IT’S KERRY EASY FOR CHAMPIONS
Kerry 0-25 Tipperary 0-5
WITHOUT ever having to get out of first gear, a goalless Kerry sauntered into the Munster final.
In front of a crowd of 6,939 at Fitzgerald Stadium, Kerry were slow to get an attacking rhythm going with the game scoreless for the first 10 minutes.
Paudie Clifford finally got the All-ireland champions off the mark in the 11th minute and, despite an immediate reply from wing-back Kevin Fahey with a spectacular score, it was pretty much all one-way traffic for the rest of the half.
Leading by three points at the end of the first quarter, 0-4 to 0-1, the early rustiness had now dissipated with nine different Kerry players getting on the scoresheet by the interval, 0-12 to 0-2.
Despite a booming 45 metre special from their other wing-back Colm O’shaughnessy, Tipperary could make little to no impression up front. And it could have been even worse at half-time if goalkeeper Michael O’reilly hadn’t smartly saved Tony Brosnan’s 31st minute penalty.
To be fair to the Dr Crokes corner-forward, he certainly didn’t let the missed spot kick define his afternoon.
Brosnan was the most inventive and lively of the Kerry attackers, notching five points from play on a day where David Clifford was restricted to a brace of pointed frees.
The second half was virtually a carbon copy of the opening 35 minutes with manager Jack O’connor delighted to get minutes into the returning Brian O Beaglaoich and Steven O’brien before the finish.
S O’shea 0-7, (0-4f, 0-1m), T Brosnan 0-5, T O’sullivan 0-3, P Geaney 0-2m, D Clifford 0-2f, P Clifford, D Moynihan, D O’connor, J Foley, K Spillane, R Murphy 0-1 each.
J Kennedy (0-2) (0-1f, 0-1 45), K Fahey, C O’shaughnessy, S Quirke (mk) 0-1 each.