Allianz NHL Division 3a & 4 finals

[GAA_Punter]

Saturday 10 April

Allianz NHL Division 3a final
Kerry v Derry, Woodmount, Roscommon, 2.30pm
Referee: Alan Kelly

Kerry were in inspirational form as they stormed through their league campaign to top the division and John Meyler's team will start this game as big favourites.

They won all five of their league games including a ten point win over final opponents Derry in the first round in February.

Darragh O'Connell scored 2-4 that day on his league debut and he continued to impress as the league developed alongside the likes of Shane Brick, Gary O'Brien and John Mike Dooley.

Derry responded well to that opening day defeat and won three of their next four games including a two point victory over Meath in the last round to seal their final place.

Two late goals by Kevin Hinphey helped Derry to a dramatic win against the Royals in that game but Kerry won't want to slip up after what has been a perfect season for them so far.

Verdict: Kerry

Allianz NHL Division 4 final
Monaghan v Longford, Kingspan Breffni Park, 2.30pm
Referee: Eamonn Hassen

Monaghan are another side to reach a league final having won all five of their league games and in their third Division 4 final in a row, they will be looking to finally make the leap to Division 3b hurling.

They actually won the final in 2008 but there was no promotion from Division 4 that year and last year they were beaten in the decider by Sligo after extra time.

Longford are looking to bounce back to the higher division immediately having been relegated last year and if they are to do so, a lot of their hopes will rest on the shoulders of Garrett Ghee.

When these two teams met in the group stages, Ghee scored 1-10 of Longford's total but it wasn't enough to stop a 2-13 to 1-12 Monaghan win.

That was Longford's only defeat but Monaghan are desperate for promotion after those near misses in recent years.

Verdict: Monaghan

[glens73]

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/212-01.html

Wins for Kerry and Monaghan

[Kerry Mike]

Brilliant result for the Kingdom 6 win from 6 in Div 3, onwards and upwards now to Div 2 next year and hopefully give the Christy Ring a good rattle this year.

NHL 3A: Late goals secure promotion for Kingdom
Kerry hurling manager John Meyler
11 April 2010

Fourteen-man Kerry made an instant return to Division 2 of the NHL after late goals from James Flaherty and James McCarthy helped them to the Division 3A title at Derry's expense in Woodmount, Co. Roscommon.

Kerry 2-18
Derry 1-15

Young gun Darragh O'Connell also made a huge contribution to the Kingdom's success by firing over 12 points, including nine frees and one '65'. John Meyler's Kerry side looked to be cruising to victory when they led by eight points early in the second half, but Derry closed the gap to three points with five minutes remaining. It then took a superb goal by Flaherty and another moments later from the long-serving McCarthy to secure the title for the Munster side.

Kerry suffered a blow before the throw-in when their talisman Shane Brick was ruled out. However, his 19-year-old replacement O'Connell went on to have a fine game with a number of his scores coming from long distance.

Kerry had raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead before their full forward Gary O'Brien was red-carded. Despite their numerical disadvantage, they led by 0-12 to 0-5 at the interval, but Derry fought back in the second half and the free-taking of Ruairi Convery and Paddy McCloskey's 52nd minute goal saw them close the gap before Kerry finished with a flourish.

The final score could have been a lot different, however, had Derry not missed two penalties.

Scorers - Kerry: D O'Connell 0-12 (9f, 1 '65); J Flaherty 1-1; J McCarthy 1-0; J Egan 0-2; T Murnane, M Conway and M Boyle 0-1 each. Derry: R Convery 0-5 (4f, 1 '65); P McCloskey 1-2; M Craig 0-3; P Henry 0-2f; K Hinphey 0-2; O McCloskey 0-1.

Kerry: JB O'Halloran; C Harris, A Healy, J Fitzgerald; J Godley, L Boyle, T Murnane; E Sheehy, J Griffin; J Egan, M Boyle, D O'Connell; M Conway, G O'Brien, JM Dooley. Subs: J Flaherty for JM Dooley, J McCarthy for E Sheehy, J Casey for J Egan.

Derry: D McDermott; S McCullagh, E McKeever, R McCloskey; A McCloskey, L Hinphey, C Brunton; P O'Kane, K Hinphey; M Craig, R Convery, P McCloskey; P Henry, M Conway, F Kelly. Subs: O McCloskey for F Kelly, S Henry for C Brunton, S McNicholl for P Henry

Referee: A Kelly (Galway).