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Irish Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Donegal v Kerry: Breakdown of the 2025 All-Ireland football final by numbers
0 – Times Donegal and Kerry have played each other outside Croke Park in championship football. There have only been three previous meetings, resulting in one win for each side and one draw. Donegal won the first ever encounter on the way to the 2012 All-Ireland, Kerry got revenge in the final two years later and the sides drew a Super 8s game in 2019. 1 – This is Brendan Cawley's first All-Ireland final as referee. He will be the first Kildare man to referee a final since Mick Monahan took charge of the 2005 decider between Tyrone and Kerry. 2 – Players who have appeared in every Donegal v Kerry encounter. The men in question are Michael Murphy and Patrick McBrearty. Murphy has played every minute. 3 – Players involved who have previously been man of the match in an All-Ireland final. Michael Murphy was the 2012 recipient, followed by Paul Murphy in 2014 and David Clifford in 2022. READ MORE Kerry will look to the Clifford brothers, David and Paudie, for inspiration in the final. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho 3 – Sets of brothers potentially involved. The Cliffords will start for Kerry, who also have Dylan and Conor Geaney in their panel. Niall and Shane O'Donnell are the brothers in the Donegal squad. The 2021 final between Mayo and Tyrone remains the only one this century not to feature a set of brothers on the pitch at the same time at any stage (Aidan O'Shea played for Mayo in that game but his brother Conor was an unused sub). 8 – All-Ireland football finals for Jack O'Connor as Kerry manager. He overtakes Seán Boylan and Kevin Heffernan, who both guided teams to seven deciders (excluding replays). Only Mick O'Dwyer (10 finals with Kerry and one with Kildare) is ahead of him now. 8 – Different counties have made it to the final in the past five seasons. You have to go back to the late 1950s and early 1960s for the last time there was a stretch of eight different counties in the final in such a small space of time. 10 – Goalless games in the 2025 championship. That's down from 13 last year. There have been five goalless finals this century – the last one was in 2022 when Kerry beat Galway by 0-20 to 0-16. 10 – Different clubs represented in the Donegal team. St Eunan's have three players on the starting 15, while St Nauls, Naomh Chonaill and Killybegs have two each. 10 – Different clubs represented in the Kerry team. Five clubs have two players each. GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Semi-Final, Croke Park, Dublin, 13/7/2025 Meath vs Donegal Donegal's Michael Murphy takes a free Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne 13 – Points needed by Michael Murphy to draw level with Colm Cooper in second place on the all-time scoring charts. Murphy currently stands on 9-312 (339 points), having scored 0-44 in the championship so far this season, passing Conor McManus and Dean Rock in the process. David Clifford (22-213, or 279) is chasing them all down at a ferocious clip – four points in the final will lift him past Johnny Doyle and into sixth on the all-time list. Cillian O'Connor's record tally of 34-367 (469) is still a mile off in the distance. [ The obvious way Donegal can be beaten by Kerry is ... David Clifford Opens in new window ] 15 – Years since two teams met in the final having already lost at least one game. The last time it happened was 2010, when Cork beat Down after both of them were beaten in their province. 28 – Points by which David Clifford leads the scoring charts for the 2025 championship. Clifford has scored 8-53 in his eight matches this summer, 5-13 ahead of Galway's Rob Finnerty. Presuming Sean O'Shea doesn't outscore him by 31 points, it will be Clifford's first time finishing the championship as leading scorer. 87 – Championship appearances for Michael Murphy. Playing in the final will move him on to 88, drawing him level with Marc Ó Sé and Tomás Ó Sé, with only Seán Cavanagh (89), Aidan O'Shea (96) and Stephen Cluxton (128) ahead of him.
Irish Independent
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Meath's defeat of Kerry will give Royals boost ahead of Galway quarter-final clash
GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final Four in-a-row Connacht champions Galway will provide the opposition for Meath in the All-Ireland SFC quarter final which has been confirmed for Croke Park this Sunday at 1.45pm. The draw for the last eight ties was made on Monday morning with Meath as group winners on one side of the draw along with All-Ireland champions Armagh, Tyrone and Monaghan.
Irish Independent
16-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Meath's plan for Kerry worked in most parts says boss Robbie Brennan
GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Round 3 From the dizzy heights of the win over Dublin to the low of the Leinster final defeat and now victory over hotly-fancied Kerry. It has been a real roller-coaster ride so far for Robbie Brennan and his fledging intercounty career and one that is swiftly picking up speed.
Irish Independent
02-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Meath mix the good, the bad and the battling in draw with Roscommon
GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Round Two Manager Robbie Brennan thought Meath mixed the good with the bad on their way to clinching a knock-out spot from Group 2 in the All-Ireland SFC at Roscommon last Saturday. There were aspects of Meath's play that pleased the boss but he also conceded that there were areas that his charges needed to work on.
