MUNSTER SFC SEMI FINAL: Kerry 1-14 Clare 0-5: MOST PEOPLE have heard of the beautiful game, but this could be best termed the "ugly game" as Kerry easily accounted for a desperately disappointing Clare but lost captain Paul Galvin to a red card in the process before an attendance of 11,000 at the Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney, yesterday.
In a stop-start, free-ridden opening half, Clare got stuck into their Kerry opponents and this meant there was little fluency in the game, with both sides being guilty.
Referee Paddy Russell had brandished six yellow cards (three to each) by the half-time whistle and by the end of the game he added four more yellows as well as three reds, two to Clare (Conor Whelan and John Hayes) and one to Kerry (Galvin).
When you throw in 39 frees and a wide count of 18, then it is clear very little football was played and Kerry took most of the first half to get to grips with their game.
Pat O'Shea was not happy afterwards as the Kerry manager felt his side did not give the performance he wanted on the day, but of a far more serious concern to him is the fact Galvin was sent off in 54th minute and could be in serious trouble if the referee reports him for slapping his notebook out of his hands in frustration.
This added to O'Shea's woes as he had lost Declan O'Sullivan minutes earlier to a knee injury that saw him being stretchered off and he was removed to hospital to undergo a scan.
On the Galvin sending off, O'Shea wants time to see the video of the incident.
"To be fair from our point of view, we have to look at the incident that led up to the sending off," said O'Shea.
"Obviously Paul was very frustrated and I think that he felt himself that he was sinned against in that situation.
"I haven't seen the incident on video so I am not sure until we have a look at it. A game of football is all about emotion and he probably showed a little too much emotion as he obviously felt that he was sinned against in that incident."
Despite the fact that Galvin is the captain and is supposed to be the leader of his troops, it took some cajoling by vice-captain Tomás Ó Sé to get him safely off the field of play.
This rashness by Galvin could cost him his chance to lead Kerry out on Munster final day and this was his first competitive game for the county since last year's All-Ireland final and was his first time leading Kerry as captain.
So this may well prove to be a costly game for Kerry as Galvin will possibly face a lengthy ban (could be 12 weeks for a category 4 offence), while Declan O'Sullivan will more than likely be out injured.
The opening half was littered with frees and stoppages as Kerry laboured up front to get any movement going, simply because the Clare defence ensured they were going nowhere, sometimes by fair means but more often by foul.
Bryan Sheehan, one of Kerry's better forwards on the day, converted two early frees and then Eoin Brosnan fired over one from play.
Rory Donnelly and David Tubridy from a 45 had Clare on level terms but Kerry did extend their lead approaching half-time with points from Brosnan, Sheehan, Declan O'Sullivan, Tommy Walsh and Aidan O'Mahony as Kerry led 0-7 to 0-4.
The second half descended into a war of attrition as Clare dug in and Kerry found it hard to get any fluency in attack, though Darragh Ó Sé and his brothers Marc and Tomás drove Kerry forward.
Two Galvin points and then Colm Cooper poached a simple goal when David Connole gifted the ball to Bryan Sheehan to set up Cooper who was able to walk the ball into the net as Kerry led 1-9 to 0-4 after 42 minutes.
The rest of the game descended into a farce as Declan O'Sullivan had to be stretchered off, with Darren O'Sullivan coming on to score a point, but then came the straight red for Clare full back Whelan before the sending off of Galvin, followed by Hayes, who received a second yellow and really it was dreadful fare
Clare goalkeeper Joe Hayes made three fine saves and Clare could only manage one point in the second period, a 59th minute effort from Donnelly.
It was a game that will probably be remembered for all the wrong reasons and Kerry face a nervous wait before the July 6th Munster final meeting with their old rivals Cork.
KERRY: D Murphy; M Ó Sé, T O'Sullivan, P Reidy; T Ó Sé (0-1), A O'Mahony (0-2), T Griffin; D Ó Sé (0-1), D Scanlon; P Galvin (0-1), Declan O'Sullivan (0-1), E Brosnan (0-1); C Cooper (1-0), T Walsh (0-1), B Sheehan (0-5, 0-4 frees). Subs: Darren O'Sullivan (0-1)for Declan O'Sullivan, D Bohane for T Griffin, K Donaghy for T Walsh, M Quirke for D Ó Sé, S O'Sullivan for B Sheehan
CLARE: Joe Hayes; L Healy, C Whelan, G Kelly; N Considine, D Connole, John Hayes; G Quinlan, G Brennan; D Russell, S Hickey, S Collins; R Donnelly (0-2), C Dillon, D Tubridy (0-3, one free). Subs: M O'Shea for C Dillon, A Clohessy for D Tubridy, G Lyons for M OShea, N White for L Healy, M Tubridy for N Considine.
Referee: P Russell( Tipperary).
