CHRISTY RING CUP SEMI-FINAL REPLAY: Carlow 6-10 Kerry 2-11:CHAMPIONS CARLOW made no mistake second time around as they defeated Kerry with a second-half scoring blitz that blew the home team away in this Christy Ring Cup semi-final replay, played before a big crowd at Austin Stack Park, Tralee, on Saturday.

Kerry manager Mossie Carroll offered no excuses: “You would have to be disappointed. We saw ourselves as having a great chance at half-time (Kerry led by three). I don’t think that anyone could have foreseen what was going to happen in the second half as Carlow appeared to up it two or three gears.

“We said at the start that if we were to be beaten by a better team so be it. But we would try our hearts out and do everything that we could. I cannot fault fellows for what they did. They just seemed to stick every chance they got in the second half.”

In fact it was Kerry who looked the most likely winners after dominating for the opening 25 minutes, as they led 1-8 to 1-2 in the 31st minute, with James McCarthy getting a 20th minute goal while Shane Brick converted five frees.

Carlow, who scored a goal through Paudie Kehoe from a 20-metre free, trailed 1-8 to 1-5 at the interval but took over in the second half.

Kerry failed to score for 20 minutes, as Carlow added goals from Andrew Gaule, Robbie Foley (2) and Craig Doyle as Kerry were simply blown out of the water.

Jon Mike Dooley got a late Kerry goal but Carlow were in a different class in the second half, with centre back John Rodgers giving a man-of-the-match display.

CARLOW:F Foley; W Hickey, S Kavanagh (0-1, 65), D Shaw; E Coady, J Rogers, R Coady; J Hickey, D Roberts; R Dunbar (0-1), C Doyle (2-1), M Brennan (0-1); A Gaule (1-1), R Foley (2-2), P Kehoe (1-2, 1-0 pen, 0-1 free). Subs: D Byrne for R Coady (19 mins), E Byrne (0-1) for J Hickey (58 mins), P Kehoe for D Roberts (62 mins), C Hughes for R Foley.

KERRY: J Healy; P OGrady, A Healy, C Harris; J Casey, T Murnane, J Godley; E Sheehy, J Griffin; E Sweeney (0-1), S Brick (0-7, six frees), B Brick (0-1); G O'Brien (0-1), J McCarthy (1-0), JM Dooley (1-1). Subs: M Hanafin for C Harris (half-time), J Fitzgerald for M Hanafin (60 mins) S Young for G O'Brien (65 mins), E Fitzgerald for P O'Grady (66 mins).

Referee:D O'Driscoll (Limerick).

Next up...

Carlow now meet Down next Saturday in the Christy Ring Cup final. The winners will meet a team from the Liam MacCarthy Cup competition in a promotion/ relegation play-off in August.