Kerry delivered the goods when it mattered most on the biggest stage to defeat Donegal by 1-26 to 0-19 at Croke Park this afternoon and claim their first All-Ireland senior football championship crown in three years.

Jack O’Connor’s men made a sensational start at headquarters, running up a 0-13 to 0-4 lead inside the opening 20 minutes with the help of a pair of two-pointers from ace attacker David Clifford (0-9).

Having trailed by seven at half-time, Donegal would trim their deficit down to four with the help of Michael Murphy’s frees but couldn’t get the margin down to a score and the Munster champions pushed ahead prior to Joe O’Connor’s goal in the dying stages rounding off a sweet victory for the Kingdom.

Kerry’s excellent captain Gavin White burst through to set-up Dylan Geaney for the opening point in this hotly-anticipated decider after less than 20 seconds and, while it’d be erased at other end by Oisin Gallen, the scores of Sean O’Brien and White (2) saw the margin start to appear between the sides.

Paudie Clifford and David Clifford added points ahead of the latter sailing over the first ever two-pointer to be kicked in an All-Ireland SFC final, with another single by O’Brien making it 0-10 to 0-3 with a dozen minutes played.

Gallen responded with a point for the Ulster champions, but their Munster counterparts were in the groove from the outset here and added another two-pointer via a Sean O’Shea free and a David Clifford point from play to put nine between the teams.

CHAMPIONS once again! 👏
@Kerry_Official produce a stunning performance to claim their 3⃣9⃣th All-Ireland title.

📽️ Full-time highlights from Croke Park:@Kerry_Official 1-26@officialdonegal 0-19#KERVDON pic.twitter.com/pcq3v0gI9Y

— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 27, 2025

Gallen, Conor O’Donnell and Murphy pulled back points for Donegal, who lost Ciaran Thompson to injury that saw a 26th minute introduction for Daire Ò Baoill, and they’d get more scores through Conor and Shane O’Donnell to reduce their arrears to five in the run up to half-time.

A significant blow before the break saw McGuinness’s men cough up possession before the hooter sounded and David Clifford made them pay with a two-pointer, leaving it at 0-17 to 0-10 when the sides went in.

On this stage for the first time in 11 years, Donegal needed a big response in the second-half but it was the Kingdom that sent over the first two scores of the restart via O’Shea and David Clifford.

The next 10 minutes would see the Ulster champions outscoring their opponents by 0-4 to 0-1, with three of those being Murphy frees, and they’d keep fighting with a brace of Conor O’Donnell points and another from Shane O'Donnell.

Murphy’s free in 55th minute made it a four-point game and, while they’d have the chance to cut their deficit further, the next score went to Kerry via their inspirational skipper White who covered every blade of grass in Croker.

A Murphy point from play left four in it again, but O’Shea and super playmaker Paudie Clifford pushed out the would-be winners’ advantage again and David Clifford pointed his ninth of the day ahead of midfield powerhouse O’Connor lashing in the game’s only goal at the death to cap off a 10-point win and 39th All-Ireland SFC success for the Kingdom.

🗣️"Tá an-athas orm inniú an corn seo a ghlacadh ar son foireann Ciarraí!!"

Your 2025 All-Ireland Football Champions - @Kerry_Official 👏👏#KERVDON pic.twitter.com/RGAgohGZnr

— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 27, 2025

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