Galvin sees red for slapping ref's notebook away

Kerry 1-14 Clare 0-5

All-Ireland champions Kerry were far from impressive as they won through to their sixth successive Munster final.

The major talking point from this Killarney clash was the second half sending-off of Paul Galvin.

Earning two quick bookings, the Kerry captain slapped referee Paddy Russell's notebook out of his hand before remonstrating with a linesman and his team-mate Tomas O Se.

Three David Tubridy points had Clare only 0-07 to 0-04 down at half-time but a Colm Cooper goal got the Kingdom back on track.

1/200 favourites for this match, Kerry turned in a far from vintage display but still ran out comfortable winners as their quest for a three in-a-row of All-Irelands got off to a shaky start.

With players still coming back from injury lay-offs and in Colm Cooper's case, a lengthy stay in America, there was evident rustiness in Kerry's play.

But once things began to click in the second half, they were out of Clare's sight.

Although Galvin's controversial sending-off will be a major concern for Pat O'Shea, the Kerry manager will also have to contend with what looked a serious injury to Declan O'Sullivan.

All-Ireland-winning captain O'Sullivan had to be stretchered off in the opening period, wincing in pain due to a suspected knee injury.

Clare, who last beat Kerry in the championship in 1992, were particularly competitive during the opening half-hour.

Kerry took the initial lead with Bryan Sheehan firing over a couple of frees, one of them a fine effort from a tight angle on the '45'.

Clare created a potential goal-scoring opportunity in the seventh-minute but Rory Donnelly was content to take his point by fisting over.

At this stage, Kerry seemed over eager and were not concentrating on getting the basics right. Passes went astray, players were fouled and Clare took advantage to move ahead.

Tubridy tapped over after a slick attack and the Doonbeg youngster pointed a '45' in the 18th-minute to move the Banner men into a 0-03 to 0-02 lead.

Kerry replied with three successive points, the last being a peach of a score from Declan O'Sullivan, who lashed over after two excellent passes from Cooper and Sheehan.

Clare's ploy of dangling high balls in on the Kerry full-back line was paying dividends and Tubridy increased his influence with his third point.

But Kerry pulled further clear just before the break when Tommy Walsh pointed on his championship debut and Aidan O'Mahony also charged forward from his centre-back station to score.

A goal chance also went a-begging in the 28th-minute when after a superb one-handed catch by Darragh O Se, who was making his 87th SFC appearance in green and gold, Eoin Brosnan went on a trademark burst only for his shot to sail right and wide of Joe Hayes' goal.

Despite that miss (one of their six first half wides), Kerry began to ooze confidence on the resumption and Rory Donnelly and Tubridy soon saw less of the ball in the corners.

Sheehan fisted Kerry's eighth point and Galvin also tagged on a point before Cooper flashed home the game's only goal after being put through by the influential Sheehan.

A white flag from Darren O'Sullivan increased Kerry's lead to 1-10 to 0-04 and Clare were in serious trouble.

To add to their misery, they then lost Conor Whelan who got his marching orders for a heavy tackle.

Galvin's antics, after he had initially fouled John Hayes, saw the playing numbers evened up. On receiving his first booking, the Kerry wing forward did himself no favours for slapping Russell's notebook out of his grasp.

The Tipperary official has no hesitation in booking Galvin again and brandishing his red card, much to the Kerry skipper's annoyance.

In an attempt to diffuse the situation, Tomas O Se stepped in to calm his team-mate down but he ended up having to restrain him and that only resulted in both players pushing and shoving each other before Galvin finally left the pitch.

The game petered out after that flashpoint. Kerry brought Kieran Donaghy on and began pumping balls in on him, but the quality of football dipped.

Seamus Scanlon stood out in the Kerry midfield. He had a very good game alongside O Se, while Clare, to their credit, kept battling until the final whistle despite losing John Hayes to a second yellow card.

KERRY: D Murphy; M O Se, T O'Sullivan, P Reidy; T O Se, A O'Mahony, T Griffin; D O Se, S Scanlon; P Galvin, Declan O'Sullivan, E Brosnan; C Cooper, T Walsh, B Sheehan.

CLARE: J Hayes; L Healy, C Whelan, G Kelly; N Considine, D Connole, J Hayes; G Quinlan, G Brennan; D Russell, S Hickey, S Collins; R Donnelly, C Dillon, D Tubridy.

Referee: Paddy Russell (Tipperary)