Munster Senior Football Final

Kerry 3-17 Tipperary 2-10

By Jackie Cahill at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney

Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s Kerry claimed a fourth successive Munster senior football championship crown in Killarney this afternoon, seeing off Tipperary by ten points in Killarney.

The Kingdom recovered from a sluggish start to stamp their authority all over proceedings at Fitzgerald Stadium – as lethal inside forward Paul Geaney bagged 2-3 from play. Kerry’s 78th Munster SFC title win was one of their more routine as Fitzmaurice’s charges marched into the All-Ireland quarter-final.

Tipp, who find themselves one step away from the last eight of the All-Ireland series, died with their boots on but that elusive first senior provincial crown since 1935 eludes them. This was the Premier County’s first Munster SFC final appearance since 2002 and there was a gulf in class once Kerry found some sort of rhythm.

The writing was on the wall for Tipperary at half-time as a nine-point turnaround saw them trail by 1-4 to 2-7. Kerry had a breeze at their backs in the opening half but were slow to settle and they were rocked by the concession of a goal within 35 seconds.

Peter Acheson and Philip Austin were involved in the build-up before Jimmy Feehan, a late replacement for Martin Dunne, slipped a shot beneath Brian Kelly. The goalkeeper got something on it but the ball bounced over the line and Tipp had a dream start in front of a 21,512 crowd.

There was a further boost for Tipp later in the half when Colm Cooper went off injured, the ‘Gooch’ replaced by Michael Geaney. As the half wore on, Kerry grew and while Tipp’s short kick-out strategy to the flanks presented them with plenty of clean possession, they struggled to work the ball through the lines.

Indeed, Feehan’s goal was Tipp’s only score from play in the entire half, with Kevin O’Halloran converting three frees and Michael Quinlivan one. Kerry found scores from play easier to come by and they had five players on target by half-time, as skipper Bryan Sheehan added two frees.

Despite falling that goal behind from Tipp’s first attack, Kerry regrouped and were level at 0-4 to 1-1 by the eleventh minute. Two Kevin O’Halloran frees moved Tipp two points clear again but Kerry took over from there.

Paul Murphy’s 17th minute goal handed the Kingdom the whip hand, a well-taken effort slipped into the corner past Evan Comerford to conclude a lightning counter-attack. Kerry got in for a second goal seven minutes later, sub Geaney the creator for his cousin Paul, who turned inside before cracking a rasping drive past Comerford.

Two points after half-time extended Kerry’s six-point interval lead to eight, before O’Halloran responded with a well-taken ’45. Mikey Quinlivan then forced an excellent save from Kelly as Tipp went in search of goals, as Paul Geaney kept the scoreboard ticking over for Kerry with a point.

Their third goal followed soon after and it was that man Geaney again on the end of a pass from sub David Moran before finishing brilliantly with a low, left-footed strike. That 49th-minute goal established an 11-point lead for Kerry, 3-10 to 1-5, and Tipp were facing a rout at that stage.

But to their credit, they responded within a minute as Quinlivan fed Robbie Kiely for an excellent goal. But Tipp’s struggles in front of goal were illustrated by the fact that O’Halloran’s point in the 53rd minute was their first from play.

And Kerry, who didn’t register a single second half wide, could afford to run their bench as clock ticked down, with former Footballer of the Year James O’Donoghue among those to come on, making his first appearance since last year’s All-Ireland final.

O’Donoghue marked his comeback with three points down the home straight but injury sustained by Cooper will be a concern for Kerry.

**Scorers for Kerry: **P Geaney 2-3, P Murphy 1-1, J O’Donoghue 0-4 (3f), B Sheehan 0-4 (4f), K Young, D O’Sullivan, S O’Brien, B.J. Keane & M Geaney 0-1 each.

Scorers for Tipperary: K O’Halloran 0-6 (4f, 1 45), R Kiely & J Feehan 1-0 each, M Quinlivan 0-3 (2f), A Moloney 0-1.

KERRY: B Kelly; S Enright, M Griffin, B Ó Beaglaoich; A O’Mahony, K Young, T Morley; K Donaghy, B Sheehan; D Walsh, C Cooper, P Murphy; D O’Sullivan, P Geaney, S O’Brien.** Subs:** M Geaney for Cooper (inj, 20), D Moran for Donaghy (46), J Lyne for Ó Beaglaoich (46), B.J. Keane for O’Sullivan (49), J O’Donoghue for O’Brien (58), A Maher for Sheehan (66).

TIPPERARY: E Comerford; C McDonald, A Campbell, C O’Shaughnessy; B Maher, R Kiely, J Feehan; P Acheson, G Hannigan; J Keane, K O’Halloran, B Fox; P Austin, M Quinlivan, C Sweeney. Subs: S O’Connell for Keane (b/c 58), A Moloney for Austin (63), M Dunne for Hannigan (68), S Leahy for O’Shaughnessy (70+1).

Referee: D Gough (Meath).