Castleknock 0-11 St Jude's 1-4
Ciarán Kilkenny has his eye on another huge prize with a Dublin team after guiding underdogs Castleknock to a surprise county SFC final place.
The Footballer of the Year contender is fresh off back-to-back All-Ireland wins with Dublin but showed a real hunger for more success as he dictated the play from midfield at Parnell Park.
He didn't score but won three frees that top scorer Des Carlos converted in a second-half that Castleknock dominated.
Carlos finished with nine points in total and kicked two great points from play out on the right that helped kill off favourites Judes.
Castleknock will return to the Donneycarney venue on Saturday week for a final date with St Vincent's, who are chasing their third title in four seasons.
Kevin McManamon was the key Judes man and the Dublin ace finished with 1-01 - including a great solo goal in the second-half.
But that was Judes' last score as Castleknock finished with five points in a row to seal the win in some style.
Castleknock were competing in their first ever semi-final and were generally cool and composed, mirroring the style of key man Kilkenny.
He spent much of the Championship recycling and retaining possession with Dublin and this was Castleknock's general game plan here.
They lacked a player in attack to turn their possession into scores for long spells but did hold onto the ball for long periods, frustrating their southside rivals immensely.
McManamon grew so tired of the situation at one point late in the first-half that he put a huge hit in on Castleknock's Peter Sherry simply to halt the flow of passing.
When Judes did get their hands on the ball they couldn't make it count and five first-half wides were costly in a low-scoring encounter.
McManamon provided a moment of inspiration with an excellent tenth minute point from a tight angle out on the right.
That score put Judes 0-3 to 0-1 up following earlier scores from Declan Donnelly and Kieran Doherty but they didn't score again until early in the second-half.
Castleknock tied it up by half-time at 0-3 apiece but managed just one point from play in the opening half.
Mikey Galvin hit that one from a long way out and free-taker Carlos notched the others.
Kilkenny won two frees for Castleknock after the restart and Carlos converted three in total to put them ahead for the first time and 0-6 to 0-4 up.
McManamon's 46th minute goal was a moment of magic as he raced clear down the left and hammered a left footed shot to the net.
It put Judes one up but that was as good as it got for them as they failed to score again and Castleknock went to work at the other end.
Castleknock: M Connolly; T Quinn, E O'Brien, P Bourke; G Hannigan, T Shiels, P Sherry; C Kilkenny, J Sherry; D Carlos (0-09, 0-07f), S Boland, B Galvin (0-01); C Lynch, K Kindlon, M Galvin (0-01).
Subs: J Kindlon for M Galvin, M Griffin for B Galvin, T Corcoran for Lynch.
St Judes: P Copeland; R Martina, P Cunningham, R Finnegan; M Sweeney, C McBride, B Sheehan; C Murphy, S Ryan; K Doherty (0-01), R Joyce, T Lahiff; N Coakley (0-01, 0-01f), D Donnelly (0-01), K McManamon (1-01).
Subs: E Dalton for Joyce, D McLoughlin for Lahiff, P Courtney for Murphy, B McManamon for Coakley, J Donnelly for Doherty, O Manning for Courtney BC.
Referee: J King.
