Galway 2-7
Kerry 0-12

by Daire Walsh

A 58th minute point from Eva Noone was the difference between the teams at Croke Park on Sunday as Galway bridged a 22-year gap to claim their second TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship title in a dramatic decider against Kerry.

In a repeat of the 2024 final between these counties – a game that saw Kerry triumphing on a final scoreline of 3-14 to 0-11 – Kingdom attacker Síofra O’Shea and Galway centre-forward Kate Slevin traded points during a largely cagey opening to the action.

Kerry created some daylight when O’Shea and 2024-winning skipper Niamh Carmody registered quickfire scores, but even though they were struggled to find the range off a series of promising attacks, Galway subsequently stormed into the contest.

Supplementing a Kate Thompson point, Leanne Coen was picked out close to the target by Eva Noone and dispatched an excellent shot with the outside of her right boot to the net in the 16th minute.

While Kerry responded to this set-back with a Jadyn Lucey point, a brace of Olivia Divilly efforts had Galway in the driving seat on 20 minutes. The Kingdom were keeping their composure, however, and unanswered white flag scores courtesy of Niamh Ní Chonchúir, Emma Costello and O’Shea meant the teams were inseparable at 0-7 to 1-4 at the break.

It continued to be a tight and tense affair on the resumption and a full nine minutes passed before Ní Chonchúir found space inside the Galway defence to edge the Kingdom back in front.

Yet Galway continued to get their hands on a lot of possession and they regained the ascendancy as a result of the always dependable Olivia Divilly and Róisín Leonard splitting the posts either side of the final-quarter mark.

Kerry had appeared to turn the tide in their favour when Ní Chonchúir and O’Shea (two) all found the range in quick succession, but Galway once again established a slender cushion when Nicola Ward fed Coen at the end of a trademark run on 54 minutes and the Corofin ace fired superbly beyond the reach of Mary Ellen Bolger for her second goal.

A determined Kerry replied with a Caoimhe Evans equaliser, only for Noone to round off another prolonged attack by curling over off her left foot from a right-hand angle.

Kerry continued to fight until the bitter end, but after the Munster champions had a goal ruled out for a square ball off an O’Shea two-point free attempt in the closing seconds, Galway finally added to their 2004 All-Ireland final success.

Scorers – Galway: L Coen 2-0, O Divilly 0-3 (1f), K Slevin, K Thompson, E Noone, R Leonard 0-1 each. Kerry: S O’Shea 0-5 (3f), N Ní Chonchúir 0-3, E Costello, N Carmody, C Evans, J Lucey 0-1 each.

GALWAY: L O’Halloran; B Quinn, S Ní Loingsigh, K Geraghty; H Noone, N Ward, N Divilly; L Ward, S Divilly; O Divilly, K Slevin, K Thompson; E Noone, L Coen, R Leonard. Subs: S Hynes for Thompson (52), E Power for S Divilly (56), A Trill for Leonard (59).

KERRY: ME Bolger; R Rahilly, D Kearney, E Lynch; A O’Connell, E Costello; A Dillane; M Mulvihill, M O’Connell; N Carmody, N Ní Chonchúir, C Evans; J Lucey, D O’Leary, S O’Shea. Subs: L McMahon for Mulvihill (43), E McGlynn for Lucey (52), R Dwyer for O’Leary (59).

Referee: Maggie Farrelly (Cavan).

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