Breen sets up rematch for battling Kingdom
Kerry 2-13
Tyrone 3-10
Sunday September 05 2010
KERRY captain Bernie Breen secured a replay for her team as the Kingdom and Tyrone fought out an epic stalemate at Ballymahon yesterday.
Breen rifled home a brilliant 56th-minute goal as Kerry, beaten Munster semi-finalists this year, earned a richly-deserved second chance to leave Dublin still awaiting their final opponents.
Kerry's never-say-die attitude was in evidence on more than one occasion in this thrilling semi-final as they came from six points behind to draw level at half-time, 1-6 apiece.
And their battling qualities came to the fore again in the second half as Kerry hit back from the concession of two potentially shattering goals.
Player of the match Joline Donnelly, who shot 1-6, put Tyrone 2-6 to 1-6 ahead less than two minutes after half-time as the corner-forward's looping shot found the net.
But Kerry responded with a run of five unanswered points to lead by two before Mags O'Donoghue's 43rd-minute penalty was brilliantly saved by Tyrone goalkeeper Shannon Lynch. Less than two minutes later Cathy Donnelly cracked home a terrific Tyrone goal.
Now 3-6 to 1-11 clear, Tyrone went on to lead by three points but Kerry hit back to cut the lead to a point, 1-13 to 3-8, with three minutes remaining.
A Gemma Begley free and Joline Donnelly's sixth point pushed Tyrone three clear but the Red Hands were reeled in by Breen's magnificent strike in the 56th minute.
Kerry's first-half goal, scored by Lorraine Scanlon in the 28th minute, was another superb effort in keeping with the exceptional shooting on show all through the match.
"Great credit is due to both sets of players," said Kerry boss William O'Sullivan. "People might not realise looking on the TV but the heat was extreme and to go at that pace for 60 minutes is testament to the fitness of both sides. We started poorly in both halves but we live to fight another day and any day you don't lose is a good day."
Scorers -- Tyrone: J Donnelly 1-6 (0-1f), C Donnelly 1-1, S Connolly 1-0, A O'Kane, C McGahan, G Begley (0-1f) 0-1 each. Kerry: L Ní Mhuircheartaigh 0-6f, L Scanlon, B Breen 1-1 each, S Houlihan 0-3f, L Galvin 0-1, P Dennehy 0-1.
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