Early goals crucial as Kerry beat Cork to clinch Munster U20 title

Goals had made Kerry’s Munster U20 semi-final a nightmare they almost did not wake up from. Goals made the provincial decider a dream they never wanted to end.

Kerry’s semi-final had seen two goals scored inside the opening 13 minutes. Monday evening’s decider bore witness to two goals inside three and a half minutes.

At this point, it is probably prudent to point out the outstanding difference between Kerry’s panicked first and potent second championship outings.

Where they were the ones leaking green flags last week, here they were raising them. Tomás Ó Sé’s midweek plumbing job had done the trick.

The result delivers the Kingdom a 30th Munster title at this age grade. The result moves them on to an All-Ireland semi-final against the big dogs from Sligo on Saturday week. The result means their championship campaign runs for longer than seven days.

In Cork’s desperately one-sided semi-final against Limerick, they conceded neither a goal nor a score from play across the 60-plus minutes. Here, they had been hit on both fronts within 23 seconds of the start.

The visitors took the throw-in. Jack Clifford moved possession to Cian McMahon. The latter drove through and finished.

Clifford, to also give him his dues, did so much carrying and driving throughout that first half. In a contest where there were few standouts, his middle third workload shone through.

The St Michael’s Foilmore youngster was the one new addition to the Kerry team that had fallen past Clare. Rob Monahan’s semi-final red had stuck, necessitating a personnel switch in attack. But given the unflattering rapsheet of the defence coming out of Tralee last week, it was something of a surprise to find there wasn’t a single change at the back.

The defence, though