Kieran Donaghy and Ciaran Whelan were involved in a titanic game

Kerry led 0-3 to 0-0 but Dublin fought back to lead 0-8 to 0-7 at half-time.

Declan O'Sullivan hit Kerry's goal two minutes after the break and the champions went into a 1-12 to 0-9 lead.

Dublin fought back to set up a great finish but they could never draw level as Kerry's composure won the day to set up a decider against Cork.

Eoin Brosnan put Kerry ahead after only 14 seconds and two further points from Paul Galvin put the Kingdom three up after four minutes.

Barry Cahill opened Dublin's account in the seventh minute and the score appeared to settle the Dubs' early nerves.

Conal Keaney's 13th-minute score cut Kerry's lead to the minimum and the Kingdom then suffered a slow when star midfielder Dara O Se suffered a hip injury which forced him to leave the field in the 21st minute.

By that stage, Dublin had moved into a 0-4 to 0-3 lead but Kerry ended a 22-minute spell without a score when Bryan Sheehan levelled in the 25th minute.

However, Dublin continued to hold the edge during the remainder of the first half and they led 0-8 to 0-7 at the interval.

The first half had seen a number of dust-ups with referee John Bannon handing out seven yellow cards.

Declan O'Sullivan celebrates his second-half goal

After struggling for much of the first half, Kerry produced a devastating burst of scores after half-time which, in the end, proved decisive.

The key score was Declan O'Sullivan's goal which was set up by a superb angled pass from Killian Young although the goalscorer still had to do a lot in turning and hammering the ball past Stephen Cluxton.

By the 50th minute, Kerry were 1-12 to 0-9 ahead with Bryan Sheehan and Tomas O Se having knocked over a couple of stunning points.

Dublin got a bad break on 54 minutes when referee Bannon blew up for a free which playing the advantage may have served Shane Ryan better as he charged at the Kerry goal.

But the point cut Kerry's lead to five and there seemed to be a sense of renewed relief in the Dublin side.

Conal Keaney added another Dublin point but Ray Cosgrove then squandered a glorious goal chance wide when he sliced his pointblank effort horribly wide.

Still, the Dubs kept battling and Mark Vaughan, the superb Alan Brogan and Bryan Cullen all pointed to leave the minimum between the sides with five minutes of normal time left.

But crucially, substitute Sean O'Sullivan fisted a Kerry point and Declan O'Sullivan's score a minute from time extended the Kingdom advantage to three again.

Bryan Cullen and Keaney points left the minimum between the teams with two minutes of injury-time left but Kerry held possession and engineered the final score of the match which was kicked over by Declan O'Sullivan.