Kerry end Limerick dream

Kerry 1-11

Limerick paid a heavy price for a what amounted to a poor penalty effort in the 11th minute and while they missed another much later on, the title had as good as been decided after Kerry hit a purple patch in a brief period before the break.

In essence, Kerry's 68th title was smoothed by the fact that Limerick failed to deliver in the first quarter when their challenge was strongest.

During that time, they were almost totally dominant, with Stephen Kelly (who almost sneaked in a goal after 35 seconds) in devastating form on the right wing.

But it all started to go wrong after Michael Reidy failed to take advantage of a penalty won by Jason Stokes and later when Kelly was forced off injured.

And, even though Kerry were a man short for most of the second half, they were never again put under serious pressure.

Limerick played with obvious confidence from the throw-in, gaining encouragement from the first of several powerful runs by Stephen Kelly, which might have yielded a goal inside the first minute but for a despairing challenge from Séamus Moynihan.

Not unexpectedly, they dominated midfield and complemented their advantage by gaining a very good return from all three half-backs, including Damien Reidy, who was to be forced off later through injury.

Kerry's backs were under serious pressure with Tom O'Sullivan in big trouble against Kelly and it was a struggle to get the ball beyond midfield.

The only problem for Limerick and it was what was specifically undermined their challenge was that they failed dismally to capitalise on their possession and punish Kerry where it mattered, on the scoreboard.

At stages they overplayed the ball through their insistence on running at the Kerry backs, and at times when they played more directly, their finishing left them down.

It meant that after points from Stephen Lucey and Kelly in the third and fourth minutes (followed quickly by what proved to be Kerry's only score for 27 minutes), they didn't score again until the 15th minute, through Micheal Reidy.

In the meantime, there were only hints of the Kerry recovery that was to be prompted initially by Declan O'Sullivan after his move to centre-forward in the 14th minute and later by Eoin Brosnan and Dara Ó Cinnéide.

Brosnan had not been faring well against John Galvin, but he was to thunder into the game ironically after returning to play with his head bandaged after an unfortunate clash of heads with Stephen Kelly.

Liam Hassett, too, played a part in helping to turn around Kerry's fortunes, which improved dramatically after Brosnan took over from Galvin and Declan O'Sullivan infused new life into the half-forward line.

This, in turn, benefited the half-backs where Tomás Ó Sé was to make an important contribution, in front of brother Marc, who looked very sharp and the half-forwards.

In time, Kerry were able to function much more effectively as a unit, with Séamus Moynihan's control at the edge of the square inspirational and Declan O'Keeffe's handling of the ball impeccable.

At the other end, both Colm Cooper and Mike Frank Russell won some good possession, but it was Dara Ó Cinnéide who did the real damage after wasting a good opportunity of a goal in the 27th minute.

In the 28th minute, he scored from Kerry's first close-in free, followed with two more in the next three minutes and, after the influential Hassett kicked over the first of two good scores, Ó Cinnéide had the ball in the net.

While the finish was clinical, it was interesting that the opening came from a great catch by Brosnan in the middle and a powerful run down the centre.

It saw Kerry finish 1-6 to 0-3 in front, a lead which didn't flatter them but was an indictment of Limerick's wastage of good possession.

Seven minutes into the second-half Kerry lost Scanlon after he was yellow-carded for the second time.

The management resisted the temptation to bring on Darragh Ó Sé and delayed for another seven minutes before making the first of three changes in attack the first two, involving the replacement of Russell and Cooper being predictable because of their inability to get scores.

Limerick had brought in John Quane for the second-half and for a while he was very effective, mainly playing a sweeper-type role behind the midfielders.

However, Limerick's problems in attack persisted, never managing to make Kerry look vulnerable with Moynihan continuing to give outstanding leadership at full-back, with Tomás Ó Sé very consistent and Tom O'Sullivan more settled.

Nevertheless, Kerry had lost their earlier sparkle in attack and they needed the boost of a terrific 48th minute score from Ó Cinnéide, followed by two more from frees, to enable them to sustain their grip on the game.

Aodán MacGearailt relieved to stay on the field after being yellow-carded for a careless high tackle immediately after coming on was a good addition, as was John Crowley to a lesser extent.

Limerick, to their immense credit, never lost heart, with Diarmuid Sheehy and Conor Mullane to the forefront in some attacking moves and Muiris Gavin, Conor Fitzgerald and Micheál Reidy putting in a strong effort.

Five minutes from time, when Kerry had a seven points advantage, they were awarded a second penalty which Reidy kicked against the crossbar.

It was frustrating for Kearns and his players, but the Kerry display wasn't very reassuring either for Páidi Ó Sé and the Kerry followers.

* Cavan referee Brian Crowe did a good job of refereeing overall. Notably, the vigilance of his umpires resulted in several yellow cards being issued for off-the-ball offences.

Scorers: Kerry: D. Ó Cinnéide 1-6 (0-5 frees); L. Hassett 0-2; C. Cooper, A. MacGearailt and J. Crowley 0-1 each.

Limerick: M. Reidy 0-2; M. Gavin 0-2 frees; S. Lucey, S. Kelly, C. Mullane, J. Stokes and C. Fitzgerald 0-1 each.

KERRY: D. O'Keeffe; M. O Se, S. Moynihan, M. McCarthy (capt.); T. Ó Sé, E. Fitzmaurice, T. O'Sullivan; E. Brosnan, S. Scanlon; L. Hassett, D. Ó Cinnéide, S. O'Sullivan; M.F. Russell, D. O'Sullivan, C. Cooper. Subs: A. MacGearailt for Russell (49th minute); J. Crowley for Cooper (55th); P. Galvin for S. O'Sullivan (67th).

LIMERICK: S. O'Donnell; M. O'Riordan, D. Sheehy, T. Stack; D. Reidy, S. Lucey, C. Mullane; J. Stokes, J. Galvin; S. Kelly, M. Gavin (capt.), S. Lavin; C. Fitzgerald, M. Reidy, J. Murphy. Subs: P. Ahern for Kelly (injured 37th minute); J. Quane for D. Reidy (injured, second half); P. Brown for Murphy (58th); C. Hickey for M. Reidy (63rd).

Referee: B. Crowe (Cavan).

*Attendance: 38,204.