling, who stays stuck on 4-37. The only one who may catch the King, is, unsurprisingly, Canning.
The Galway man now has 2-41 to his name but he surely can’t make up the nine-point gap to Shefflin on September 30, can he?
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