Feel of unfulfilled potential as Derry bow out after tense battle with Kerry

​Derry's 2024 All Ireland involvement was ended by Kerry after an arm wrestle of a quarter-final tie in Croke Park on Sunday.

A tight, tense tactical battle saw nothing between the teams until the final 10 minutes when Jack O'Connor's men edged first two, then three points ahead, a lead Mickey Harte's men never looked like closing in a subdued final few minutes.

A third game in three weeks for Derry may have contributed when the game came down the home stretch but four second half points was never going to be enough.

The contradiction was Kerry performance's was on a par with Derry, the difference perhaps the Kingdom's spread of nine different scores standing in contrast to only five Oak Leaf scorers with Derry reliant on Shane McGuigan who contributed half his team's tally of 0-10.

The Oak Leafers almost got off to a dream start when Eoin McEvoy sent Gareth McKinless in on goal with only 35 seconds on the clock but the Ballinderry player pulled his shot inches past Shane Ryan's far post.

Kerry's response was an ominous one as David Clifford eased past a couple of Derry defenders to split the posts and while Conor Glass levelled with the Oak Leafers opening score, another Kingdom score from Tony Brosnan followed by a superb catch, mark and point from Clifford had Kerry 0-3 to 0-1 up by the seventh minute.

Step forward Mr. McGuigan with the game's next three scores and an even bigger intervention at the opposite end. After opening his account with the left foot, McGuigan doubled his tally off the right before his free edged Derry in front for the first time at 0-4 to 0-3 on 13 minutes. And in between the Slaughtneil star showed his talent isn't restricted to the attacking end with a brilliant, goal saving block on Gavin White's close range shot after Paul Murphy's fisted effort came back off the post.

Brian Ó Beaglaíoch levelled the game for a third time inside an opening 16 minutes before a superb improvised fist pass from Sean O'Shea teed up Joe O'Connor for a point that was cancelled out once more, this time by Brendan Rogers' first of the day.

The sides swapped scores once more, Paul Geaney for the Kingdom and McGuigan's fourth and best of the half making it five times the teams had been level in an opening 36 minutes that bore the feel of two heavyweights jabbing at each other for weakness. As it was they couldn't be separated at 0-6 apiece, Kerry edging the wide count at five to Derry's four, but it was anyone's game at the break.

After Kerry started the second half with a couple of fruitless attacks, Shane McGuigan was hauled to the floor by James Foley allowing the Oak Leaf forward to tap Derry into a lead that lasted only two minute as Diarmuid O'Connor brought parity yet again.

And still they jabbed at one another, the caution and tension in each team's play reflective of the stakes in a championship which had already lost Dublin 24 hours earlier.

Lachlan Murray's foul on Ó Beaglaíoch allowed Clifford to scored his third from his first free of the day on 48 minutes but in keeping with the game's tempo, it was duly wiped out when McEvoy found Paul Cassidy whose shot found its target off the inside of the post.

A rare Derry turnover allowed Sean O'Shea to open his account for the afternoon on 55minutes and when substitute Killian Spillane pointed a lovely effort off his first touch, O'Connor's men had a two point lead for the first time since the ninth minute at 0-10 to 0-8.

Rogers' second point from play ensured it was only a temporary deviation from the pattern until Brosnan got away from Baker to restore Kerry's two point lead, a lead that became a match winning three after Glass fouled David Clifford to O'Shea the chance to push Kerry out to 0-12 to 0-09.

Harte introduced Niall Loughlin, Emmet Bradley and Cormac Murphy in an attempt to turn the tide but in a game of fine margins three points was a chasm.

Throwing caution to the wind left Derry exposed as further points from O'Shea (f), substitute Dylan Geaney and Gavin White meant Odhran Lynch's score from play was only a footnote.

For Derry, it was a fourth championship defeat and this time there would be no reprieve. A Division One title and All Ireland quarter final berth are not to be sniffed at this year finished with a feel of unfulfilled potential.

Derry scorers: Shane McGuigan (0-5, 2f), Conor Glass (0-1), Brendan Rogers (0-2), Paul Cassidy (0-1), Odhran Lynch (0-1).

Kerry scorers: David Clifford (0-3, 1f, 1m), Tony Brosnan (0-2), Brian Ó Beaglaíoch (0-1), Joe O'Connor (0-1), Diarmuid O'Connor (0-1), Sean O'Shea (0-3, 2f), Killian Spillane (0-1), Dylan Geaney (0-1), Gavin White (0-1).

Derry: Odhran Lynch, Conor McCluskey, Christopher McKaigue, Diarmuid Baker, Conor Doherty, Gareth McKinless, Eoin McEvoy, Conor Glass, Brendan Rogers, Ethan Doherty, Ciaran McFaul, Paul Cassidy, Eunan Mulholland, Shane McGuigan, Lachlan Murray. (Subs) Niall Toner for E Mulholland, 38mins; Niall Loughlin for L Murray, 59mins; Emmett Bradley for C McFaul, 64mins; Cormac Murphy for P Cassidy, 65mins.

Kerry: Shane Ryan, Paul Murphy, Jason Foley, Tom O'Sullivan, Brian Ó Beaglaíoch, Tadhg Morley, Gavin White, Diarmuid O'Connor, Joe O'Connor, Tony Brosnan, Paudie Clifford, Dara Moynihan, David Clifford, Sean O'Shea, Paul Geaney. (Subs) Cillian Burke for D Moynihan, 52mins; Killian Spillane for P Geaney, 57mins; Dylan Geaney for T Brosnan, 61mins; Adrian Spillane for J O'Connor, 68mins; Mike Breen for Ó Beaglaíoch, 72mins. Ref: David Coldrick (Meath)