Tony Leen: Kerry couldn’t tell us whether Derry were running on empty

This was often par golf from Kerry, never threatening the hole.

SHADOWED: Kerry's Sean O'Shea is tackled by Diarmuid Baker of Derry. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

ANYONE brazen enough to prosecute Kerry for barrelling their way into an All-Ireland semi-final wouldn’t take their case too far in the court of sober analysis. They’d be innocent on most counts.

It isn’t by design but it won’t trouble Jack O’Connor unduly that his men have under-whelmed their way into a championship final four that doesn’t feature their big blue nemesis. In the last 12 minutes of an All-Ireland quarter-final Sunday that struggled to find a pulse, the Munster champions eventually drew the last sting out of a dying Derry and made for home. They kicked five of the last six scores. Late injections of life from Killian Spillane and Cillian Burke made a significant difference to Kerry’s potency, but more importantly their tempo.