FOR 62 minutes, this was arguably the most inept championship performance by a Kerry team in many years -- and Antrim should have beaten them in an absorbing fourth-round qualifier at Tullamore yesterday.

Instead, the battling boys from the Glens were left to join Longford and Sligo in the ranks of lesser lights reflecting on how they 'cudda, wudda and shudda' kayoed Kerry in the last three weeks.

Kingdom fans were biting their fingernails in anguish at the number of misplaced passes, the brutal shooting, the turnover ball they conceded and the ease with which their defence was opened up for Antrim to score their goal.

Could you believe that a Kerry team would go scoreless for 16 minutes against a Division 4 team, as Jack O'Connor's men did in the first half yesterday? Or that the Kingdom would find themselves level five times against such supposedly inferior opposition?

All that Antrim needed to claim a famous victory was a touch of composure, better shooting and a few points taken instead of going for goal, as James Loughrey twice did in vain.

Blessed

Kerry were blessed to avoid being reduced to 14 men when Marc O Se was involved in a clash with Terry O'Neill after 39 minutes.

The incident happened under the eyes of the umpire, but after consultation, referee Jimmy White opted only to book both players.

But when the going got tough, the tough got going and the man who fitted the bill was Paul Galvin. So often maligned, Galvin was one of the few Kerry shining lights in the first half, and his value was illustrated by the way he popped up to score the proverbial striker's goal in the 62nd minute.

The goal broke the fifth deadlock of the game and set Kerry up for a strong finish to drive forward into the quarter-finals at the end of a week of controversy, during which allegations of players breaking team discipline had been rife.

Kerry started without star men Colm Cooper and Tomas O Se. They were replaced by Tadhg Kennelly and Killian Young, respectively, but long before the end, Cooper and O Se were pressed into service.

'The Gooch' underlined his importance and class by scoring four frees, most of which he won himself by driving at the Antrim defence.

Manager O'Connor drew a line under the stories of friction in the camp, insisting: "We said nothing all week. We'll park it now."

Antrim midfielder Michael McCann, who kept his side in the hunt with four points in the second half, three from frees, summed up the feelings of the Ulster finalists. "We threw it away. I thought we dominated most of that game. It's just gutting. Any other year getting beat by Kerry you'd be happy enough with five points. The boys battled well and should be very proud of themselves, but we wanted more," he said.

Kerry struck first, with Sean O'Sullivan scoring from a free with just over 40 seconds gone, but Paddy Cunningham soon equalised from a free.

Antrim deployed O'Neill very effectively as a sweeper, and the defensive screen proved difficult for Kerry to penetrate as the Antrim backs snapped into every challenge.

A rare fluent and effective Kerry raid gave them a key first goal after 12 minutes when Tommy Walsh slotted the ball home after an inter-change of passes with Kennelly.

Tomas McCann got Antrim's second point after 17 minutes, and two minutes later came the fruits of his side's attacking plan.

"We knew Kerry were vulnerable if you ran at them," said manager Liam Bradley and so it proved when half-back Loughrey made a devastating long run before passing for Tony Scullion to fire into the Kerry net.

Over the next 18 minutes, scores were rare as the struggle intensified. Walsh hit a point after 32 minutes, but Cunningham and Ciaran Close replied to give Antrim the lead by 1-4 to 1-3 at half-time.

Tomas McCann added a point to put Antrim two ahead soon after the break, but after that Kerry had to grind their way to parity by the 45th minute with two points from frees by Cooper.

Kerry had thrown the impressive Mike McCarthy forward from centre-back to pressurise O'Neill and that switch helped the Kingdom to regain some dominance.

The introduction of Micheal Quirke in the 57th minute put more pressure on Antrim, but they refused to buckle and were level again at 1-8 each after a point by Michael McCann in the 61st minute.

Just a minute later came Galvin's goal, when he latched on to a ball parried by Antrim 'keeper John Finucane following a shot by Donncha Walsh.

From that moment on Kerry had the edge, despite the defiance of Antrim.

Scorers -- Kerry: P Galvin 1-2; T Walsh 1-2; C Cooper 0-4 (0-4f); P O'Connor 0-2 (0-2f); Declan O'Sullivan; S O'Sullivan (f) 0-1 each. Antrim: M McCann 0-4 (0-3f); T Scullion 1-0; P Cunningham 0-3 (0-2f); T McCann 0-2 (0-1f) C Close 0-1.

Kerry -- D Murphy 7; M O Se 5, T Griffin 6, T O'Sullivan 6; K Young 6, M McCarthy 7, A O'Mahony 6; D O Se 6, S Scanlon 6; P Galvin 8, Declan O'Sullivan 6, T Kennelly 6; Darran O'Sullivan 7, T Walsh 7, S O'Sullivan 6. Subs: C Cooper 7for S O'Sullivan (31); T O Se 6 for A O'Mahony (44); D Walsh 6 for Kennelly (44); P O'Connor 6 for Darran O'Sullivan (56); M Quirke 6 for S Scanlon (57)

Antrim -- J Finucane 6; C Brady 7, A McClean 7, K O'Boyle 6; T Scullion 7, J Crozier 7, J Loughrey 7; M McCann 7, A Gallagher 7; T O'Neill 6, C Close 6, N McKeever 7; P Cunningham 7, K Niblock 6, T McCann 6. Subs: A Douglas 6 for K Boyle (12); C Murray 6 for C Close (50); K Brady 6 for T O'Neill (54); S Burke for K Niblock (65).

Ref -- J White (Donegal)