CHRISTY RING CUP: FINAL CALL FOR HURLERS

THEY didn't finish as they started, but Kerry qualified for their fourth Christy Ring Cup Final in five years on the basis of a strong firsthalf display against Mayo in last Saturday's semi-final in Castlebar.

Keeping their opponents scoreless for the first 18 minutes, Kerry were clinical and effective in taking their chances with late change Darragh O'Connell (for Tom Murnane) and Seán Weir providing great impetus from defence in their attack.

O'Connell scored three points, while Weir contributed a brace from the half-back line as Kerry appeared to be operating on a totally different level to their opponents in the first quarter. A magnificent 70 metre free from goalkeeper Tadgh Flynn in the 16th minute was the highlight of this sequence. The visitors scored their first goal inside 20 seconds as Shane Nolan capitalised on some slack early marking to fire home the Kingdom's first goal.

They hit 1-6 without reply before Ciaran Charlton finally put the hosts on the board, but three minutes later Kerry had their second goal as a long ball from Thomas Casey found Padraig Boyle, who forced his way past both his marker and the goalkeeper for an easy finish and a 2-7 to 0-1 lead.

Goal number three came in the 33rd minute as Tipperary native David Butler finished to the net to give Kerry a powerful 3-12 to 0-5 advantage before further points from Nolan and team captain John Egan put Kerry a grand total of 18 points ahead at the break.

Ballyduff brothers Mikey and Padraig Boyle added points early in the seco n d - half along with frees from Egan seemed to keep the trend of the game going but a 40th minute goal from Sean O'Regan for the hosts was a sign of a stale period for the Kingdom.

Egan's sixth point in the 48th minute would be Kerry's last for a total of 18 minutes as Mayo made inroads into the deficit. Kerry struggled to gain primary possession as all the momentum appeared to be going Mayo's way during this time.

Kenny Feeney, their centre-forward, was the architect of this charge, finishing the game with nine points in total as goalkeeper Donal O'Brien blasted a free aimed at the net just over the posts in the 61st minute.

Kerry defender Bryan Murphy was also vigilant to a half-chance that could have gone anywhere with five minutes left. Mayo had the gap down to eight (3-19 to 1-17) by the time Egan settled Kerry's nerves with their final score of the game with four minutes left. Feeney finished off the game's scoring from a ' 65, but the absence of Keith Higgins and a couple of other key players for Mayo proved detrimental on the day for the hosts. One way of analysing Kerry's second-half display is that they lost a 35 minute half by 1-13 to 0-6, but the good work in the first-half which saw more than eight different players get on the scoresheet should not be dismissed that easily.

Kerry will enter Croke Park this Saturday on the back of an amazing campaign that has seen them scale heights not necessarily anticipated in advance. One more big performance against Kildare should deliver them a trophy they have only claimed once before back in 2011.

KERRY: Tadgh Flynn (Causeway, 0-1, 1f), Bryan Murphy (do, 0-1), Darragh O'Connell (Abbeydorney, 0-3), Dougie Fitzell (Kilmoyley), Sean Weir (Crotta O'Neills, 0-2), Darren Dineen (St Brendans), Thomas Casey (Causeway), John Griffin (Lixnaw), Colm Harty (Causey), Mikey Boyle (Ballyduff, 0-1), Daniel Collins (Kilmoyley), Shane Nolan (Crotta O'Neills, 1-2), David Butler (Knockavilla Kickhams, 1-1), Padraig Boyle (Ballyduff, 1-2), John Egan (St Brendans, 0-7, 5f) Subs: Keith Carmody (Causeway) for Harty, Phillip Lucid (Ballyheigue) for Casey, Giles O'Grady (Ballyduff) for Nolan, Brendan O'Leary (Abbeydorney) for Mikey Boyle and Anthony Fealy (Causeway) for Fitzell MAYO: D O'Brien (0-1, 1f), A Brennan, A Connolly, D Kenny, B Hunt (0-2), J Kennedy, P Barrett, C Charlton (0-1), G Nolan, S Hoban, K Feeney (0-8, 1f, 1'65'), S Regan (1-3), F Boland (0-1), D McDonnell, B Higgins (0-1) Subs: C Scahill for McDonnell, E Collins for F Boland and S Boland (0-1) for Hoban REFEREE: John Keane (Galway)