logo
Síofra O'Shea shines as Kerry see off Kildare

Síofra O'Shea shines as Kerry see off Kildare

RTÉ News​05-07-2025
A brace of first-half goals from hat-trick hero Síofra O'Shea played a major part in Kerry's 3-12 to 0-11 victory over Kildare in the TG4 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final at Austin Stack Park.
Even though the Lilywhites got off to a very strong start, notching four points in the opening nine minutes to take the early ascendancy, the concession of the two green flags before the break was a hammer blow to the visitors.
With Alannah Prizeman (two frees), Aoife Rattigan and Gillian Wheeler all finding the target for the Leinster side, the Kingdom were slower out of the blocks before they struck for their first goal in the 10th minute.
A cross-field kick from Niamh Carmody, and a pass from Cáit Lynch slipped advancing centre-back Emma Costello through the Kildare defence, and after her shot was parried by goalkeeper Mary Hulgraine, O'Shea was on hand to tap home the rebound.
Danielle O'Leary was now getting into her stride, and the Rathmore attacker fired over two points, with a Rachel Dwyer effort sandwiched in between.
Ciara Wheeler and Prizeman responded at the other end and the score was level after 22 minutes at 1-03 to 0-06.
The Kingdom edged in front before the half's most crucial moment in the 24th minute when Niamh Ní Chonchúir set up O'Shea inside the Kildare cover and, after being fouled while in the act of shooting by Lauren Murtagh, a penalty was awarded.
The Kerry full-forward picked herself up off the ground to beat the visiting custodian with a low spot-kick to the keeper's right and, despite Prizeman's trojan work, a superb Anna Galvin point had the defending champions four up at the break at 2-05 to 0-07.
Kildare needed a boost early on the resumption, but Prizeman had a goalbound shot blocked on the line by Kerry captain Lynch, before Kerry, and O'Shea, pounced for green flag number three in the 39th minute to end the game as a contest.
Midfielder Galvin was the instigator, fetching a kick-out and sending a pinpoint delivery to O'Shea, who gave Hulgraine no mistake.
From there to the finish, the hosts were always in control, eventually cruising home by a 10-point margin to set up a last-four meeting with either Meath or Tipperary.
Scorers
Kerry: S O'Shea 3-2 (1-0pen, 0-1f), D O'Leary 0-4, R Dwyer, A Galvin, N Carmody, K Brosnan, N Ní Chonchúir, C Evans 0-1 each.
Kildare: A Prizeman 0-7 (0-5fs), A Rattigan, G Wheeler, C Wheeler, R Byrne 0-1 each.
Kerry: ME Bolger; E Lynch, D Kearney, C Lynch; A O'Connell, E Costello, A Dillane; M O'Connell, A Galvin; N Carmody, N Ní Chonchúir, C Evans; R Dwyer, S O'Shea, D O'Leary. Subs: R Rahilly for Galvin (46), K Brosnan for Dwyer (46), F O'Donoghue for Kearney (51), K O'Connor for E Lynch (54), N Quinn for Carmody (58).
Kildare: M Hulgraine; R Sargent, L Lenehan, M Doherty; L Shaw, L Murtagh, M Aspel; L Reilly, C Moran; C Wheeler, A Rattigan, L Curran; G Wheeler, A Prizeman, R Byrne. Subs: M Ryan for Moran (37), A Mahon for Murtagh (41), E Dowling for Rattigan (48), S Galvin for G Wheeler (51), C Sullivan for Shaw (53).
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Kerry name unchanged side for All-Ireland final as Diarmuid O'Connor makes squad
Kerry name unchanged side for All-Ireland final as Diarmuid O'Connor makes squad

The 42

time5 hours ago

  • The 42

Kerry name unchanged side for All-Ireland final as Diarmuid O'Connor makes squad

DIARMUID O'CONNOR RETURNS to the Kerry panel for Sunday's All-Ireland final against Donegal as Jack O'Connor has named an unchanged side from the semi-final win over Tyrone. O'Connor has been hit hard by injuries this year, damaging his shoulder in the league against Armagh and suffering a recurrence of that injury in the championship last month against Cavan. He has been included in the 28-man squad Kerry have announced tonight for the Croke Park clash, but they will have operate with a match-day panel of 26. Advertisement The starting fifteen Kerry have named is the same as that which won the semi-final as forward Paul Geaney is named as part of the substitutes. All-Star winning defender Tom O'Sullivan is not included, after being forced off with a calf injury in their quarter-final victory over Armagh. Kerry 1. Shane Ryan (Rathmore) 2. Paul Murphy (Rathmore) 3. Jason Foley (Ballydonoghue) 4. Dylan Casey (Austin Stacks) 5. Brian Ó Beaglaoich (An Ghaeltacht) 6. Mike Breen (Beaufort) 7. Gavin White (Dr Crokes) 8. Seán O'Brien (Beaufort), 9. Mark O'Shea (Dr Crokes) 10. Joe O'Connor (Austin Stacks), 11. Sean O'Shea (Kenmare), 12. Graham O'Sullivan (Dromid Pearses) 13. David Clifford (Fossa), 14. Paudie Clifford (Fossa). 15. Dylan Geaney (Dingle) Subs 16. Shane Murphy (Dr Crokes) 17. Killian Spillane (Templenoe) 18. Evan Looney (Dr Crokes) 19. Tom Leo O'Sullivan (Dingle) 20. Tadhg Morley (Templenoe) 21. Paul Geaney (Dingle) 22. Micheal Burns (Dr Crokes) 23. Tony Brosnan (Dr Crokes) 24. Armin Heinrich (Austin Stacks) 25. Tomás Kennedy (Kerins O'Rahillys) 26. Diarmuid O'Connor (Na Gaeil) 27. Conor Geaney (Dingle) 28. Dara Moynihan (Spa) ***** Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here

