Kerry punish wasteful Dublin to secure return to All-Ireland SFC final

The Kingdom will now face Mayo in the final in two weeks time.

BACK TO THE FINAL: Kerry's David Clifford celebrates after scoring a late point. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

DUBLIN 0-20 (0-2-16) KERRY 2-18 (2-3-12)

Kerry huffed and pulled their way to another All-Ireland SFC final as Paudie Clifford returned to form at just the right time.

Clifford kicked five from play and David conjured up another handsome tally, 1-5, as Kerry played a patient game, stretching Dublin as much as possible to find pockets to target.

Dublin will rue their 13 wides, star men Con O’Callaghan and Niall Scully didn’t catch fire, but they gave Kerry their fill of it on kick-outs, something which will give Andy Moran and Kerry’s former coach Paddy Tally food for thought.

Put simply, they didn’t do enough with the wind at their backs in the opening half.

Tied at the break, Dublin’s great efforts on Kerry’s kick-out resulted in three points in succession – Paddy Small, Brian Howard and Colm Basquel.

However, it was undone when Seán O’Brien touched in Dylan Geaney’s point attempt in the 43rd minute. Geaney had been unerring from scoring efforts this championship and as luck would have it O’Brien’s touch was enough to foil Evan Comerford.

Charlie McMorrow’s point was a fine response by Dublin but then up stepped Paudie Clifford with the next three points, the first of them from outside the arc. Brother David backed it up with his own after Kerry had made the most of a Lee Gannon attempt to keep a kick-out in ball.

Seán O’Shea followed with another two-pointer in the 53rd minute after Cormac Costello registered a white flag and the margin was five. However, Kerry lived on the seat of their pants in the 58th minute when Shane Murphy first kept out Ross McGarry and McGarry’s follow-up palmed effort was kept out by Paul Murphy onto Mike Breen who was on the goal-line. It was tight. Costello was also blocked by Jason Foley.

Costello at least brought his own total to seven points but the next score was Kerry’s, David Clifford’s tally jumping to six after Evan Looney was fortunate not to have been whistled for a free.

Howard’s second made it a four-point game with five minutes remaining but Seán Guiden and Charlie McMorrow wides were costly and Tomás Kennedy restored Kerry’s five-point difference with a fisted score.

Seán Bugler and Niall Scully fired over shots but the penultimate kick-out was won by Kerry and David Clifford slotted over the insurance score. It was left to him to count down the final seconds on the big screen in the corner of the Davin and Hogan Stands and kick the ball to that upper level.

There were two late cry-offs, one for each team. As expected, Seán MacMahon missed out with a hamstring problem and Alex Gavin replaced him in the team. Kerry captain Paul Geaney was also forced out and O’Shea took his berth.

O’Shea may have shown signs of rust as a substitute the past couple of games but he looked bright from the outset here and was a useful outlet at kick-outs.

Having won the toss, Dublin elected to take the wind advantage in the first half and there was wind in their sails when Costello landed a two-pointer with less than a minute in.

Kerry's  Paudie Clifford in action against Cian Murph. Pic:  Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Within two minutes, it was eclipsed by a David Clifford goal. Not one of his usual efforts, mind you. Peadar Ó Cofaigh-Byrne hit Joe O’Connor high in the area and while Clifford’s penalty strike was poor and kept out by Evan Comerford, the Kerry captain on the day followed up with the rebound.

Bossing the ball, Kerry notched up three of the next four points but a Con O’Callaghan two-pointer in the 13th minute brought Dublin within a score. O’Shea then converted a mark with his left foot having been found by Paudie Clifford.

The elder Clifford sibling was largely left untouched by the Dublin rearguard and was largely responsible for Kerry keeping their noses in front up to the 33rd minute when Charlie McMorrow squared the game.

That came seconds after Kerry had struck their first wide of the game via David Clifford although they had also dropped two short, while Dublin’s misses for the half amounted to six included four two-point attempts.

Costello’s contribution jumped to five in the 34th minute to put Dublin ahead but O’Shea clipped over another with his left just before the hooter sounded and parity was restored at 1-8 to 0-11.

Scorers for Dublin: C. Costello (0-7, 1 tp free, 1 45); C. Basquel (0-3); C. O’Callaghan (1 tp), P. Small, C. McMorrow, B. Howard (0-2 each); S. Bugler, N. Scully (0-1 each).

Scorers for Kerry: D. Clifford (1-5, 1 tp); P. Clifford (0-5, 1 tp); S. O’Shea (0-4, 1 tp, 1 mark); S. O’Brien (1-0); G. O’Sullivan (0-2); D. Geaney, T. Kennedy (0-1 each).

DUBLIN: E. Comerford; L. Gannon, D. Byrne, T. Clancy; E. Kennedy, B. Howard, C. McMorrow; P. Ó Cofaigh-Byrne, A. Gavin; C. Kilkenny, N. Scully, C. Basquel; P. Small, C. O’Callaghan (c), C. Costello.

Subs: C. Murphy for A. Gavin (51); R. McGarry for P. Ó Cofaigh-Byrne (55); S. Bugler for E. Kennedy (58); S. Guiden for P. Small (63).

KERRY: S. Murphy; P. Murphy; J. Foley, D. Casey; G. O’Sullivan, M. Breen, G. White; M. O’Shea, S. O’Brien; J. O’Connor, S. O’Shea, D. O’Connor; P. Clifford, D. Clifford (c), D. Geaney.

Subs: B. Ó Beaglaoich for G. O’Sullivan (43); K. Evans for S. O’Brien (47); E. Looney for P. Murphy, A. Heinrich for G. White (both 59); T. Kennedy for D. Geaney (63).

Referee: B. Cawley (Kildare).