The Irish Sun
23-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
GAA star ‘won't judge Taoiseach dad's performance if he doesn't scrutinize me' as relationship ‘wouldn't work otherwise'
INSTEAD of emulating his father by pursuing a career in politics, helping Cork to secure a seat on Gaelic football's front bench is at the top of Micheál Aodh Martin's manifesto for now. With his son serving as his county's first-choice goalkeeper, the Taoiseach is often a keen observer from the stands when the Rebels are in action. 2 Mícheál Martin at SuperValu's launch of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh Credit: INPHO/Dan Sheridan 2 Cork goalkeeper Micheal Aodh Martin with his father An Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD Credit: Matt Browne/Sportsfile Yet owing to a gentleman's agreement that exists between the pair, appraisals are rarely offered. Micheál Aodh explained: 'We probably have a mutual thing there. I won't scrutinise his performance if he doesn't scrutinise mine! We've probably both learned over the years that it doesn't work otherwise.' A two-time Munster Championship winner with Nemo Rangers , Martin is well accustomed to having his father in attendance whether he is representing club or county. However, rather than a propensity for being an overbearing parent, the Cork goalkeeper understands it is a passion for the games that draws him in. Read More on GAA He said: 'He'd go to all the Even the leader of the country might be finding it tricky these days to source a ticket to watch the Cork hurlers. No such difficulties exist when it comes to getting through the turnstiles for games involving Rebels in the big-ball code. For the third home game in a row, Cork are expected to play in front of more than 40,000 spectators when they take on Waterford in the Munster SHC at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday. Most read in GAA Football For the footballers' most recent outing — the Munster SFC semi-final against Kerry — there was an attendance of 14,358 at the same venue. The hurlers, who won the National League last month and reached the 2024 All-Ireland final, have always been the box-office attraction on Leeside. Limerick GAA fans troll RTE pundit Donal Og Cusack after win over Cork Martin said: 'Our aim and our hope is to be playing in big Championship games that Cork people want to go to and that we draw those crowds. 'But I've been involved with the Cork team since 2015 on and off and this is the way I've always known it. 'It is what it is. We have a small, loyal group of supporters that we care about a lot. There's a small group that will come up to Fermanagh and places and we really value them as well. So I'm not envious. 'It would be great — don't get me wrong — and I hope to get the chance to play in games where we do draw that support. 'But I don't look at it with envy or anything like that.' HURLING STRONGHOLD Particularly to the west of the city , there are sizeable hotbeds of football in Ireland's largest county. Still, for the majority of its That was starkly evidenced when the teams shared the bill for a pair of National League games in March. The hurlers beat But the majority headed for the exits before the footballers took to the field for their loss to Football was responsible for Cork's most recent taste of All-Ireland success at senior level. Sam Maguire headed south 15 years ago, whereas the Liam MacCarthy Cup has been absent since 2005. And Martin, 30, knows that more significant Championship wins would persuade floating voters to row in behind the county's current crop of footballers. But he added: 'There's a geographic divide in Cork as well in terms of the population. 'Sometimes people overestimate maybe what's available in terms of the fanbase. 'I have no doubt we would get great support if we managed to make it far in an All-Ireland series. 'But the reality is, and some of the lads from 2010 would tell you as well, even in their heyday, league games wouldn't have always been packed out even when they won multiple leagues and were in All-Ireland finals. 'To an extent, you just get on with it. 'You focus on yourself really. It doesn't get too much air time for us.' SETTING THE STAGE Another journey through the All-Ireland group stages begins for Cork in Navan tomorrow against Leinster runners-up Meath. While few will lament the passing of the much-maligned format when it is axed at the end of the season, it has been the stage for the Rebels' most significant results of the past decade. After stunning Mayo in 2023, they went on to eliminate Roscommon in the preliminary quarter-finals. And last summer's thriller against Donegal handed Jim McGuinness the first defeat of his second coming as manager of the Ulster champions. The task for John Cleary's side at Páirc Tailteann this weekend is to deliver a level of performance that proves their extra-time epic against Kerry five weeks ago was no fluke. Cork were on course to take a big step closer to a first Munster title in 13 years until Joe O'Connor's thunderbolt of a goal sealed a 3-21 to 1-25 triumph for the Kingdom. It was the third year in a row that only a kick of a ball has separated the neighbours in Championship football. And they will collide again in a Group 2 fixture tomorrow week. But Martin rejects the suggestion that the recent provincial semi-final was as good a chance as this Cork team will ever have of conquering the old enemy again. He insisted: 'That's not the way I'd look at it, no. We beat them in 2020 and subsequently didn't win a Munster Championship. The goal was to win a Munster Championship and Cork haven't won it for a long time. No member of our squad has a Munster medal so that was our goal going into it. 'We fell short and then you just move on and you have to get ready for the All-Ireland series. I don't see it as our chance being gone or anything like that. 'We've been close to them now for probably three years in a row. For us, it's about winning. We have no interest in getting close. We just have to move on now and hopefully have a good All-Ireland series.' For Martin, who works in corporate finance with PwC, succeeding with Cork is a red-line issue. For the time being at least, no great consideration is being given to joining his father as a running mate in the political arena. On the prospect of entering the family business in the future , he said: 'Look, we're all interested in it. Whether I'd have an interest in taking on a role, because I can see what it entails, I haven't thought that far ahead. 'I just have an interest in him and the issues locally. But I'm definitely happy for now in the day job. 'I have an ambition with Cork. I really want Cork football to keep improving. That's my driver at the moment. I'd love to get back into big games.' l MICHEÁL AODH MARTIN was speaking as SuperValu announced a five-year extension of its sponsorship of the All-Ireland SFC.
