Kerry ease into semi-final past wasteful Limerick

Kerry 1-20 Limerick 0-10

Limerick's challenge petered out in the second half as Kerry cantered into the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals with a degree of ease.

Midfielder Bryan Sheehan led the Kingdom charge in a strong second half display, firing over five points in the closing 29 minutes.

The first half contribution of Darran O'Sullivan was also noteworthy. He scored 1-3, including a deftly-taken goal, before a leg injury forced his premature exit.

Kerry broke into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead by the seventh minute, with Declan and Darran O'Sullivan on target in the opening stages.

Indeed Kerry could have blown the Shannonsiders away early on but Limerick's defence stood up strongly in the opening quarter.

Unfortunately dual player Stephen Lucey, who was coping well as Kieran Donaghy's marker, pulled his hamstring in the seventh minute and limped off. He was replaced by fellow Croom clubman Mark O'Riordan.

Lucey's loss was a major blow to Limerick's chances of causing an upset, but they continued to pressurise the Kerry forwards with Stephen Lavin particularly tigerish.

At the opposite end, Maurice Horan's men were struggling to convert their scoring opportunties. Stephen Kelly was guilty of a number of poor misses.

Sheehan's first point opened up a four-point Kerry lead in the 14th minute, before Limerick eventually claimed their first score through the industrious Kelly.

Darran O'Sullivan responded immediately for Kerry, but just three points separated the sides after a solid strike from Seamus O'Carroll in the 21st minute.

Four minutes later, Limerick's hard-working defence gave way as O'Sullivan registered the game's only goal.

The returning Paul Galvin fed Sheehan, who played the ball in towards the edge of the square, and the inrushing O'Sullivan instinctively flicked it home 'soccer style' with his right instep.

It was a magnificent strike from the London-born forward, who played underage soccer for Queen's Park Rangers before his family moved home to Glenbeigh.

It also continued O'Sullivan's impressive goal-scoring form in this year's Championship. He netted in the Kingdom's Munster Championship wins over Limerick and Cork.

Limerick needed to respond quickly and they did. Goalkeeper Brian Scanlon took on the long range free-taking duties and sent over a free in the 27th minute.

Scanlon's point ensured he was the fourth goalkeeper to score in this year's Championship, but he found himself very much under pressure in the Shannonsiders' rearguard for the remainder of the opening half.

Darran O'Sullivan brought his tally to 1-3 a minute later, before he cut through for a second goal-scoring chance. The 26-year-old created space for himself, yet his angled effort was blocked by wing back Lavin.

The rebound broke kindly for Colm Cooper, however he racked up the Munster champions' fifth wide from his 30-metre kick.

'Gooch' made amends from the resulting kick-out to propel Kerry into a 1-7 to 0-3 lead, just before O'Sullivan's injury-enforced withdrawal.

Ger Collins fired wide of the target at the Hill 16 end as Limerick continued to miss chances. Midfielder Anthony Maher then became Kerry's sixth scorer before Ian Ryan tagged on a late free, leaving Limerick with a 1-8 to 0-4 deficit to take into the break.

Horan's charges dominated the opening minutes of the second half, delighting their pockets of supporters around Croke Park. Their mini revival came despite the absence of John Cooke who sustained a shoulder injury.

The towering Donaghy may have been present for the throw-in, but the Shannonsiders won possession. They worked the ball to Kelly, who cut the deficit to six points after just 13 seconds.

Indeed, Limerick hit three unanswered points inside four minutes of the restart in their brightest patch. Kelly and Ger Collins left the scoreline at 1-8 to 0-7, but Kerry calmly went up through the gears.

Tomás Ó Sé had gone forward twice in search of scores in the opening half without reward, but found the target in the 42nd minute as his side opened up a six-point gap.

Limerick were not going to roll over. O'Carroll exposed the Kerry full-back line to create a goal-scoring opportunity, but the Cappagh man was denied by a superb save from Brendan Kealy.

Kerry owned possession during the middle chunk of the second half, making Limerick pay for those misses as they opened up a 10-point advantage.

Jack O'Connor's charges claimed seven of the eight points registered between the 42nd and 60th minutes, with Cooper and Sheehan contributing the bulk of that tally.

Defender Killian Young rounded off this purple patch for the pre-match favourites, nosing them into a 1-15 to 0-8 lead by the hour mark.

A spirited score from defender John Riordan mattered little in the end as Kerry never looked troubled over the closing 20 minutes of the contest.

Late scores from substitute James O'Donoghue and full-forward Donaghy extended the winning margin to 13 points. A routine victory and the promise of more to come.

KERRY: B Kealy; K Young (0-1), M Ó Sé, T O'Sullivan; T Ó Sé (0-2), E Brosnan, A O'Mahony; A Maher (0-1), B Sheehan (0-6, 0-4f, 0-1 '45'); P Galvin, Declan O'Sullivan (0-2), D Walsh; C Cooper (0-3, 0-2f), K Donaghy (0-1), Darran O'Sullivan (1-3).

Subs used: K O'Leary for Darran O'Sullivan (33 mins), S Enright for O'Mahony (49), J O'Donoghue (0-1) for Galvin, D Bohane for Brosnan, S Scanlon for Maher (all 62);

LIMERICK: B Scanlon (0-1, 0-1f); J McCarthy, T Stack, S Lucey; S Lavin, P Ranahan, J Riordan (0-1); S Gallagher, S Buckley; S Kelly (0-4), S O'Carroll (0-1), J Cooke; G Collins (0-1), I Ryan (0-2, 0-2f), E O'Connor.

Subs used: M O'Riordan for Lucey (7 mins), J Mullane for Cooke, J Donovan for Gallagher (both half-time), E Hogan for Mullane (63).

Referee: Pat McEnaney (Monaghan).