James McCarthy Dublin

Kerry, in possession of a two-point lead, attacked the Hill 16 goal, profiting from a long raking Shane Ryan kickout that had spied Paudie Clifford in space.

“Not the point, it was the tackles, it was the contact. Dublin have slipped from the dominant position they occupied but McCarthy was still powering them forward yesterday as they tried to dig out a win. He got slightly caught with his positioning four minutes in and a gap opened up on the endline for O’Shea to charge into before rolling a shot to the net. There was a sense of awe in Flynn’s tone as he described McCarthy’s performance. Yet the third injury doubt, who had missed the quarter-final stage, was almost overlooked as a result of the attention on the attacking maestros. Into the 62nd minute of play, Kerry were ahead by three and Dublin hadn’t scored in 15 minutes when the ball was worked out to the right wing as McCarthy moved onto it. There was one stage where Kerry were going through the middle and sniffing a goal. McCarthy puts his body on the line and just comes at it again. Yet it was the defiance of McCarthy that sent them hurtling into contention in those closing stages. It was an extraordinary show of determination and summed up the spirit that underpinned Dublin’s second-half revival. Killian Spillane was next to attempt to win it back for Kerry near the Cusack Stand but again it was McCarthy who raced in first, lunged in and managed to steer it up the wing to team-mate Seán Bugler. Kerry, in possession of a two-point lead, attacked the Hill 16 goal, profiting from a long raking Shane Ryan kickout that had spied Paudie Clifford in space.