Jason Foley: 'Extra sweet' beating a couple of Ulster teams
Getting past Ulster opposition in the All-Ireland series. It all started with that infamous Tyrone 'swarm' in the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final and was followed by defeats to the Red Hand and Armagh on days when Sam Maguire was handed out. In more recent times the aforementioned Ulster duo got the better of the Kingdom at the penultimate stage
That said, there were days when Kerry exacted revenge. And on their way to winning their 39th All-Ireland title, Jack O'Connor's side accounted for four Ulster sides, with old nemesis Armagh and Tyrone dismissed in between wins over Cavan and Donegal.
It's the morning after Kerry's latest triumph, time to reflect on a job well done against Jim McGuinness's side in Sunday's decider.
"It was very special, the manner in which we won it, it was a complete performance bar a couple of plays," was how full-back Jason Foley summed it up, when speaking to RTÉ Sport's Marty Morrissey.
The Ulster question was then put to the Ballydonoghue clubman.
"I suppose it's extra sweet when you beat a couple of them in a row and having performed so well in the last three games," he said.
"There were a lot of critics out there saying we hadn't won an All-Ireland before beating a lot of Ulster teams."
But when all is said and done, reclaiming Sam was paramount, with the All-Star defender adding: " At the same time it doesn't really matter as long as you win at the end of the day, once you bring Sam Maguire home. That was the main thing for us."
Kerry's fast start against Donegal set the tone for what was to follow, with the Ulster champions immediately on the back foot.
"It felt on the field like a fierce collective performance for that ten to 15-minute spell," was how goalkeeper Shane Ryan viewed his side's early intent.
"I know we probably went off script for the next ten minutes. Getting a good start really settles you on the field as well; it encourages to express yourself, back yourself, and back each other. When you get that performance early on in an All-Ireland final, it is very satisfying.
"Donegal had spells on the ball which they got scores off. We had to win our own kickout. We had fellas coming up with plays, coming up with scores that would not be renowned with coming up with scores all year."
Kerry's only defeat in Championship 2025 came against Meath in their final group game. Observers, including many from within the county, questioned whether Jack O'Connor's side could turn things around thereafter.
It was a defining game in Kerry's season, with Ryan, on reflection, commenting: "If it didn't happen we might not be here".
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Cool heads were required.
"We won the League and we won the Munster Championship, so we played a lot of good football coming up to Meath and played a lot of good football since. I suppose coming home from Meath it was a case of not throwing the toys out of the pram and not going completely off script.
"We knew we had footballers in the dressing room. We also got tighter as a unit afterwards and shut the doors of the dressing room a small bit, galvanise ourselves and use each other for energy.
"It really united the coaching group as well and that is something powerful when you have 50 people in a dressing room, four or five nights a week striving towards the one thing. That was the biggest thing that drove us on over the last six or seven weeks."
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