RED-HOT David Clifford melted sorry Tyrone to fire Kerry into the All-Ireland final.
The Kingdom were angry against Armagh and deadly against the Red Hands as they backed up that quarter-final display with an even better overall performance at Croke Park tonight.
Clifford sizzled in the baking heat with 1-9, his brother Paudie continued to orchestrate their attack as Joe O’Connor lorded the middle and Seanie O’Shea worked tirelessly for the cause.
And Tyrone simply had no answers for a relentless performance as Clifford ran Padraig Hampsey ragged to fire Jack O’Connor’s men into the showpiece on July 27 against Meath or Donegal.
Kerry’s midfield has often been questioned, but O’Connor silenced the doubters in style.
The Austin Stacks man won his epic battle with Conn Kilpatrick, and was the driving force behind their performance as they ruthlessly picked Tyrone apart with 0-9 without reply in the second half.
O’Connor scored 0-2, and covered every blade at Croker until the hooter. Even with seconds to go with his team eight points up, he flung himself in front of Mattie Donnelly’s shot to sum up his shift.
Darragh Canavan showed his class for the Red Hands with 0-7, but Malachy O’Rourke’s men totally ran out of gas as Kerry stayed in top flight.
Brighter days lie ahead for Tyrone on the back of All-Ireland minor and under-20 glory, but this was a big reality check.
The Ulster giants were putting out fires all over the place, and went 21 minutes without a score in the second half as they fired nine wides.
Damage limitation against David Clifford is much easier said than done and 1-5 of Kerry’s 1-9 first half haul came from him alone.
His 29th minute goal was a work of art, and he lapped up every second of it in front of the Hogan Stand.
As Mike Breen carried the ball towards the Tyrone defence, Clifford shrugged Hampsey away and darted towards goal to smash into the bottom corner.
His dummy solo saw Ben McDonnell and Hampsey clatter into each other, and all they could do was look on in horror as the Fossa man produced the inevitable.
Things almost got even worse for Tyrone a minute later when Kerry carved them open again, but somehow Niall Morgan denied Sean O’Brien with an incredible save.
The Red Hands started so well. They played all the football in the first quarter to go 0-5 to 0-2 ahead as the Kingdom took time to find their groove as Ciaran Daly caused O’Connor’s men huge problems on the left flank and scored 0-2.
All-Ireland under-20 winner Eoin McElholm was named to start and rewarded that trust by creating Daly’s first one and firing a super score himself when he rounded Dylan Casey and Kilpatrick asked serious questions in the middle third until O’Connor came into his own.
Kerry’s early shooting let them down as Gavin White and David Clifford both fired wide and Seanie O’Shea hit the post and saw another drop short.
GOAL-DEN TOUCH
But on 18 minutes, David Clifford decided to torture Hampsey and never looked back. He danced around the Coalisland man for his first from play when he could have gone for goal, and he was only getting started.
Mattie Donnelly was a dangerous outlet in the Tyrone half-forward line and laid one on for Seanie O’Donnell to score, but Kerry quickly broke it to their talisman once more.
He let fly from the edge of the arc for a wonderful two-pointer to make it 0-6 apiece. It was their only orange flag of the game, but it didn’t matter.
Darragh Canavan’s swift double put Tyrone ahead again, the first of which could have hit the net if he drove it low.
But a minute later the man with the same initials did hit the net in a moment of different class, and Kerry never looked back from here.
O’Brien should have twisted the knife a minute later just metres from goal only for Morgan’s heroics.
Clifford added another and Tyrone were at sixes and sevens, but only trailed 1-9 to 0-9 at the break against the breeze.
COMEBACK BID
Canavan led the charge after the restart to give them hope, and hit 0-4 in a flash with a cracking two-pointer and two dazzlers from play to get them back within a point.
But Kerry killed the game inside the next 20 minutes to power into the final.
Paudie Clifford had already announced his arrival after a quiet first half and should have scored their second goal when he blazed over.
David added another, and O’Connor got his second from another goal chance with Morgan closing in.
Gavin White won the resulting kick-out and played Dylan Geaney in on goal, but he made the angle too tight for himself and pulled his low drive wide.
Tyrone were sinking quickly as Kerry’s score kept on coming as Killian Spillane, both Cliffords and Seanie O’Shea all split the posts.
PETERED OUT
Tyrone totally lost their way at the other end as Peter Teague, Mark Bradley, Peter Harte, McGeary, Michael McKernan and Ruairí Canavan all missed.
David Clifford pointed a free when Tyrone failed to keep four players in their own half to sum up their day, before Seanie O’Donnell ended their 21-minute wait for a point.
Ruairí Canavan’s two-pointer was worthy of the applause, but most of the Tyrone support had left for home.
2021 All-Ireland winners Donnelly, McGeary, Harte and Hampsey stayed out on the pitch for an age after the hooter sounded on their campaign.
But Kerry danced in the sun, and are 70 minutes away from a 39th title. They were written off before they walloped Armagh and responded – and delivered again against Tyrone.
Their last All-Ireland final was their 2023 loss to Dublin, a game they have far from forgotten about. Dismiss them at your peril.
KERRY: S Ryan; P Murphy, J Foley, D Casey; B Ó Beaglaioch, M Breen, G White; S O’Brien, J O’Connor 0-2; M O’Shea, S O’Shea 0-3, 2f, G O’Sullivan 0-1; D Clifford 1-9, 3f, 1tp, P Clifford 0-2, D Geaney 0-1.
Subs: K Spillane 0-2 for D Geaney 48mins; E Looney for Casey 59, T Morley for Breen 62, M Burns for O’Brien 62, T Brosnan for P Clifford 65
TYRONE: N Morgan; C Quinn, P Hampsey, N Devlin; P Teague, R Brennan, K McGeary 0-1; B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick; S O’Donnell 0-2, E McElholm 0-1, C Daly 0-2; D McCurry, M Donnelly 0-2, D Canavan 0-7, 2f, 1tp.
Subs: M McKernan for McDonnell 48mins; M Bradley for McCurry 48, P Harte for Daly 52, R Canavan 0-2 tpf for McElholm 56, M O’Neill for O’Donnell 67
REFEREE: J McQuillan (Cavan)
