Kerry spluttering but Buckley and Murphy get them home safely

Kerry and All-Ireland quarter-finals. At this stage, framed by their own hyphened, hinged parlance. Ring-rusty. Lethargic-like. Semi-sloppy. But powder still dry. And winning to boot.

Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s crew were on the train down to Kerry by the time Mayo and Roscommon battled themselves into inconclusiveness in the second of yesterday’s double-bill at Croke Park. News of the replay date and venue was confirmed last night, with both camps happy that a second bite this day week will round off a hectic bank holiday championship weekend in both codes.

After the exclamation point delivered by Armagh on Saturday night, yesterday’s clamour for semi-final spots had a somewhat unsatisfactory feel to it. While Mayo’s slugfest with Roscommon was absorbing for the fact that momentum swayed east and west until the 78th minute, their Connacht neighbours will feel frustrated that they didn’t ask more questions of Kerry in the opener. The vast majority of the 65,746 in attendance would agree.