Talking points as Kerry build towards All-Ireland football final against Donegal
Kerry defender Seán O'Brien in action against Oisín Gallen of Donegal during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between the team at Fitzgerald Stadium in February. Photo by Sportsfile
Meath hammered Kerry and then Donegal hammered Meath, so Donegal are going to beat Kerry in the final, right? Not so fast. Championships generally follow a linear path; team form lines less so.
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Irish Independent
44 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Kildare referee Brendan Cawley to take charge of All-Ireland senior football final
It will be the Sarsfields club man's first time taking charge of an All-Ireland senior football final, having made his senior inter-county debut as a referee six years ago. He officiated Kerry's All-Ireland quarter-final victory over Armagh last month as well as the Ulster final between Donegal and Armagh, which Jim McGuinness' side won after extra-time. He was also the man-in-the-middle for their provincial first-round victory over Derry. Monaghan's Martin McNally is his stand-by referee on the day, which will be Cawley's 30th championship game as referee. Kildare GAA lauded Cawley's 'dedication, consistency and composure' in a statement on X saying it was a matter of when rather than if he'd get the top job, having previously taken charge of the All-Ireland club football final in 2024 when Derry's Glen defeated Roscommon's St Brigid's. 'His dedication, consistency, and composure have long marked him out as one of the very best in the game, and it is fitting that he now takes charge of this prestigious fixture,' wrote Kildare GAA. Cawley follows in the footsteps of Sean Hurson who threw the ball-in for last year's decider between Armagh and Galway. He'll be the first Kildare man to referee the final since 2005 when Michael Monaghan took charge of Kerry's victory over Tyrone.
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Kerry and Donegal show underdogs that only the ruthless survive
Underdogs have to take all of their chances, whether it's shots at the posts, half-chances at goal or minding possession in tight areas. Neither Meath nor Tyrone were able to do these things and thus Donegal and Kerry were treated to armchair semi-final victories. On Sunday, Meath started the game with two-pointers in the opening 12 minutes from Eoghan Frayne and Ruairi Kinsella, but that was as good as it got for the Royals, as their preferred shooting method subsequently malfunctioned. After a great turnover inside their own 45, Jordan Morris carried the ball from deep, a momentary reprieve from his marker, Brendan McCole. The Meath forward tried to play a defence splitting pass into Matthew Costello, but his tormentor Brendan McCole intercepted the ball just ahead of the onrushing Matthew Costello. Robbie Brennan spoke after the Galway win about Jordan Morris and his creativity, saying that he doesn't want to restrict players who have a little bit of magic. Brennan has given them the freedom to concede what he terms 'creative turnovers'. This was one of them and it was acceptable at that stage of the game with just six minutes on the clock. READ MORE Robbie Brennan has encouraged Meath to play freely, and here Morris gambles to try and create a goal chance, leading to a "creative turnover" In the next phase, Donegal continued to attack as they usually do, but were turned over as they approached the Meath arc. Meath attacked with pace, but the two-point effort from Conor Duke went wide, under severe pressure from Oisín Gallen, who had worked hard to get back to cover. An underdog needs to take those chances. The game would have been very different at this point if the scoreboard read 1-5 to 0-2 in favour of the Royals, rather than just the one-point advantage. As a cagey opening quarter played out, Donegal were only up 0-6 to 0-5, with Meath scoring 2/4 of their two-point efforts. However, for the remainder of the half, they missed four two-point efforts to go into half time with a conversion rate of 2/8 (25%) on two-point shots and 4/8 (50%) inside the arc. Meath two-point attempts (1-4): Meath's conversion rate in the first half for two-pointer was 25 per cent, as they often took the wrong option. In the 18th minute, Jordan Morris had yet to register a score and, under pressure from McCole again, he dropped a two-point attempt tamely wide. As the television cameras panned to Robbie Brennan and Shane Supple on the sideline, there was frustration evident in their body language, their willingness to embrace 'creative turnovers' maybe not as high at this moment. They would not have