Kerry survived a scare at Cusack Park in Ennis and needed a late goal to get them over the line against a game Clare side.
They progress to a provincial decider against old rivals Cork but forward James O'Donoghue sees plenty of room for improvement.
Speaking to Newstalk Sport's Oisin Langan afterwards, he said: "First half we didn't really play great. Clare brought big intensity to that game, they really put it up to us in the first half.
"Conditions were very tough, especially with the ball going in...it was spewing and spinning and they were impressive and with the red card, we were seriously on the ropes at half-time.
"But, we sat down, no panic at half-time, re-adjusted, reassessed, came out and got a few scores. Stephen O'Brien got an absolutely fantastic goal to get us over the line."
Clare's Eoin Cleary with Tadhg Morely of Kerry. Image: ©INPHO/Donall Farmer
Kerry only scored one point from play in the first half and O'Donoghue was critical of his team's efforts saying: "That's not good enough definitely but, that said, sometimes conditions allow for certain things and you know, when you're running at fellas and making them foul you, it's a way of scoring, simple as that.
"One point isn't good enough but in the second-half, I think we kicked about 1-10 so that was good going. Once we got the pace of Championship football, we settled down."
The Munster Senior Football final takes place on July 2nd.
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