Kingdom see off Derry to join last four in All-Ireland SFC race

June 30, 2024

Kerry's Paudie Clifford celebrates after the win over Derry ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Kerry moved into their fourth successive All-Ireland senior football championship semi-final thanks to a 0-15 to 0-10 victory over Derry this afternoon.

Played before a 47,406 crowd at Croke Park, this last eight showdown failed to thrill as a strong finish from the Munster champions saw them safely over the line towards a date with Armagh on the weekend of July 13/14.

David Clifford (2) and Tony Brosnan had shot the Kingdom into an early 0-3 to 0-1 lead after Gareth McKinless missed a goal chance in the opening minute for Derry.

From there, Shane McGuigan notched over three unanswered points to put the Division 1 champions in front and, after falling behind the scores of Joe O’Connor and Paul Geaney, Mickey Harte’s men would go in level at the break on 0-6 apiece thanks to McGuigan’s fourth.

Another free from the Oak Leafers’ full-forward had them ahead in the 40th minute but it was Kerry that upped it a gear after that and wouldn’t trail again once Sean O’Shea put them into a 0-9 to 0-8 lead in the 55th minute.

Killian Spillane’s immediate impact off the bench saw him double the lead for Jack O’Connor’s charges three minutes later, and one at the far end from Brendan Rodgers would be erased by Brosnan’s slick point.

The closing 10 minutes at headquarters would see the 2022 champions outscoring their opponents by 0-5 to 0-1, with Dylan Geaney and Gavin White providing the insurance points late in injury-time, as they now march on to a semi-final date with Kieran McGeeney’s Armagh side with the fixtures set to be confirmed by the CCCC tomorrow morning.


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