Wake-up call for sloppy Kerry

They ultimately claimed victory but Kerry’s opening championship salvo was rather low-key and lacklustre in Semple Stadium yesterday.

For the third successive year they squared off against Tipperary at the end of May and while they maintained their run of wins against the Premier opponents, this Munster SFC quarter-final was not the carefree stroll of previous clashes.

Kerry duly established a meeting with rivals Cork in the Munster semi-final with a six-point winning margin to reflect on at the final whistle. Yet they could never quite shake off the determined challenge of Tipperary. In the past two seasons a dispiriting trend has emerged of Tipperary being competitive for threequarters of the match before fading in the final quarter with Kerry flexing their muscle and exerting superiority. However, yesterday Tipperary refused to thrown in the towel and hung in bravely until the final whistle.