Heart and desire to the fore for semi-final bound Kerry in TG4 All-Ireland championship

Kerry joint manager Darragh Long paid tribute to his charges for the way they mastered the conditions in Tralee to oust reigning TG4 All-Ireland champions Meath and take another step towards ending their 30-year famine since the Brendan Martin Cup rested in the Kingdom.

Kerry laid the foundation for their 2-08 to 0-10 win over two-in-a-row champions Meath when goals from Siofra O'Shea and Niamh Carmody helped them build up a 2-07 to 0-03 interval lead when they had the wind behind them in the opening half and they then defended superbly after the restart.

"I’m massively proud. No wind ever won any game for you but it was massively strong out there and the easy part was the first half playing with that wind and we knew at half time that the easy part was done and the hard part was going to be there for 30 minutes. We needed to show character and we needed to show heart and desire and I thought that we showed that in abundance.

"We got a few of the breaks as well but you get those breaks when you try hard and you’re trying to do the right thing and the girls were doing that all night. We’ve been doing that all year so you’re going to get those breaks and I’m delighted they fell for us."

The holders battled back after the restart with Emma Duggan leading the way and while they restricted Kerry to a point in the second half, Meath were unable to close the gap and bowed out.

"All credit to the girls in the second half for the way they chipped away at that lead and they gave it absolutely everything," said Meath manager Jenny Rispin. "In the conditions they had to put their bodies on the line and they certainly did that. If we had a few more minutes or if a piece of luck fell our way it could have been very different. All credit to