Kerry will have an anxious wait to see how Maurice Fitzgerald recuperates from a hamstring pull picked up in yesterday's match in Tralee. The 1997 Footballer of the Year was in evident discomfort in the dressing-room after the match as his leg was heavily strapped.

"It's bad enough," he said in response to an inquiry about the seriousness of the injury. "We'll wait and see. I picked it up in the first half."

He dismissed the suggestion that it had contributed to his penalty kick being saved in the 47th minute. "No it didn't. The goalkeeper saved it well." Did he think he had he hit it well? "You've never hit it well if it's saved."

Doh!

It may be the mantra in all winning dressing-rooms during the summer but Kerry had every right to be relieved with survival. A six-point victory including an invalid goal and two missed penalties is harder on the nerves than the Munster champions would have wanted during a match they were overwhelmingly expected to win.

"We were happy to get through it," said centre back Seamus Moynihan who had been his customary inspirational self particularly in the tense, closing 10 minutes. "We've four weeks to prepare now for the next match (semi-final against Clare). They did much better in the second half but the wind was very strong and you had to work hard to get the ball up to the inside forwards. We've plenty of room for improvement."

Dara O Cinneide took the second penalty in the 50th minute and had sent it wide. "Normally I keep it low," he said "and I scored in a club match a couple weeks ago into that corner of the net. I just kicked it badly."

He conceded that he had been expecting Kerry's controversial goal to be disallowed. "Once I saw the referee coming in and the umpires talking to him, I thought `it's Kildare all over again'," he said, referring to last year's All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Kildare and Denis Dwyer's disallowed goal six minutes from the end.

"We showed spirit in the last 10 minutes," said Paidi O Se, "but Clare have the advantage of having played in Division One during the year."

Nice to find someone with a bit of respect for the league.