Kieran Donaghy misses for Kerry

Former Collingwood star Martin Clarke led Down to an inspired 1-16 to 1-10 win over Kerry in their GAA Football Championship quarter-final clash at Croke Park. Clarke controlled the game for long stretches, contributing to many of his side’s scores and posting a 0-04 tally himself.

Down stunned the Sam Maguire Cup holders with a goal after just 52 seconds and led by 1-07 to 0-04 at the break.

The Kingdom were reduced to 14 men in the 45th minute when Donnacha Walsh picked up a second yellow card, but nevertheless crafted a couple of goal chances, only to see Brendan McVeigh pull off two stunning saves from Donaghy.

Down grew in confidence, and a volley of superb points from Benny Coulter and Ronan Murtagh saw them kill the game off. A late goal for Kerry was too little, too late.

In another shock ousting of provincial champions, Dublin stunned Tyrone winning 1-15 to 0-13. Bernard Brogan’s nine-point haul and an Eoghan O’Gara goal saw off Tyrone in a nail biting encounter.

Tyrone led narrowly at half-time, but the Dubs got over the psychological barrier and fought back hard in the second half.

It was a gripping encounter that hung in the balance until five minutes from the end, when O’Gara grabbed the only goal of the game to seal the win for Dublin.

An improved second-half performance from Cork at Croke Park secured the Rebels a 1-16 to 0-10 win over Roscommon and booked them a meeting with Dublin in the semi-finals.

Despite a sluggish start, Cork led by a point at half time. After falling behind early in the second half, Cork knew they needed to up the pace, and rallied to break down a hard-working Roscommon defence. The Rebels worked harder and cruised over the finish line with nine points to spare.

Meath became the fourth provincial champion to crash out at the quarter-final stage at Croke Park as Kildare stormed to an impressive 2-17 to 1-12 win.

Despite falling six points behind inside the opening 12 minutes, Kildare stuck to their task and got down to work. Meath’s response was defiant and they led 1-09 to 2-05 at the break.

Kildare put in a typically strong second-half performance, growing in confidence with every passing minute. They struck back and systematically took the Royal defence apart with an irresistible display of positive, attacking football.

The semi-finals will begin on Sunday, August 22 when Dublin and Cork meet, followed by Kildare and Down on Sunday, August 29. Both matches will take place at 3.30pm Irish time. For the first time ever, no provincial title-holders will feature.