Tyrone sunk in the semi-final by the Kingdom

TYRONE 0-17 KERRY 1-20

TYRONE’S quest for a fifth All-Ireland Senior title was extinguished at Croke Park on Saturday evening as Kerry eased to a six point victory in a disappointing semi-final.

Over 60,000 fans were in attendance for this much-anticipated clash between these modern day rivals on a suffocatingly hot day but unlike the weather, the match itself never really caught fire with the Munster men always in control.

The Kingdom carved out seven goal scoring opportunities over the course of the seventy minutes, but the only one they tucked away came courtesy of David Clifford in the 29^th minute.

That strike helped Kerry to establish a 1-9 to 0-9 interval lead but it was the third quarter where they really put the foot down, outscoring Tyrone 0-8 to 0-4 to move well clear.

Darragh Canavan top scored for Tyrone with seven points to his name but he didn’t receive sufficient help in the scoring stakes from elsewhere to really put a dent in the opposition.

The Red Hands actually got off to a decent start and led 0-4 to 0-1 approaching the quarter hour mark, Ciaran Daly and Kieran McGeary slipping over some confident scores, as did Eoin McElholm who was drafted into the starting line-up in place of Peter Harte, who came on as second half sub.

Once Kerry found their stride though they were hard to stop, with Joe O’Connor producing a monster display around midfield, despite the best efforts of Conn Kilpatrick who was heroic for Tyrone.

Two languid strikes from Mattie Donnelly kept Tyrone in the hunt at the turnaround, despite the concession of that Clifford goal (he also wasted a great chance to net another before the break), while it took a last gasp intervention from Niall Morgan to prevent O’Connor fisting home Sean O’Shea centre.

While a superb two pointer from Darragh Canavan soon after the resumption left Tyrone one in arrears (1-11 to 0-13), the rampant Kingdom then rattled off eight points on the spin between the 43^rd and 63^rd minutes to leave Tyrone looking rather dispirited, Paudie Clifford and sub Killian Spillane with a brace apiece.

In fairness Tyrone kept chipping away and a series of consolation scores from Darragh Canavan, Seanie O’Donnell and sub Ruairi Canavan (two pointer) ensured a semblance of respectability about the final score.

Teams & Scorers

Tyrone: Niall Morgan, Cormac Quinn, Padraig Hampsey, Niall Devlin, Peter Teague, Ben McDonnell, Kieran McGeary (0-1), Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick, Seanie O’Donnell (0-2), Eoin McElholm (0-1), Ciaran Daly (0-2), Darren McCurry, Mattie Donnelly (0-2), Darragh Canavan (0-7,1tp,1f). Subs used: Michael McKernan for B McDonnell (48mins), Mark Bradley for D McCurry (48), Peter Harte for C Daly (52), Ruairi Canavan (0-2,tp) for E McElholm (55), Michael O’Neill for S O’Donnell (67)

Kerry: Shane Ryan, Paul Murphy, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey, Brian O Beaglaoich, Mike Breen, Gavin White, Sean O’Brien, Joe O’Connor (0-2), Mark O’Shea, Sean O’Shea (0-3,2f), Graham O’Sullivan (0-1), David Clifford (1-9, 1tp,4f), Paudie Clifford (0-2), Dylan Geaney (0-1). Subs used: Killian Spillane (0-2) for D Geaney (48), Evan Looney for D Casey (59), Tadhg Morley for M Breen (62), Michael Burns for S O’Brien (62), Tony Brosnan for P Clifford (65)

Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)