Geaney and Murphy goals pave the way back to Croke Park

MUNSTER SFC FINAL

Kerry 3-17 Tipperary 2-10

A PYRRHIC victory, of sorts, if it transpires that Colm Cooper will miss the All-Ireland quarter-final because of the collar bone injury sustained hardly fifteen minutes into Kerry’s 78th Munster SFC title win, but the real cost of this Sunday stroll against Tipperary won’t be fully realised until during and after that last eight fixture in three weeks.

Despite the pre-match lamentations of Tipperary manager Liam Kearns that some of the homegrown pundits were being blasé ahead of this unexpected Munster Final pairing and the inevitable outcome, Kerry could not be accused of taking their opposition for granted. Neither could they be accused of bringing their ‘A’ game to Killarney last Sunday. Or if they did then all concerned need to be very concerned.

We should assume Kerry didn’t extend themselves intentionally. In these contests, in which Kerry are hotly fancied to win, the Kingdom have a way of finding just the right level to succeed without exerting themselves too much. Last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final demolition of Kildare was the exception rather than the rule. Kerry football teams tend to be high-end jewel thieves rather than high-street looters.

Last Sunday Kerry - seeking for a fourth successive provincial title for the first time since the county threaded eight together from 1975 to 1982 - burgled Tipperary for 3-17 and made their escape with minimum fuss. The two goals and ten points they conceded was a clumsy calling card they’d have preferred not to have left lying around but Munster titles don’t come without some collateral damage. Cooper’s injury is a case in point.

The consolation is that Kerry find themselves on the easier side of the All-Ireland quarter-final draw, meaning they can probably afford to discount Cooper’s involvement on the bank holiday weekend even if he is nursed back to full fitness by then.

A Munster Final spilling out five goals and 27 points should need some telling, but that’s not the case here. A Jimmy Feehan goal after 35 seconds - another clumsy clue left behind by the Kerry defence - should have set the scene for a scintillating game but not even Feehan’s bold strike could cut through the air of inevitability that hung over the old stadium. By the 11th minute Kerry were on level terms; Paul Geaney’s two early points a sign of much better things to come.

A pair of Kevin O’Halloran frees pushed Tipp into a two-point lead but once Paul Murphy rolled the ball past Evan Comerford to complete a full-length Kerry move involving both Championship debutants, Brian Ó Beaglaoich and Tadhg Morley, the result was without doubt.

Three minutes later Cooper’s final was over, and five minutes after that so was Tipperary’s. A neat twist on familial telepathy saw Mikey Geaney thread a pass to cousin Paul who positioned himself to beat Comerford for a second time. Leading 2-7 to 1-4 at the break it was only a matter of by how much Kerry would retain their title by.

Three early second half wides from Tipperary helped no one’s cause, especially when Bryan Sheehan (free) and Stephen O’Brien scored to open up an eight-point lead, which would have been 10 points had O’Brien managed to keep his shot a couple of feet lower. O’Halloran

converted a ‘45’ and Michael Quinlivan forced an acrobatic save from Brian Kelly as Tipperary tried to rail against the dying of the light. Darkness came three minutes later when Paul Geaney gathered David Moran’s pass, slipped inside his marker and knifed a left-footed shot beyond Comerford. That put Kerry 3-10 to 1-5 ahead, sufficient enough that Robbie Kiely’s goal in the 50th minute barely caused a ripple of consternation among the Kerry supporters or excitement among the Tipp support in the 21,512 attendance.

Another pair of O’Halloran points cut the margin to six points but if Kearns was thinking of dreaming the impossible he only needed to look up the sideline to see James O’Donoghue coming on, a minute after Tipp lost John Keane to a black card offence. In the concluding 16 minutes O’Donoghue gleaned four points for himself, three from frees, as Kerry - and Tipperary - went through the motions as this largely forgettable Munster Final played out to its inevitable end.

It was a satisfying day for all concerned in the Kerry camp, not least manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice who has still not lost a Munster Championship match in his four seasons in charge.

The goal scorers and O’Donoghue came in for particular praise.

“Paul Murphy played very well but he’s played very well in all the games so far this year. We’ve been very happy with him. He converted the couple of chances today which was good as well and Paul Geaney was outstanding, absolutely.

“It was great to get (O’Donoghue) back and from his own point of view, that is closure on the injury now. He got a couple of scores which is good for his confidence and again, he is another fella who you would expect to kick on in the next couple of weeks.

“He has county championship next weekend and hopefully he will come on another couple of levels and that confidence he has for getting today under his belt will be good for him. KERRY: Brian Kelly, Shane Enright, Mark Griffin, Killian Young, Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Aidan O’Mahony, Tadhg Morley, Kieran Donaghy, Bryan Sheehan, Paul Murphy, Colm Cooper, Donnchadh Walsh, Darran O’Sullivan, Paul Geaney, Stephen O’Brien Subs: Mikey Geaney for C Cooper (inj), 20, David Moran for K Donaghy, 45, Jonathan Lyne for B Beaglaoich, 45, Barry John Keane (0-1) for D O’Sullivan, 48, James O’Donoghue (0-4, 3f) for S O’Brien, 56, Anthony Maher for B Sheehan, 65 TIPPERARY: Evan Comerford, Colm O’Shaughnessy, Alan Campbell, Ciáran McDonald, Bill Maher, Jimmy Feehan, Robbie Kiely, Peter Acheson, George Hannigan, Josh Keane, Philip Austin, Brian Fox, Kevin O’Halloran, Michael Quinlivan, Conor Sweeney Subs: Alan Moloney for P Austin, 61, Martin Dunne for G Hannigan, 66, Shane Leahy for C O’Shaughnessy, 70 Black card: Shane O’Connell for J Keane, 56 REFEREE: David Gough (Meath)