'Kickout battle is going to be huge' All Star 'keeper on Ryan-Patton match-up
'Kickout battle is going to be huge' All Star 'keeper on Ryan-Patton match-up

Irish Daily Mirror

time6 hours ago

  • Irish Daily Mirror

'Kickout battle is going to be huge' All Star 'keeper on Ryan-Patton match-up

For all the revolution that the new rules have brought to football, the most profound has been around the kickout. And so, in an All-Ireland final that is exceptionally difficult to call, it's reasonable to advance the theory that, for all the brilliance of the likes of David Clifford and Michael Murphy in either attack, the respective goalkeepers will wield the greatest influence on the outcome. Shaun Patton is hailed as one of the leading netminders in the game, arguably the best, and his talents will be exposed to final day for the first time this Sunday. It may be a surprise to many that the Donegal 'keeper has yet to win an All Star, though that's largely down to his county's failure to reach the latter stage of the Championship for most of his inter-county career, which is now in its eighth season. This week, former Kerry star Marc Ó Sé stated that 'if we can stop Patton, we've a great chance – we've one hand on the cup', citing the length and accuracy of his restarts. Ryan, meanwhile, despite winning an All-Ireland and All Star in 2022, doesn't quite command the same profile as other goalkeepers like Patton, Stephen Cluxton, Rory Beggan and Niall Morgan. 'Shane, in my opinion, is totally underrated all round as a goalkeeper,' says Tyrone 'keeper Morgan. 'He's rarely talked about in terms of the top 'keepers in Ireland when he's consistently been there the last three or four years. It's just Kerry always seem to be talked about in their attacking sense.' Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan (Image: Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/James Crombie) Ahead of the final, Ryan pointed out how the new rules have forced goalkeepers to lower their expectations on kickouts, saying that while a 65/70% retention rate would have been just about acceptable last year, 'this year you would bite a fella's hand off for it'. 'It's very difficult to accept that you're not getting anywhere close to 100% anymore,' Morgan admits. 'It used to be that teams would have stood off for a good few of the kickouts, obviously with the old rules that doesn't happen anymore so most of them are a contest. 'I would totally agree that if you're winning 65-70% of your kickouts, you would more than take it but the big thing is what you're doing with the kickouts after you win them and Kerry and Donegal are both exceptionally good at turning those kickout wins into scores.' In their runaway win over Meath, Donegal mined 2-13 from Patton's kickout on his 100th appearance for the county and, while Sunday's game is virtually certain to be much more evenly contested, it's easy to see why Ó Sé places such weight on curbing his influence. Patton had an uncharacteristic meltdown in the first half of Donegal's quarter-final win over Monaghan, but Morgan doesn't believe that Kerry should draw too much encouragement from that given that he wasn't long back from an ankle injury. Donegal's Shaun Patton (Image: ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson) 'I know he had a bit of a knock in the Ulster final and didn't play against us in the group stage either so I think that was a case of getting him recovered and I don't think there's a chink in either of their armours if I'm being honest.' Somewhat reminiscent of David Clarke during Mayo's run to the 2017 final, Ryan has come to Kerry's rescue several times this campaign with that fundamental goalkeeping requirement that has almost become incidental these days - one-on-one saves. But while Morgan says that both are 'absolutely brilliant shot-stoppers', ultimately their influence on Sunday will still be felt most profoundly from what they produce off the tee. 'I think the kickout battle is going to be huge. I sort of look at it, over the whole game, over 50% of the kickouts in terms of both yours and the opposition's is going to set yourself up for a strong foothold in the game, it gives you the opportunity to launch your attacks and it's probably the time of the game when the other team isn't set up defensively, it gives you the opportunity to maybe get a goal or a bigger score. 'I think if you stand off either team on the kickouts, it's really dangerous. Giving them possession of the ball is what both teams want, they want to set things up and launch their attacks from deep. 'We saw it against Kerry, especially in the first half where we obviously put pressure on Seán O'Shea and Paudie Clifford but they were still more than capable of getting the ball up to pitch to David to do the damage and in the second half obviously, whenever David wasn't as much in the game then Joe O'Connor came into it so it'd be dangerous for either team to give up possession like that. 'Both 'keepers are key weapons for their teams and I expect whatever one of them can get on top at the weekend will set up their team really well.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store