1. Goals key to Kerry’s charge
By half-time, Kerry had one hand on the Brendan Martin Cup. With 15 minutes to go, they were inevitable winners and by the time their third goal arrived, they were coasting through a victory lap.
They had 12 points to spare at full-time, with goals from Aoife Dillane, Hannah O’Donoghue and Emma Dineen accounting for much of the damage. Dillane was the first to lift a green flag with a brilliant run from half-back to complement some clever link play between Niamh Carmody and Aisling O’Connell before looping her shot over the head of Galway goalkeeper Dearbhla Gower, who was caught too far forward from the goal line.
With just 30 seconds remaining in the first half, that score put Kerry into a 1-8 to 0-3 lead at the break. Substitute Hannah O’Donoghue supplied the second goal shortly after her introduction to put Kerry 11 points clear. There was no way for Galway at that point but Emma Dineen turned the screw again with Kerry’s third goal to leave the scoreline reading 3-14 to 0-10.
Galway kept their net clear in the semi-final win over Cork and only conceded one goal against Dublin in the quarter-final, while scoring five of their own across both games. Kerry had scored just one goal across the quarter-final and semi-final victories against Meath and Armagh. The prospect of ending that long wait for an All-Ireland title inspired a three-goal feast in Croke Park.
2. Kerry’s big players stand up
Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh had one of her quieter games in last year’s All-Ireland final, where Dublin defender Leah Caffrey limited her to 1-1 from play. She cut a far more dominant figure yesterday, with four from play and looked far more involved in general play. And after 17 years of service to Kerry, she was honoured with the All-Ireland medal that had always eluded her.
Anna Galvin, another experienced player in the team, was excellent at midfield. She tapped over a point from play and carried possession through the middle strongly throughout the game. Team captain Niamh Carmody was also lively as was Síofra O’Shea who curtailed Nicola Ward’s influence with her performance at centre-forward.
Full-back Kayleigh Cronin was named the Player of the Match after anchoring a defensive effort which kept Galway to just seven points from play. Her opponent Emma Reaney was also the first Galway player to be withdrawn in the game after 24 minutes.
3. Inexperience costs Galway
Sisters Nicola and Louise Ward were all on the pitch for Galway’s 2019 All-Ireland final defeat to Dublin, as were Olivia Divilly and Charlotte Cooney.
But that experience from five years ago was simply no match from the hurt that Kerry had accumulated in their 2022 and 2023 All-Ireland final defeats. Galway had just three points on the board by half-time, one of which was a Róisín Leonard free. That, allied with the goal late in the first half, left Galway with too much of a mountain to climb in the second half.
Nicola Ward, who normally devastates teams with her surging runs, was too occupied by O’Shea to add to their attacking play. Divilly left Croke Park yesterday with two points from play while Cooney also split the posts in the second half.
Of their six starting forwards, Divilly, her sister Niamh, and Leonard were the only ones to score from open play. Their combined tally was 0-8, including four frees. After taking a major scalp in the quarter-finals by eliminating defending champions Dublin, and overcoming Cork in the semi-final, Galway were unable to produce another performance of that quality in the decider.
4. Kerry’s faith in management team
In the aftermath of their win, the Kerry players pointed to the management team of Declan Quill and Darragh Long as being critical in summoning another effort after consecutive All-Ireland final defeats. The inclusion of some of their more experienced players was conditional on Long and Quill remaining at the helm.
The pair had even privately agreed to step down after last year’s defeat to Dublin. But after speaking to players in the aftermath of that defeat, they endeavored to come back with the single focus of winning the All-Ireland.
Ní Mhuirtcheartaigh spoke of her affection for the duo when she spoke to the Sunday Game after the final and how crucial they were to Kerry’s success.
“When Darragh and Declan came in to help in 2019, we knew there was something in them. They got us to believe again. When they came in, the belief was down on the ground. We didn’t believe at all that this dream would ever come true. They instilled that belief in us. It was frightening how fast they did is as well. I absolutely love them; I’m forever grateful for every single one of that management team.”
5. One-sided final a disappointing spectacle
The Ladies All-Ireland final triple-header opened with two absorbing contests. The junior decider saw Fermanagh barely edge Louth by two points, while Leitrim managed to withstand a late fightback from Tyrone to clinch the intermediate crown.
The senior final was intended to be the blue riband event, and a tight contest was the forecast for Kerry and Galway. But it was essentially over as a contest by half-time after that Aoife Dillane goal. Galway, to their credit, tried to eat through the gap in the second half but Kerry’s defensive line was impenetrable.
Dublin were the clear winners in last year’s final, but the difference was just five points at full-time in that clash while Kerry’s three-goal display put a considerable difference between the sides in this year’s final.
Additionally, there seemed to be less of a focus on the build-up for the 2024 final which may have been caused by a clash with the Olympics. A crowd of 30,340 was recorded in Croke Park which is down from the attendance numbers at Ladies All-Ireland finals in recent years. Dublin and Meath were in some of those finals, counties which are closer to Croke Park, but other factors may have contributed to the lower turnout.
There were men’s club championship games in Kerry at the weekend, along with the senior hurling final where Abbeydorney ended a 50-year wait to become champions. That may have diverted attention away from the Kerry Ladies. After last weekend’s All-Ireland men’s final against Armagh, many Galway fans may not have been able to travel to Dublin again in successive weekends. Their county is also in the camogie All-Ireland final against Cork this coming weekend.