been happy, as Meath were very much in the game, with success on the Donegal kickout, some great defensive turnovers from Sean Rafferty and strong ball carrying from Ciaran Caulfield, but they needed to convert their chances. Donegal definitely afforded them chances. Meath two-point attempts (5-8): Meath's four consecutive two-point misses badly hurt their chances of staying in the game. Jordan Morris finally got his sole contribution to the scoreboard in the 32nd minute as his delightful dummy onto his left gave him momentary breathing space to bring the Meath tally to 0-8. However, Donegal finished the half off with two points as they continually put Billy Hogan's kickout under pressure. Ruairi Kinsella missed a rushed two-point effort as the buzzer sounded, when calm was needed to work the right shot. At half-time Donegal led 0-13 to 0-8 and the game was close to over. The removal of Michael Murphy in the 44th minute signified that Donegal has started preparation for their final joust with Kerry. A day earlier in Croke Park, the underdog struggled again but in a different way. Tyrone dominated the Kerry kickout in the first half as they won seven out of 10 of Shane Ryan's restarts, giving them a huge platform. However they were not able to punish accordingly, as Kerry came with a teak tough defensive structure and a real edge, where they had no interest in conceding soft frees or affording goal chances. Battle lines were firmly drawn as within 30 seconds Kerry executed the perfect choke tackle on Darragh Canavan and turned over Tyrone. Kerry controlled the tempo of the game in the next phase, before David Clifford won a free in front of the posts which Sean O'Shea converted. Kerry executed a perfect choke tackle on Darragh Canavan inside a minute, setting the tone The one scoreable free that Tyrone conceded in the first half was a foul with a purpose, as Joe O'Connor's quickly snuffed out a rare Tyrone jaunt toward Shane Ryan's goal. Joe O'Connor made the smart choice to give Tyrone a handy free, rather than a rare chance at goal O'Connor was involved again in the 9th minute as Kerry forced a turnover after a long spell of controlled Tyrone possession. O'Connor showed his confrontational side by winning a turnover under the Hogan stand as he hassled Brian Kennedy vigorously. O'Connor once again forcing a turnover, this time popping the ball out of Brian Kennedy In the 24th minute, Tyrone won a miscued Shane Ryan kickout but weren't able to punish with Eoin McElholm's attempt tailing wide as Kerry scrambled back. The defining turnover of the half came in the 28th minute as Mattie Donnelly wound up to shoot at the posts, but a diving block from two Kerry defenders sent the Kingdom on the attack for David Clifford's goal at the far end of the field. This block on Mattie Donnelly was rewarded, as Kerry scored their goal from it at the opposite end Clifford demonstrated the perfect back door cut, followed by a dummy bounce to beat Niall Morgan and stick it in the net. David Clifford's genius on and off the ball on show, executing the backdoor cut, rounding Niall Morgan and finishing Tyrone led after the first quarter by 0-6 to 0-4, but by half-time the scoreline was 1-9 to 0-9. Tyrone lacked some of the edge you'd associate with their tempestuous clashes with Kerry over the last 20 years, where they dictated terms. After dominating possession for much of the half, the score at the break left the Ulster underdogs with too much to do. While the scoreline on Saturday wasn't quite the massacre that Donegal delivered on Sunday, this game was just as comfortable for Kerry. After their initial second half scoring burst, Tyrone were dictated to by the Kingdom, setting up an All-Ireland final full of intrigue.
RTÉ News
4 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Brendan Cawley appointed referee for Kerry-Donegal football decider
Kildare's Brendan Cawley has been appointed as the referee for the 2025 All-Ireland SFC decider between Kerry and Donegal. It's a first All-Ireland inter-county final for the Sarsfields' clubman, who previously oversaw the 2024 All-Ireland club final between Glen and St Brigid's and the 2023 Division 1 league final between Mayo and Galway. The Kildare official has had several big assignments already in 2025, and was notably the man in the middle for the Ulster final between Armagh and Donegal and the Armagh-Kerry All-Ireland quarter-final over a fortnight ago. In recent years, he has refereed All-Ireland semi-finals in 2022 and 2024, Galway's wins over Derry and Donegal. His line umpires on the day are Monaghan's Martin McNally and the experienced Meath referee David Coldrick, with McNally named as stand-in referee.
