Dublin beat Kerry with a dramatic flourish in what was the game of the championship at Croke Park and will now meet Mayo in a mouth-watering final in three weeks.
The game ebbed and flowed throughout in one of the most entertaining games in Croke Park in recent years with six goals and some exhibition football played at times, but it took a late Kevin McMenamin goal, similar to the final in 2011, to turn the tide in Dublin’s favour.
The sides were level with the clock ticking into injury time when McMenamin burst up the pitch to seal Kerry’s fate and claim only their eight ever win over the Kingdom in championship football.
The game started in a whirlwind fashion and Kerry looked intent on making a mockery of their underdog status with James O’Donoghue kicking the first goal of the game after just six minutes after fantastic play from Colm Cooper, who was quickly pulling the strings from centre-forward.
Four minutes later and Donnchadh Walsh raised a second green flag and Dublin looked to be in real trouble, but they immediately went up the other end of the pitch, with Paul Mannion punching a high ball into the net to bring Jim Gavin’s men right back into the game.
The goalscoring was not finished there are O’Donghue had his second of the game when he dispatched a penalty with aplomb after Stephen Cluxton conceded the spot kick.
The Kingdom should have been further ahead at the interval for all their dominance, but went into the break leading on a scoreline of 3-5 to 1-9 and the supporters were able to catch their breath after a frantic and exhilarating 35 minutes of action.
After the resumption Dublin hit a purple patch, hitting five points without reply as Kerry struggled to contain Bernard Brogan and Diarmuid Connolly in particular. However the Kingdom came back with scores of their own and retook the lead with eight minutes to go with a Darran O’Sullivan point, before Connolly levelled matters with a free and a replay looming.
It was however to be Dublin’s day and two late goals and a red card for Anthony Maher did for Kerryand the two form teams in the country will now clash on September the 22nd in the decider.
