Kerry Defeat Armagh in Spectacular Comeback

Kerry reignited their summer with a spectacular second half display to dethrone All-Ireland champions Armagh and book their spot in the last four. A blistering 15-minute spell in which Kerry scored 0-14 without reply and laid waste to the Armagh kickout provided the platform for a famous victory, avenging last year's painful semi-final loss. Trailing by a point at half-time, Rory Grugan having fired the game's only goal, Kerry slipped five behind early in the second half. Then came the game's decisive spell between the 40th and 55th minute, a ravenous Kerry hitting the champions with a blitzkrieg, monopolising the ball and racking up fourteen points on the trot, only two of them two-pointers, to put the game beyond doubt. Seán O'Shea was to the fore throughout, finishing with a haul of 0-12, eight of which came in the first half when the game was still tit-for-tat. The half-time arrival of Paudie Clifford provided further impetus, while David Clifford found his range, curling over 0-06 in the second half, including two two-pointers, as Kerry made their winning burst. Both the nature of the performance and the context in which it was delivered called to mind the 2009 quarter-final demolition of Dublin, a season which was invoked by Jack O'Connor post-match. In that year, as in this year, Kerry football was wracked with pessimism for most of the summer, only to explode into life in Croke Park. The Kerry commentariat had laid it on thick following the loss to Meath in the group phase, with declarations they were hoping to be put out of their misery soon. And O'Connor wasn't inclined to let such comments lie in his post-match press conference. The first half was tit-for-tat though Kerry's spiteful intensity was apparent from early on. Driven by their manager's desire to flip the script on favourites Armagh, Kerry were fired up early. None more so than O'Shea, who had 0-03 on the board early, the second a two-pointer. Oisín Conaty, in decent shooting form, replied with a brace of points for Kieran McGeeney's side. Soon after, Shane Ryan was forced to tip over Tiernan Kelly's goalbound shot after Kerry were turned over high up the pitch. Kerry's runners from deep were causing problems, with Brian Ó Beaglaoich and Gavin White clipping over scores to make it 0-05 to 0-03. David Clifford, well contained in the first half, though did register a fine score to make it double scores, collecting the break on the kickout and driving on a solo run inside the arc before curling over. An O'Shea free made it 7-3 as we reached the end of the first quarter, though Armagh didn't seem too panicked. Jarly Óg Burns swung over a two-pointer, with Rian O'Neill and Joe McElroy also on the mark. Armagh hit the front for the first time on 28 minutes. Ryan rolled a short kickout left for Dylan Casey but it was anticipated by Kelly, who fed Grugan and the centre-forward lashed a shot to the roof of the net. But Kerry again reacted perfectly to the setback. O'Shea, pumped up and breathing fire for most of the afternoon, repeated his trick from the game's opening minutes, landing a single and double-pointer combo in the space of a minute to edge them back in front. Kerry, goal-focused during the league, had been criticised for being slack in the two-point department but they corrected it this afternoon. Ethan Rafferty, having missed with an earlier long range effort, nailed a two-point free to level it up on 32 minutes, after which Armagh nursed possession until the hooter before working the lead score at the break, tapped over by McElroy. Though it was hard recall at the final whistle, the Ulster finalists were briefly motoring for a spell after half-time. After Darragh McMullan and Joe O'Connor traded points, the latter's goal effort just shaving the top of the crossbar, O'Neill clipped over a two-pointed free to make it a three-point game. Conaty, continuing from where he left off in the first half, and O'Neill added further points and suddenly the game seemed to be following the script laid down by the Kerry doom-mongers. Then came the whirlwind 15 minutes, which subsequently drew comparison to the first half of the 'startled earwigs' game. O'Connor, a central figure in the blitz, kick-started it with his second point of the half before O'Shea landed his third two-pointer, taking his tally into double digits not long after the 40-minute mark. Paudie Clifford, whose quick hands and inventiveness were key throughout the second half, narrowed it to a one-point game, before his brother flipped the lead with the first of his two two-pointers. They were hitting their stride now with Armagh unable to get their hands on ball. Clifford stroked over a single after an O'Shea free and the gap was three. There was no let-up, with Micheál Burns, dropped from the starting XV before the start, now lighting up the game with his pace, finishing with two points. Ó Beaglaoich, White and Paudie Clifford tagged on further points and suddenly the gap was looking insurmountable for Armagh. The Kerry support were triumphantly yahooing every score by now, a far cry from 12 months ago when they were easily drowned out by the Armagh contingent. The run of scores when Graham O'Sullivan made it 0-28 to 1-16 with 55 minutes on the clock. Fifteen minutes earlier, Armagh led 1-16 to 0-14. The rest of the game played out in an atmosphere of inevitability, the Kerry support in celebratory mood, the Armagh crowd beginning to slink for the exits. The champions were vainly chasing goals with more than 10 minutes on the clock, substitute Cian McConville forcing a fine reaction save from Ryan. O'Neill tried a Michael Meehan effort from 13m in front of a crowded goalmouth but it was easily repelled. O'Shea, Burns and Clifford added more points as Kerry took their haul beyond the 30-mark. It was eight in the finish although the margin was irrelevant at that point. With Kerry in possession and less than a minute remaining on the clock, several members of the management team and some players spontaneously turned to their supporters in the Hogan Stand and raised their fists in triumphant salute. It summed up a defiant performance as Kerry pointedly delivered one in their eye for their critics, at home and beyond.