GAVIN White revealed Kerry’s shock defeat to Meath was the kick in the backside the Kingdom needed to reignite their season.
The Munster champions blew top spot in Group 2 of the All-Ireland series when the rampant Royals gunned them down by NINE points on June 15.
But Jack O’Connor rallied his troops as they saw off Cavan, Armagh and Tyrone to power into another All-Ireland final.
They battered the Breffni 3-20 to 1-17, knocked the defending champions out by 0-32 to 1-21 — avenging last year’s semi-final defeat in the process — and walloped the Red Hands 1-20 to 0-17 on Saturday to book their place in the July 27 showpiece.
David Clifford caught fire in the Croke Park heat with 1-9, while Joe O’Connor lorded affairs in the middle.
White put in a trademark captain’s display, sparking Kingdom attacks as his side fired 0-9 without reply in the second half to send sorry Tyrone packing.
Their skipper knows the Meath performance was not a true reflection of their talents and the wing-back gave an insight into the dressing-room mood after the loss.
White said: “After the Meath game we were all very disappointed in our performance. We knew that wasn’t us.
“We got a bit of slack for it but we tried to keep all that out of the camp. We knew the quality that we have in training and we believed in what we were capable of.
“So we just battened down the hatches going into the Cavan game, went back to basics and built from there.
“Obviously the Armagh game was huge considering what happened last year, so we wanted to rectify that and thankfully we were able to bring that into Saturday as well.
“I’m over the moon that we’re able to play as well as we are at the business end of the year and we look forward to an All-Ireland final in two weeks’ time.”
The Kingdom blew Kieran McGeeney’s men away with five two-pointers as another rampant second-half spell of 0-14 in 15 minutes killed the game.
Against Tyrone at the weekend, they mixed kicking and running the ball, with David Clifford’s first-half double score their only orange flag of the game.
The Kingdom instead hunted for goals and their star man rattled the onion bag just shy of the half-hour mark to put the Munster kingpins 1-7 to 0-8 in front.
But they could have had so many more majors as Joe O’Connor, Paudie Clifford, Dylan Geaney and Killian Spillane all spurned chances.
Boss O’Connor cursed the misses but was delighted with his side’s ability to solve the puzzles that came their way.
MATURITY AND EXPERIENCE PREVAILS
The Kingdom chief said: “I know we wasted chances — two or three at the back post that looked like tap-ins, it’s disappointing, because we prided ourselves throughout the league on scoring goals.
“At least we created the chances — and the last day we were creating two-pointer chances. I think it’s a sign of the team that they recognised what’s in front of them.
“There was a bit more space inside this time and they put the ball in and created those chances. Of course we’d have had an easier afternoon if we’d converted a few of them.
“This is a mature team. Most of the boys are a good age. They are in their mid-to-late 20s — 27, 28, that is a good age group. They’re mature lads and that was a mature performance.
“We slowed it down when we had to and we sped it up when we had to. I thought we kicked the ball through the lines well and found David in one-on-one situations, and that is always good for us.”
And it proved fatal for Tyrone, who went 21 minutes without a score in the second half.
Darragh Canavan gave his all for the cause, firing 0-7, but Kerry grew with every kick as their unanswered nine-point flurry ended the match as a contest.
HUGE WINS AND A BRIGHT FUTURE
The Red Hands can still take the positives from reaching their first semi-final since going all the way in 2021 in Malachy O’Rourke’s first year as manager.
They defeated Donegal in Ballybofey in the group stages and knocked Dublin out in a gruelling All-Ireland quarter-final. Minor and Under-20 All-Irelands this summer mean the future is bright.
And O’Rourke called on veterans Mattie Donnelly, 34, Niall Morgan, 33, Pádraig Hampsey, 31, Kieran McGeary, 31, and Peter Harte, 34, to stick around and help the youngsters transition into the senior set-up.
Under-20 star Eoin McElholm getting the nod to start against the Kingdom.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
The Red Hand boss insisted: “There’ll be no talk of retirement, I would love if they were there to help guide it because there is a big vacuum there, if you like, between Under-20s and senior.
“You’d love it if they would. Those lads are brilliant ambassadors for Tyrone and the effort and work they put in, the example they show to the rest of the boys is second to none.
“It’s a big gap and it just doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not just a case of people stepping up, there’s a lot of work to be done and a big transition to be made.
“So the more experienced fellas that are about to guide them, the better. I take a lot of positives out of it.
“We’ve had four Championship victories, we went to Ballybofey and won, we went to Croke Park and beat Dublin as well. The boys have put in a lot of effort and we have improved.
“To get into the last four, you’re going to be playing one of the top teams and Kerry are one of the top teams. Any weaknesses you have would be exposed more than in other games.
“There has been a lot of positives but at the same time a game like that shows the level you have to be getting at to challenge for top honours.”
SCORERS — Kerry: D Clifford 1-9, 3f 1tp; S O’Shea 0-3, 2f; J O’Connor 0-2, P Clifford 0-2, K Spillane 0-2, G O’Sullivan 0-1, D Geaney 0-1. Tyrone: D Canavan 0-7, 2f 1tp; M Donnelly 0-2, S O’Donnell 0-2, C Daly 0-2, R Canavan 0-2tpf, E McElholm 0-1, K McGeary 0-1.
