Well done to our senior ladies team who secured a Tesco HomeGrown National League semi final, defeating Monaghan in Castleisland.

Final score Kerry 0-16 Monaghan 1-11.

With 5 teams vying for 4 spots including Kerry, Galway, Cork, Dublin & Monaghan it was a day of excitement with both Kerry & Monaghan giving it everything they had.  Monaghan started brightly & were constantly on the lookout for corner forward dynamo Ciara McAnnespie. However she got short change from Ciara Murphy Corca Dhuibhne who was tight on her & made some block downs. Kerry found their grove shortly after & scored first with a wonderful score from Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh with Patrice Dennehy pointing soon after, following a great run by Louise Galvin who had a stormer of a game. Monaghan’s first score came in the 5th minute from a free. In a scrappy first with a lot on offer for both teams goal chances were few but Sarah Houlihan managed to get through but her shot went over the bar. One of the highlights of the half was a superb piece off skill by Patrice Dennehy who chipped a ball rolling on the ground onto the oncoming Louise Galvin who pointed. At half the score Kerry led 0-08 to Monaghan 0-05. In the second half keeper Edel Murphy was called into action very quickly who made a point blank save with her feet. Kerry through Bernie Breen counter attacked with the midfielder scoring a fine long range point on the outside of her right. The second half opened up a little more with both teams expressing themselves more.  Mid way through the half Kerry opened up a 6 point & looked to be closing out the game. However Monaghan stuck to their game plan & were rewarded with a goal from the penalty spot cutting the Kerry lead to 3 points. Aisling Leonard was sin binned with Kerry having to reshuffle their team, bringing Denise Hallissey who was a constant threat in wing forward with her cutting runs back to defend.  Edel Murphy constantly on her guard pulled off another great save as Monaghan were chasing an elusive second goal. Kerry in the end closed out the game with the final score going to Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh. With the final score in Castleisland finishing Kerry 0-16 Monaghan 1-11 & with Dublin defeating Cork, it meant that the top 4 in order were Galway, Cork, Kerry & Dublin.  Kerry now meet neighbours Cork in the semi final on Sunday 26th April. Venue etc TBC.  It has been quite a successful start to the year for the new management team headed by Alan O’Neill who was happy with the performance of his team, especially the composure shown with a player down.