Kerry 1-14 Dublin 1-13
It all happened with great symmetry. Kerry made peace with the decade’s torment that had been burned into the county’s consciousness and, at the sixth time of asking, brought down Dublin to reach this year’s All-Ireland final.
Like that watershed match 11 years ago, when Dublin beat them in final, this win depended on a free kick with the match taking its dying breaths in the sixth minute of injury-time.
As in 2011 when Stephen Cluxton’s free drifted between the Hill 16 posts and into destiny by raising the curtain on the most dominant era known to football, this time it was Seán O’Shea, well over 50 metres out. His kick was measured and true, its fate already signalled by the silence of the Hill and the rising tumult from the Hogan Stand.
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The umpires nodded and reached for the flag. There was time for hardly anything more. Dublin have walked this path in a succession of one-point All-Ireland victories and could have no complaints. For Kerry manager Jack O’Connor, it will have helped to erase the memories of 2011 when he watched as Kerry lost a lead and tumbled to defeat.
For all the drama on a sunny atmospheric afternoon when Dublin supporters, packing out the attendance a few thousand short of capacity, came to see whether their fabled team could continue to defy gravity, this was a deserved win for Kerry.
They complicated things for themselves in the second half, having gone in at the break leading by six, 1-8 to 0-6 but rallied in the end to secure the narrowest of victories.
They had always projected the greater menace. They had fewer wides, led for virtually the whole match and trailed for just seconds in opening minutes. In David Clifford they had the dominant influence of the first half whereas his brother Paudie played the same part in the second half.
Seán O’Shea scored 1-2 from play and steered over the winner under the most intense pressure.
Their defence reflected this year’s improvement with tight and aggressive marking, vigorously stripping their opponents of possession and although they conceded a goal, it was just the third in 15 matches. They did so while still facilitating the forward movement of full backs, Graham and Tom O’Sullivan and Jason Foley.
If Jack Barry wasn’t having the previous Kryptonite impact on Brian Fenton, at least the teams were breaking more or less even in the middle,
You could argue they were assisted by the sterility of Dublin’s early attacks in the much -missed absence of the injured Con O’Callaghan; too much recycling with little prospect of penetration and several wides into the wind-blown Hill end.
Kerry got on the front foot early when O’Shea was first to a bouncing ball to the left of the goal. James McCarthy, covering, appeared to assume O’Shea would turn out but he cut in, carried across the goal, spotted the gap and slotted the chance, making it 1-1 to 0-1.
McCarthy, an injury doubt himself last week, had a really good match, driving forward down the flank and reading the play really well.
Michael Fitzsimons, with McCarthy, one of two surviving starters from 2011, was condemned to another afternoon in David Clifford’s company and, as usual, he stuck to the glum task with tenacity but his man also emerged with four points from play and a mark.
It could have been worse for Dublin had O’Shea converted a penalty awarded when Gavin White, having reacted quickest to a David Clifford shot coming off the post was taken down by Lorcan O’Dell, somehow isolated on him.
O’Shea’s shot was poor and Evan Comerford blocked the ball and felt the full force of his opponent’s follow-up. Having been down for an age before the penalty was taken and then again afterwards, the chief impact was to run the clock on John Small’s sin binning for taking O’Shea out off the ball.
At half-time, Kerry led by five, 1-8 to 0-6, and there was no prospect of a Dublin revival. In fact for some in blue, there was the prospect of the whole thing becoming ugly.
That was how it unfolded until with the half-time margin unaltered, the game got a sugar rush. In a game where Kerry’s defensive system successfully pushed Dublin out to the margins, it was significant that the goal came from a turnover before the backs could reset.
David Moran spilled possession and for the first time Dublin attacked with purpose. At the end of the move, Cormac Costello was to the right of the posts but curled a fine shot around Shane Ryan and into the Canal net.
The Hill made its presence felt and when David Clifford hit his first wide of the afternoon, the ground was shaking with expectation. Ciarán Kilkenny, having a great second half relocated to full forward, cut the margin to one.
The match bobbled around, no more than a score in it. Ten minutes without a score and Eoin Murchan, an accomplished afternoon behind him blotting out Paul Geaney and regularly getting forward, went off with a bad injury.
Paudie Clifford, garlanded his good second half by putting Kerry three ahead with less than 10 minutes left.
Back came Dublin: McCarthy and Kilkenny reducing the margin and Fitzsimons bringing the house down by beating Clifford to a ball before Paddy Small, who enlivened things on his introduction, levelled going into injury-time.
Anyone’s game but only one winner as O’Shea nudged Kerry over the finish line.
KERRY: 1. Shane Ryan; 2. Graham O’Sullivan, 3. Jason Foley, 4. Tom O’Sullivan (0-1); 5. Brian Ó Beaglaíoch, 6. Tadhg Morley, 7. Gavin White; 8. David Moran, 25. Jack Barry; 9. Diarmuid O’Connor, 11. Seán O’Shea (1-4, 0-2 frees), 12. Stephen O’Brien; 13. Paudie Clifford (0-2), 14. David Clifford (0-6, 0-1 free, 0-1 mark), 15. Paul Geaney. Subs: 18. Killian Spillane for Geaney, 42 mins; 10. Dara Moynihan (0-1) for O’Brien, 42 mins; 19. Paul Murphy for G O’Sullivan, 62 mins; 21. Joe O’Connor for White, 66 mins
DUBLIN: 1. Evan Comerford; 2. Eoin Murchan, 3. Mick Fitzsimons, 4. Lee Gannon (0-1); 5. John Small (0-1), 6. Jonny Cooper, 21. James McCarthy (0-1); 8. Brian Fenton (0-1), 9. Tom Lahiff; 7. Sean Bugler (0-1), 11. Brian Howard (0-1), 12.Ciarán Kilkenny (0-3); 13. Cormac Costello (1-0), 14. Dean Rock (0-3, 0-3 frees), 15. Lorcan O’Dell. Subs: 15. Paddy Small (0-1) for O’Dell, 40 mins; 19. Davy Byrne for Cooper, 42 mins; 20. Seán McMahon for Murchan, 57 mins; 10. Niall Scully for Howard, 62 mins; 24. Cian Murphy for Fitzsimons, 72 mins
Referee: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon)
