Kerry late show sees off Derry in semi-final

Brendan Rogers (right) and his Derry team-mates were reeled in by Kerry in the closing minutes at Croke Park

Kerry fought back from two points down with five minutes left to beat wasteful Derry 1-17 to 1-15 in a thrilling All-Ireland Football semi-final.

Gareth McKinless and Gavin White scored goals at either end in a 30-second period in a breathless first half.

The Oak Leafers led 1-11 to 1-8 at half-time and were still two up after 65 minutes before Kerry's late show.

The Kingdom's victory means they will face old rivals Dublin in the decider on 30 July.

Derry missed 12 second-half scoring opportunities - most notably a glorious 51st-minute goal chance for Gareth McKinless when Kerry keeper Shane Ryan produced a pointblank save.

But the Oak Leafers remained 1-14 to 1-12 ahead entering the 65th minute before referee Joe McQuillan awarded Kerry a questionable free for a challenge on substitute Stephen O'Brien which Sean O'Shea pointed to start a run of five straight Kingdom points in six minutes.

A tug from Chrissy McKaigue on David Clifford, then resulted in the Kingdom talisman equalising with his eighth point.

Substitute O'Brien edged Kerry ahead with a 69th-minute effort from play before a rare Brendan Rogers loss of possession was punished by yet another Clifford point.

A further Sean O'Shea score increased Kerry's advantage to four and a last-kick Shane McGuigan free was Derry's only response despite their frantic late efforts to rescue the game.

Derry will have huge regrets after suffering a second successive All-Ireland semi-final defeat.

However unlike last year's last-four contest when they were well beaten by Galway, Derry looked in control for most of this game as Kerry struggled to deal with the Oak Leafers' defensive line, intensity and running game once turnover were won.

As the minutes ticked down, Kerry seemed to be running out of options but O'Shea's contentious 65th-minute free after substitute O'Brien merely appeared to lose his footing seemed to give the Kingdom renewed belief and they produced a strong closing 11 minutes of action to snatch victory.

More to follow.

Kerry: S Ryan; G O'Sullivan, J Foley, T O'Sullivan; P Murphy, T Morley, G White; D O'Connor, J Barry; D Moynihan, S O'Shea, A Spillane; P Clifford, D Clifford, P Geaney.

Subs: S Murphy, T Brosnan, M Breen, B O Beaglaoich, R Murphy, M Burns, S O'Brien, D O'Sullivan, D Casey, S O'Brien.

Derry: O Lynch; C McKaigue, E McEvoy, C McCluskey; C Doherty, G McKinless, P McGrogan; C Glass, B Rogers; N Toner, Paul Cassidy, E Doherty; C McFaul, S McGuigan, N Loughlin.

Subs: T Mallon, D Cassidy, B Heron, S Downey, L Murray, B McCarron, P McNeill, Padraig Cassidy, C McGuckian, M Doherty, D Baker.

Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan)