Champions Kerry miss out on league semis

Kerry 2-17 Tyrone 3-08

Pint-sized Tyrone attacker Mark Harte will not be a welcome man down the Kingdom way as Kerry's National League crown slipped from their grasp in Killarney.

Despite John O'Connor's men earning the win, it was Harte's late point which sent Kerry packing from the league deciders.

With John Maughan's men having bagged an accumulative points tally of 122 and the Kingdom only on 117, it's the Connacht champions who advance.

Minus midfielder Dara O’Sé, Kerry raced 1-05 to 0-02 in front - perhaps mindful of the likely scoring haul they needed.

Declan Quill and Dara O’Cinneide quickly found their range before the latter netted on 19 minutes.

Tyrone, who face Wexford in the Divisional semi-finals later this month, reduced that lead back to three points by the break.

Enda McGinley grabbed the crucial goal, taking advantage of a slip by Seamus Moynihan. Eoin Mulligan and Martin Penrose also tagged on points for the O'Neill men.

With Colin Cooper and Quill in scoring form on the restart, it took a Ryan Mellon goal to bring Mickey Harte's charges within a point - at 1-09 to 2-05 down.

However, Kerry soon showed why they are All-Ireland champions as Liam Hassett pointed and then Cooper speared through the Tyrone rearguard to bag a crucial 53rd-minute goal.

And while Mellon grabbed his second goal, this time from the penalty spot, points from Tomas O’Se, Ronan O’Connor and O’Cinneide looked to have sealed Kerry's passage through.

But they were to be denied in the most dramatic of circumstances as fit-again forward Harte - son of the Tyrone manager - popped up in injury-time to clip over a 20-metre free - the point that saw Mayo into the semi-finals.