Kerry will defend their All-Ireland JFC title against Galway on the weekend of July 21/22 after they came through their semi-finals against Kildare and Kilkenny respectively today.

In Navan, Kerry led from start to finish to see off Kildare on a 2-17 to 1-14 scoreline. Boosted by Paudie Clifford's ninth-minute goal, the Kingdom had opened up a 1-7 to 0-2 lead by the end of the first quarter, but the Leinster champions replied with a run of points from Barry Noone, Brian Travers, Declan Campbell and Mark Grace to reduce the gap to just three, 0-9 to 1-9, at the interval.

Noone made it a two-point game five minutes after the restart before Kerry regained control. They were six points clear before Eoghan Lawless tucked away an injury-time penalty for the Lilywhites to halve the deficit. But Kerry responded with a Cillian Fitzgerald goal to seal their place in the decider.

Galway qualified for their first final since 2003 thanks to a 2-22 to 2-8 victory over Kilkenny in Nowlan Park.

The Tribesmen took an early three-point lead before a John Walsh goal brought the hosts level. But Galway dominated the remainder of the half to take a commanding 2-12 to 1-3 lead into the break. Johnny Ryan and Matthew Reddington both raised green flags, while Gary Kelly and Padraig Cunningham scored four points each.

The result was never in doubt after that, despite Michael Jones clawing back a goal for the Cats nine minutes from the end.

Kerry - D O Se; T Wallace, D Donoghue, P O'Sullivan (0-1); C O Se, D Daly (0-1), P O'Connor (0-1); K Murphy (0-1), R Murphy (0-3); E Cronin, P Clifford (1-3, 0-1'45), R Buckley; T Hickey (0-3, 2f), L Donoghue, N O Se (0-4, 2f). Subs: C Fitzgerald (1-0) for R Buckley, C Farley for L Donoghue, G O'Leary for E Cronin, S Dillion for T Wallace, G Horan for C O Se, J Brosnan for P O'Sullivan.

Kildare - D Campbell (0-4, 3f, 1'45); K Corrigan, M Grace, T Dore; G Waters, E McMonagle, N Sherry; L Power, B Travers (0-1); D Malone (0-1), M Nolan (0-2), E Lawless (1-2, 1-0pen, 0-2f); C Murray, M Sherry, B Noone (0-4, 2f). Subs: D Flaherty for M Sherry, S O'Leary for C Murray, T Barron for E McMonagle, S Maughan for B Noone, C Divilly for T Dore, J Jennings for M Nolan.

Referee - L Devenney.

**

Galway - M Breathnach; E O'Sullivan, S Cunniffe, C Reilly; A Ward, S O Currin, D O'Reilly; A Molloy, M Day (0-2); P E O Curraoin, A O Laoi (0-1), T Gleeson; J Ryan (1-4, 0-2f), P Cunningham (0-7), G Kelly (0-6, 2f). Subs: M Reddington (1-1) for T Gleeson (BC), A O hIarnain for P E O Curraoin, D Hennessy for A Molloy, O Canney for S O Currin, S Gaffney (0-1) for P Cunningham, T Rabbitte for G Kelly.

Kilkenny - JJ O'Sullivan; A Duggan, R O'Hara, P Kelly; M Gaffney, P McConigley, S Kelly; S Dowd, M Malone (0-1); M Kenny (0-1f), J Culleton, S Stapleton (0-1); E Moylan, I Duggan (0-2, 1f), J Walsh (1-2). Subs: J Fennelly for P Kelly; L Hickey for P McConigley, M Jones (1-0) for R O'Hara, C Joyce for M Kenny, J Power for S Dowd; C O'Carroll (0-1) for E Moylan. 

Referee - S Lonergan.

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