Kerry have won the All-Ireland senior title and minor title on a historic day for the Kingdom – the first time the county has done the double since 1980.
Kieran Donaghy was the man of the hour for Kerry, scoring the crucial second goal that opened up daylight between the sides midway through the second half, following a drab, tense opening to the second period. In truth, the opening 50 minutes was largely forgettable.
Paul Geaney was the other goal scorer for Kerry, scoring inside the opening minute and setting Donegal a massive task for the rest of the match. They were level at the break at 1-03 to 0-6. Donegal crept ahead with a point from captain Michael Murphy early in the second half but Kerry pegged them back two minutes later thanks to Paul Murphy.
Kerry added one more point as the clock ticked by, agonisingly for the neutral at times, until Donaghy collected a poor kick out from Paul Durcan before burying the ball in the net for the game’s critical score.
Donegal scored the next two points, bringing the game back to 2-5 to 0-10 for a moment. Three consecutive unanswered points from Kerry put a slow to the Donegal recovery.
Another minor revival saw Donegal drag the gap down to just two points with five minutes to go, but a Bryan Sheehan free kick from 45 yards settled Kerry and the year's football with 2 minutes left.
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