Kerry edge into McGrath Cup final

Kerry 0-13 Tipperary 1-9

Cromane clubman Donncha Walsh hit the winning point as Kerry battled their way through to next Sunday's McGrath Cup final, edging out Tipperary 0-13 to 1-9 in a well-contested semi-final at Fitzgerald Stadium.

In sunny conditions, Kerry manager Jack O’Connor and Tipperary boss John Evans fielded two talent-laden teams and a late goal from midfielder George Hannigan had Tipp just minutes away from an early season upset.

Hannigan finished off a length of the pitch move, firing low past Kerry goalkeeper Brendan Kealy who hardly put a foot wrong during the hour-long contest - particularly under some testing high balls.

The goal put Evans' men into a 1-9 to 0-11 lead but they were overhauled at the death as closing points from Barry John Keane and Walsh saw Kerry book their place in the cup decider against UCC.

Having missed an earlier free, Stephen Hahessy opened the scoring for Tipperary in the sixth minute and there was very little between the sides until Kerry broke into a four-point lead coming up to half-time.

The Killian Young-led Kingdom side hit the front with Kieran O’Leary and Paul O’Connor pointing frees. Micheal Quirke impressed under the high ball, taking a number of excellent marks in midfield and Kieran Donaghy and Tipperary full-back Niall Curran enjoyed a ding dong battle on the ground and in the air.

Seamus Scanlon and Tipp free-taker Conor Sweeney swapped points before Kerry enjoyed their first real purple patch, ignited by a fine run and point from a sharp-looking Declan O’Sullivan.

With Padraig Reidy clearing well in defence, the All-Ireland champions pressed on with points from Donncha Walsh, O’Sullivan again and O’Connor. Tipp’s only response was a well-taken point on the turn from Barry Grogan.

All that left the Premier County with a 0-7 to 0-3 deficit to mull over during half-time, although Curran, Hahessy, Sean Carey and Christopher Aylward got through some excellent work for the visitors in the opening half.

The Kerry management sent Paul Galvin on for the second half and the 2009 Footballer of the Year had plenty of influence as his side opened up a 0-11 to 0-8 gap. However, they needed Galvin’s presence as Tipp, with their superior fitness levels coming to the fore, had briefly made it a single point game - 0-7 to 0-6.

They began the second half by stroking over three points on the bounce, with Seamus Grogan (0-2) and Sweeney both on target. Kerry, doing just enough to keep ahead, carved out points for Scanlon, Maurice Corridan and free-taker O’Connor, who landed four placed balls in all.

At the other end, Alan Rockett and Sweeney added to Tipp’s tally before a slick passing move ended with Hannigan beating Kealy from close range.

But Kerry failed to panic. The levelling point came from Keane after a neat link-up with James O’Donoghue and then Walsh shot Kerry through to a meeting with UCC, his former college.