Aoife Dillane, Hannah O’Donoghue and Emma Dineen struck goals at Croke Park on Sunday as Kerry convincingly overcame Galway to secure their first TG4 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title since 1993.
Galway were no match for their counterparts in Croke Park, as Kerry claimed the 12th Brendan Martin cup in their history. This, in turn, moves them ahead of provincial rivals Cork at the top of the roll of honour for the competition.
Following early traded scores between Kerry skipper Niamh Carmody and Galway's Roisin Leonard, the Kingdom stretched two points clear courtesy of unanswered efforts from Dineen and midfielder Anna Galvin.
While Galway brought the gap down to the bare minimum with a fine point by Olivia Divilly, Kerry were proving to be the more clinical side in front of the posts.
Thanks to five points without reply from ever-influential Corca Dhuibhne ace Ní Mhuircheartaigh (who finished with 0-6 ), including two excellent contributions from play, the Munster champions were firmly in the driving seat.
Galway finally responded with Leonard’s second point of the game, only for marauding defender Dillane to fire a looping shot beyond the reach of goalkeeper Dearbhla Gower to offer Kerry a commanding 1-8 to 0-3 buffer on the stroke of half-time.
Olivia Divilly got their Connacht counterparts underway on the restart with a fine solo point - but Mary O’Connell soon joined her midfield partner Galvin on the Kingdom scoresheet.
Teenage star Niamh Divilly supplemented the earlier effort from her sister Olivia with a fine point, but Kerry remained in the driving seat when Dineen and Ní Mhuircheartaigh both raised white flags in quick succession.
Olivia Divilly did knock over a close-range free at the opposite end. However, the final outcome was effectively placed beyond doubt when, just moments after her introduction as a substitute, O’Donoghue clinically dispatched the ball to the Galway net via a Ní Mhuircheartaigh pass.
Now rampant, Kerry added a third goal through Dineen inside a final quarter that also saw O’Donoghue (two ) and the evergreen Lorraine Scanlon kicking points.
Galway did find the target through Andrea Trill, Charlotte Cooney, Leonard, Olivia Divilly and Shauna Hynes during this juncture, but Daniel Moynihan’s westerners came up short in their quest for a first All-Ireland senior crown in 20 years.
“It’s disappointing. I don’t think we probably played to the level we needed to beat a fantastic Kerry team,” said Moynihan. “We knew we needed to hit form. All 15 players needed to play at their best and unfortunately we didn’t.
“Leading up to the game, training wise, everything was good. Players were switched to what was required of them. It’s just one of those things. I can’t put my finger on it right now, but preparation wise we were in a good place. Game wise, we started quite well. Especially that first 15 minutes, I think we controlled a lot of the game, even though Kerry had those few scores. We weren’t converting and that was the issue,” added Moynihan.
