Trailing by three points at half-time (1-7 to 1-4), the winners used the wind to their advantage on the resumption, quickly levelling with a white flag treble, and just keeping their noses in front once they took the lead entering the last ten minutes.
Kerry, who lost key midfielder Killian Dennehy in the build-up to the game, gave as good as they got throughout the entertaining hour of football, but Sargent and Grant (members of last year’s All-Ireland-winning side) provided Derry with that little extra spark in a contest of fine margins.
The first half got off to an absolute flyer, with green flags raised at both ends in the opening seven minutes. Indeed, Derry almost billowed the net in the first real attack of the game, but Kacper Robak saved well from the afore-mentioned Sargent.
While Kerry soon opened the scoring with a fisted point from corner-forward Michael Horan, the Oak Leaf county got off the mark with a clinical goal in the sixth minute. Turning over possession high up, Grant did the spadework for Dylan Rocks to crash the ball home.
The reply from the Kingdom was instant, and emphatic. Wing-back Seán Ó Cuinn, undoubtedly, was aiming for a point when the ball left his left foot but, reacting superbly, Eoin O’Flaherty (a late replacement for Dennehy) fisted to the net from close range.
There was relatively nothing between these two evenly-matched outfits in the opening 20 minutes, at the end of which the sides were on level terms (1-3 apiece). The defending All-Ireland champions were very strong around the middle, with Kerry impressing with their patience in possession.
A purple patch for the Munster kingpins, inspired by captain Ben Murphy’s runs from deep, culminated in four unanswered points. Derry almost got in for a second goal before the break, Robak saving this time from Ruairí Biggs, before Sargent booted over the ’45 to leave three in it at the break.
A brace from Eamon Young and a free by Ger Dillon brought the game to parity early in the second half, but excellent points from Jack Joy and Gearóid White restored the Kingdom’s advantage by the 40th minute. Robak, meanwhile, made a third stop, denying Rocks his second goal.
Introducing the livewire Ryan O’Driscoll for the last quarter, Kerry started to struggle in winning primary possession, with Sargent dominant, Grant surging from deep, and substitutes Cody Rocks and Caomhan McNally well involved. Level pegging (1-10 apiece) after 50 minutes, it was anyone’s game.
Derry added three points to their tally, Kerry replied with two, but the Munster champions just couldn’t get the equaliser in the dying moments. Fittingly, for his overall influence, Sargent won a vital last kick-out, was dragged down by Ruadhan Donovan (resulting in a Kerry black card), and that was basically that.
The two-in-a-row dreams of Damian McErlain, and this Derry squad, remain intact, and they return to another All-Ireland decider. Kerry are left to lick their wounds, in the most heart-breaking of ways. That’s how tight it all was.
Scorers for Derry: J Sargent 0-4 (0-1 ’45, 0-2fs), E Young 0-4 (0-2fs), D Rocks 1-0, G Dillon 0-2 (0-1f), D McGuckin, L Grant, C Rocks 0-1 each.
Scorers for Kerry: G White 0-5 (0-4fs), E O’Flaherty 1-1, M Horan, E Murphy, B Murphy, J Joy, J McCarthy(f), A Ó Beaglaoich 0-1 each.
DERRY: J McCloy; P O’Kane, R Canavan, P Haran; L Grant, C Ó Mianáin, D McGuckin; J Sargent, C McBride; E Young, T McHugh, C Hargan; G Dillon, R Biggs, D Rocks.
Subs: C Rocks for Biggs (36), C McNally for Haran (38).
KERRY: K Robak; F Ryan, M Lynch, R Donovan; S Ó Cuinn, A Ó Beaglaoich, G O’Keeffe; B Murphy, E O’Flaherty; G White, J McCarthy, E Murphy; J Joy, R Carroll, M Horan.
Subs: R O’Driscoll for Carroll (44), C MacGearailt for E Murphy (52), D Sargent for Ryan (53), D O’Sullivan for Ó Cuinn (59).
REFEREE: A Coyne (Westmeath).