Kerry Power Into The Football Final

A Roundup Of The GAA Championship Action From Jackie Cahill

All-Ireland SFC Semi-Final
Kerry 1-20 Mayo 1-11

Gaelic Football's aristocrats are 70 minutes away from a 37th senior title.

Kerry powered into a seventh final in eight years with a routine nine-point victory against Mayo in last Sunday's semi-final at Croke Park.

The Kingdom will now play Dublin or Donegal in the showpiece decider at GAA HQ on Sunday, September 18.

Ultimately, it was Colm Cooper who proved the difference between the Munster and Connacht champions in front of over 50,000 spectators.

Cooper, described as a genius in many quarters after the game, shot the lights out and finished with a 1-7 haul, with Mayo corner back Tom Cunniffe given a torrid time.

Having contested six successive finals from 2004-2009, Kerry were rocked by a quarter-final exit at the hands of runners-up Down last year.

But without ever hitting the heights of which they are capable of this season, Kerry are back where they want to be - preparing for the third Sunday in September.

The glass is either half empty or half full, depending on how you view last Sunday's match.

At times, Kerry's defence looked porous as Mayo's Andy Moran, placed at full-forward, caused huge problems for Kerry full-back Marc O'Se.

This is an area that Donegal and Dublin will both have noted as they prepare for their semi-final joust next weekend but when you have forwards like Cooper, Darran O'Sullivan and Declan O'Sullivan at the other end, defensive deficiencies can be overcome.

Kerry have now won the last seven All-Ireland semi-finals and last weekend's result was never in doubt, despite a spirited display from James Horan's Mayo.

At half-time, Kerry led by 0-8 to 0-5, having hit five unanswered points before half-time to wipe out a 0-3 to 0-5 deficit.

Kerry were given some uncomfortable moments throughout the first half, most notably when Moran bamboozled O'Se with some terrific movement before forcing a good save from Kingdom goalkeeper Brendan Kealy, who turned in an impressive display.

After half-time, Kerry moved four points clear but Mayo hit back to trail by just two points after 41 minutes, 0-8 to 0-10.

Cooper turned up the heat to keep Kerry ticking over and the introduction of Paul Galvin also proved crucial as the Munster kingpins kept Mayo at arm's length.

With 47 minutes on the watch, Kerry led by 0-13 to 0-8 and that lead increased by two points as the winners hit five unanswered scores for the second time in the game.

Kieran O'Leary added another point as Kerry made it six without reply but Cillian O'Connor brought Mayo back into contention with a fine solo goal at the Hill 16 end in the 52nd minute.

But Mayo's cheers had barely died down when Cooper scored a quite stunning individual goal at the other end to open up a 1-16 to 1-8 lead.

Mayo did have a couple of other goal chances which, if converted, could have changed the course of the game but Kerry were in cruise control until the final whistle.

Late scores from Cooper, Seamus Scanlon and the fiery Galvin helped to close the game out as Kerry advanced to an eighth final in just ten seasons.

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Elsewhere, Tipperary's minor footballers are looking forward to a first All-Ireland final appearance since 1984.

The Premier County held on with 14 men for a 1-11 to 0-12 victory against Connacht champions Roscommon at Croke Park in last Sunday's semi-final.

Interestingly, when Tipperary contested their last two minor finals in 1984 and 1955, they lost to Dublin on both occasions.

And in both of those years, Kerry and Dublin contested the senior finals that followed the minor deciders.

With Dublin's minors due to play Galway in next Sunday's semi-final, and the capital's seniors tipped to see off Donegal and set up a final meeting with Kerry, history could well repeat itself.

But Tipperary's minors will hope for a change in fortune after losing the 1984 and 1955 minor finals.

Man of the match Ian Fahey was dismissed for a second bookable offence with ten minutes remaining but Tipp held on for a two-point win against the Rossies last Sunday.

Michael Quinlivan scored the vital goal for Tipperary a minute after half-time when he took a pass from Fahey and buried a low shot into the back of the net at the Canal End.

In other news, the 2011 Bord Gais Energy All-Ireland U21 hurling final will be a repeat of the 2007 decider between Galway and Dublin.

Galway shocked Munster champions Limerick by 0-22 to 2-14 in Thurles last Saturday while Dublin had a facile 3-23 to 0-6 victory over Antrim in Newry.

Dublin and Galway are also due to meet in the All-Ireland minor hurling final on September 4, before the U21s do battle in Thurles on Saturday, September 10.