Declan O'Sullivan is bottled up by Gavin Devlin and Ciaran Gormley

Tyrone 0-13 0-6 Kerry

Tyrone ensured an historic all-Ulster battle for the Sam Maguire Cup next month by claiming a tremendous seven-point win over a non-plussed Kerry at Croke Park on Sunday.

The Red Hand team laid the foundations for victory by producing a superb first half display which left them 0-9 to 0-2 ahead at the break.

That was inspite of losing captain Peter Canavan because of an ankle injury in the 15th minute.

However, his replacement Stephen O'Neill went on to contribute three points and overall, the Tyrone attack proved that they no longer have an over-reliance on the skipper.

Tyrone showed their intentions by producing a fast start.

They could have scored a goal in the opening seconds but Gerard Cavlan instead of taking the chance himself, tried to find Owen Mulligan on the edge of the square and the opportunity was lost.

However within seconds Canavan had notched Tyrone's opening score from a free and it was a lead which the Red Hand County never looked like losing.

Canavan had to leave the field initially in the third minute after picking up a gash to his head following a tangle which saw Michael McCarthy becoming the first of many bookings.

Early on, Tyrone seemed capable of opening up the Kerry defence at will and by the fifth minute, the Ulster Champions were three points up.

Peter Canavan is carried off the field

Enda McGinley could have notched a goal in the fifth minute but his palmed effort after great work by Owen Mulligan skimmed just over the crossbar.

Losing Canavan would have demoralised previous Tyrone outfits but not this side.

With Gerard Cavlan and Brian Dooher producing incredible work all over the field, Tyrone increased their advantage to 0-6 to 0-0 by the 19th minute.

Brian McGuigan had scored two points by that stage and Tyrone were dominating every sector of the field.

Kerry didn't manage a score until the 24th minute when Colin Cooper was on target.

At that stage, Kerry were finally winning some possession at midfield but two poorly hit frees from Dara O Cinneide and another bad wide from Dara O Se meant Tyrone maintained a five-point advantage.

Tyrone increased Kerry's discomfort by then hitting three unanswered points although Mike Frank Russell's injury-time effort cut the Ulster side's lead to seven at the break.

With substitutes Johnny Crowley and Seamus Scanlon improving the Kerry side, the Kingdom picked up their game after the break.

Glorious Dooher score

A key moment came in the 50th minute when Declan O'Sullivan had a goal chance.

At that stage, Kerry were still seven points in arrears but an off-balance O'Sullivan blazed the chance over the bar.

With Tyrone adopting a more defensive mode, Kerry continued to press and a couple of frees from substitute Declan Quill left the Ulster Champions only four clear with eight minutes of normal time left.

By that stage, Tyrone needed a score and Stephen O'Neill lifted the siege with his side's first score in 18 minutes which seemed to deflate the Kerrymen.

Johnny Crowley made a lame appeal for a penalty with four minutes left but he was correctly adjudged to have over-carried after being bottled up the Tyrone defence.

With a minute of normal time, Brian Dooher struck a glorious score with the outside of his right boot and O'Neill's point in injury-time came with Tyrone in lap-of-honour mode.