David Clifford's 1-9 sees Kerry into All-Ireland final with room to spare over Tyrone

Irish Times

a day ago

All-Ireland SFC semi-final: Kerry 1-20 Tyrone 0-17
On the hottest day of the year,
Kerry
got the job done long before the final whistle to qualify for a third All-Ireland SFC final in four years.
Tyrone
were reduced to booming in long, hopeful balls during the closing stages after Kerry made a decisive move in the third quarter of this semi-final to drain all hope from the Ulster side's challenge.
Kerry celebrated briefly at the final whistle but many of the players were off down the tunnel before Joe O'Connor had even finished his man-of-the-match interview along the Hogan Stand sideline.
The Tyrone players lingered on the pitch until they were accompanied only by some of the panel's young children and a crafty flock of ravenous seagulls who descended upon the stadium to feed on whatever parcels of food had been left behind from the departed 62,434 spectators.
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For most of the afternoon the Tyrone forwards had been forced to live off scraps, while at the other end of the field
David Clifford
was in gluttonous form, finishing the game with 1-9 and ensuring Pádraig Hampsey will spend a few nights seeing the back of his Kerry jersey in his nightmares.
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Kerry 1-20 Tyrone 0-17 - As it happened
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Kerry led 1-9 to 0-9 at half-time, having played with the breeze in that opening period, but they won the match in a commanding second-half display.
Darragh Canavan kept Tyrone in the contest with four points – including one two-pointer – during the opening 10 minutes after the restart.
However, from the 43rd to the 63rd minute Kerry outscored Tyrone 0-8 to no score to lead 1-20 to 0-13.
Tyrone kicked five successive wides in a six-minute period during that spell, too, and with each miscued effort the energy visibly drained from Tyrone's challenge. Four of their starting six forwards had been taken off by the end.
Even coming down the home straight, Kerry's energy and desire were impressive – Brian Ó Beaglaoich put his body on the line to make a superb last-ditch diving block on a Niall Devlin shot. A Tyrone goal wouldn't have made any difference to the outcome, but Ó Beaglaoich's willingness to make that block offered an insight to Kerry's mindset.
And though the final 10 minutes played out more like the end of a one-sided league game than a closely contested All-Ireland semi-final, Tyrone had actually laid the foundations for a possible upset in a decent first-half showing.
Jason Foley of Kerry attempts to block an effort from Tyrone's Eoin McElholm during the semi-final at Croke Park. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
There were significant changes made to both teams before throw-in, with Paudie Clifford and Mark O'Shea starting for Kerry while Micheál Burns and Conor Geaney dropped to the bench.
Eoin McElholm and Ben McDonnell came in from the start for Tyrone with Rory Brennan and Peter Harte making way. The announcement of McElholm's inclusion – his first senior championship start – generated a huge chorus of cheers from the Tyrone fans inside the stadium.
Dylan Casey immediately picked up McElholm while Paul Murphy marshalled Canavan and Jason Foley marked Darren McCurry.
At the other end of the field Hampsey was given the onerous task of tagging David Clifford, Cormac Quinn picked up Dylan Geaney while Devlin marked Paudie Clifford.
Such was the heat in Croke Park that several players carried ice packs as they walked the pitch for the pre-game parade, Mattie Donnelly dabbing the back of his neck as the band marched down by the Cusack Stand.
But Tyrone started like a group of players with ice in their veins – McElholm taking to the moment like a seasoned veteran as he danced inside the Kerry defence to feed Ciarán Daly for his side's opening point in the fourth minute.
That made it 0-1 apiece after O'Shea had popped over an early point following a foul on David Clifford. Even in those opening stages, Clifford looked dangerous.
But Tyrone were the better team in the opening quarter of an hour and a nice left-footed point by McElholm put them 0-5 to 0-2 ahead.
They had also created two goal chances, the second of those saw Shane Ryan save well from Darren McCurry, though the shot was hit at a nice height for the Kerry goalkeeper.
Tyrone also turned over Kerry's first four kick-outs. But the Munster champions simply refused to get flustered.
O'Connor was doing brilliantly driving forward from the middle of the field and as the game progressed the clearer it became that Hampsey was struggling to get a handle on David Clifford.
Not that it was all the Tyrone defender's fault, he was left exposed too often. But before Clifford netted his 29th-minute goal, it's fair to say many in Croke Park felt such a score had been coming.
Kerry's Joe O'Connor celebrates scoring a point. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
Mike Breen was allowed saunter up the field unchecked and gave a lovely weighted handpass inside to Clifford. The Fossa man still had a bit of work to do but used his trademark bounce deftly to buy some extra space and evade Niall Morgan before placing the ball to the back of the net.
Morgan made some fine stops during the game but Clifford's genius with the hop was fitting of the occasion.
Tyrone probably weren't too disheartened to only go in three down at the break because they had the wind to come in the second half. Canavan reduced the gap to two inside the opening minute and when he added a two-pointer soon after it appeared a gripping climax might be in the offing.
Kerry had other ideas though. It was too warm for such drama so instead they shifted through the gears and got back safely down the road with little fuss.
Tyrone's attack started to malfunction, too, during that second half. McElholm, Daly and Seánie O'Donnell had been lively and productive in the first half but their influence on the game waned and all three were eventually hauled ashore.
Kerry had repelled Tyrone's early onslaught. Tyrone couldn't do likewise when the Kerry one followed.
The Kingdom now await the winners of Sunday's semi-final between Donegal and Meath. It'll be a green and gold decider, either way.
The writing of Kerry epitaphs seems a lifetime ago now.
KERRY:
Shane Ryan; Paul Murphy, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Mike Breen, Gavin White; Joe O'Connor (0-0-2), Mark O'Shea; Seán O'Brien, Seán O'Shea (0-0-3, 2f), Graham O'Sullivan (0-0-1); David Clifford (1-1-7, 0-4f), Paudie Clifford (0-0-2), Dylan Geaney (0-0-1).
Subs:
Killian Spillane (0-0-2) for Geaney (48 mins); Evan Looney for Casey (58); Tadhg Morley for Breen, Micheál Burns for O'Brien (both 62); Tony Brosnan for P Clifford (65).
TYRONE:
Niall Morgan; Cormac Quinn, Pádraig Hampsey, Niall Devlin; Ben McDonnell, Peter Teague, Kieran McGeary (0-0-1); Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick; Seánie O'Donnell (0-0-2), Mattie Donnelly (0-0-2), Ciarán Daly (0-0-2); Eoin McElholm (0-0-1), Darren McCurry, Darragh Canavan (0-1-5, 0-2f).
Subs:
Michael McKernan for McDonnell, Mark Bradley for McCurry (both 48 mins); Peter Harte for Daly (52); Ruairí Canavan (0-1-0) for McElholm (56); Michael O'Neill for O'Donnell (67).
Referee:
Joe McQuillan (Cavan).