Somewhat interestingly, the last county final Crokes lost was the 2009 decider when they were pitted against South Kerry.

This latest semi-final victory was built off the back of a strong first-half display where Crokes put seven points between themselves and West Kerry at the break, 1-9 to 0-5. Daithí Casey nabbed their first goal after nine minutes, with the West Kerry challenge suffering a serious blow when Tomás Ó Sé was forced off with a hamstring injury.

Following his departure, the divisional side were outscored by 0-5 to 0-1 from the 19th minute until half-time.

Jordan Kiely, two, Colm Cooper and Paul Clarke netted second-half goals as the reigning All-Ireland club champions ran out 5-13 to 0-14 winners.

In the first game at Fitzgerald Stadium, South Kerry ground out a one-point win, 0-12 to 1-8, to secure a second county final appearance in three years.

The 2015 champions were the better side for most of this semi-final, but failed to tell their opponents this via the scoreboard – the divisional outfit finished with 13 wides.

In a first-half that produced just nine scores, Jack Savage’s 18th minute penalty was the crucial contribution. That nudged Kerins O’Rahilly’s into a 1-2 to 0-2 advantage. South Kerry responded with three-in-a-row from Brian Sheehan (0-2) and a Daniel Daly free. The latter was handed dead-ball duties after a succession of misses by Sheehan.

Ahead by 1-3 to 0-5 at the break, the Strand Road outfit managed only one point in the opening 25 minutes of the second-half. Barry John Keane kicked their second on 56 minutes to level matters at 1-7 to 0-10.

Daniel Daly (free) and Mark Griffin landed back-to-back points to edge South Kerry closer to home as the clock entered the red and although Barry John Keane converted a long-range free, he was off target from a similar distance thereafter to force a second day out.