Tyrone take champions right to the wire but Kerry find answers
Armin Heinrich of Kerry, right, celebrates with teammate David Clifford after scoring their side's second goal during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final match between Kerry and Tyrone at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
Another buzzer beater goal for Kerry but one that masks a genuine gut-check of the defending All-Ireland champions.
A third weekend on the bounce and following the highs of last Saturday, they were never going to reach those heights again but their character was queried all the way to the final whistle by Tyrone.
Darren McCurry tried to hunt them down with 10 points as a second-half substitute but Kerry, largely through the dash of Gavin White and the scoring abilities of David Clifford and Dylan Geaney, kept ahead of the hounds.
In front of a 48,735 crowd, substitute Armin Heinrich dribbled in a goal seconds from the hooter sounding much to the relief of the poor Kerry crowd in attendance.
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The second half had begun promising for Kerry. A couple of two-pointers, a Dylan Geaney one from play and David Clifford’s from a free, helped them into a five-point lead by the 44th minute. A McCurry two-pointer pegged them back and Shane Murphy was called on to narrow an angle and keep out a Ronan Cassidy goal attempt in the 47th minute.
A fisted point by Paudie Clifford pushed the margin to four, which would have jumped to seven soon after only for Seán O’Shea being unable to find Dylan Geaney with a hand-pass as a goal beckoned.
Tyrone exploited the let-off with the next three scores. The last of them, a rasper by Eoin McElholm, spun off the crossbar and over for a point.
A clinic. pic.twitter.com/DcEpFobYzx
— Maurice Brosnan (@m_brosnan) June 27, 2026
Kerry were living dangerously but up stepped Dylan Geaney with three points from two kicks. They were needed as again Tyrone rose and a Diarmuid O’Connor glancing shoulder on Conn Kilpatrick was adjudged a foul and McCurry curved over the two-point free.
Bringing his tally to 1-7, David Clifford fisted a point but McCurry, off his weaker right foot, responded with his sixth. Clifford repeated the prescription but again McCurry hit back.
It wasn’t until Dylan Geaney and Paudie Clifford strung together a brace of scores that Kerry could breathe a little easier. If Kilpatrick was fortunate to win the free that initiated McCurry’s previous score, Kerry were blessed that Geaney’s score counted as Peter Teague was pulled back and the 45 should have been a wide.
Undeterred, McCurry scored a brace of points to bring Tyrone to within one by the 67th minute. He responded with a free after Paudie Clifford had put a little more space between the sides. However, Kerry retained their kick-out and build up the move for Heinrich’s goal.
Kerry were forced to call two players up from their standby list before throw-in. Tom O’Sullivan replaced Brian Ó Beaglaoich and Shane Ryan’s spot on the bench was taken by Seán Broderick. White took Ó Beaglaoich’s berth in the starting Kerry defence.
There was further concern for Kerry in the warm-up when goalkeeper Shane Murphy was struck on the face and appeared to hurt his left eye. The injury wasn’t enough to stop him starting but he required some medical attention before the national anthem.
The wind had caused Cork no end of trouble in the first half but there was no issue for Paudie Clifford as he punted over a 50-metre two-point free in the fifth minute to opening the scoring.
Conn Kilpatrick retaliated with one at the other end seconds later before Paul Geaney had a shot parried away by Niall Morgan. Kerry’s kick-passing had been so swift to create the opening.
Tyrone jumped ahead twice in four minutes but each time David Clifford brought Kerry back level. Tyrone then reeled off three points without reply, McElholm, Cassidy and Mattie Donnelly the contributors.
It woke Kerry up. Clifford fisted over a third point, Paul Geaney opened his account and then Clifford found the net. Just when the attack appeared to have run its course on White, Clifford picked up the pieces and his extended hop was so crucial to the 20th minute score.
It put Kerry two ahead but it was shortlived as Ethan Jordan landed Tyrone’s second two-pointer. Another couple of Kerry points followed but Kieran McGeary also cancelled those out with an orange flag.
Tyrone were busting a gut to stay with Kerry but the scores towards the end were coming easier for the Munster champions. A foul on Mike Breen was punished by Clifford and after Dylan Geaney doubled his tally Paul Geaney penalised an infringement on Joe O’Connor to give Kerry a 1-11 to 0-12 half-time advantage.
Tyrone had eight different scorers by the break but they had also missed eight scoring attempts, seven wides and one that dropped short.
D. Clifford (1-8, 1 tp free, 1 free); D. Geaney (0-8, 2 tps); P. Clifford (0-5, 1 tp free, 1 45); P. Geaney (0-3, 2 frees); A. Heinrich (1-0); D. O’Connor (0-1).
D. McCurry (0-10, 2 tp frees, 1tp, 2 frees); E. Jordan (0-4, 1 tp, 1 free); E. McElholm, M. Donnelly (0-3 each); C. Kilpatrick (tp), K. McGeary (tp) (0-2 each); S. O’Donnell, R. Cassidy, M. McKernan (0-1 each).
S. Ryan; P. Murphy, J. Foley, D. Casey; G. O’Sullivan, M. Breen, G. White; M. O’Shea, S. O’Brien; J. O’Connor, P. Clifford, D. O’Connor; D. Clifford, P. Geaney (c), D. Geaney.
: S. O’Shea for P. Geaney (47); K. Evans for S. O’Brien (56); E. Looney for P. Murphy (57); A. Heinrich for G. O’Sullivan (60); C. O’Neill for R. Cassidy (66); T. Morley for M. Breen (temp, 67-ft); K. Spillane for D. Geaney (68).
N. Morgan; J. Clarke, P. Teague, C. Quinn; K. McGeary, N. Devlin, M. McKernan; B. Kennedy (c), C. Kilpatrick; S. O’Donnell, C. Daly; E. McElholm, M. Donnelly, E. Jordan.
M. Rafferty for J. Clarke (temp, 24-33); D. McCurry for C. Daly (44); C. Bogue for E. Jordan (56); F. Burns for K. McGeary (59).
Referee: P. Neilan (Roscommon)
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