Mayo 1-20
Kerry 1-17
“The wait is over, Sam is home.”
So said Jack Carney after he’d played a starring role in Mayo’s deserved win in the All Ireland final at Croke Park on Sunday.
Moments earlier his captain, Jack Coyne, had lifted the Sam Maguire Cup, thanked the Mayo fan base and the players of the opposing team, Kerry. The Kingdom people had stayed on in what was an overcast afternoon generally, sensing history and paying respects to it.
The last Mayo captain to hold Sam Maguire aloft died in 1993 at age 71. He'd had a prominent career as a TD, member of the Cabinet, and European parliamentarian, but Dr. Sean Flanagan was also long a sporting legend in his home county, especially since that famous day at Croke Park in 1951.
And one commentator on Sunday said of Mayo’s 2026 team, “Those lads are legends for the rest of their lives."
The heroes were six points adrift by the 21st minute, but just a point behind when the teams went in at half-time; they surged ahead in the 3rd quarter, taking the lead in the 37th minute for the first time and never letting go, although it was a nervy ride to the finish.
Kobe McDonald challenges Kerry's Mike Breen. [Inpho/Tom O'Hanlon]
Ultimately, it should be said again, Mayo were good for their three-point win, which allows them to add to 1936, 1950 and 1951 the victorious year of 2026.
After 38 years of not reaching the All Ireland final, and then 11 defeats in finals, eight of them since 2004, Mayo had a psychological barrier to get past. Moreover, the Westerners were generally tipped not to overcome an experienced Kerry who were aiming for back-to-back All Irelands for the first time since 2007 and a 40th senior title in their history.
Two other stats were in favorites Kerry’s sights in Sunday’s encounter, and they concerned the country’s most famous Gaelic footballer David Clifford, who was busy in the action from the off, working almost telepathically alongside his playmaker brother Paudie in the front line.
The fear for Mayo, voiced by pundits beforehand, was that they would let the game get away from them early if Kerry got a strong start, and that it could become a repeat of the 2004 and 2006 finals when the two sides met, and indeed of Donegal’s loss last year. On those occasions, Kerry were allowed to impose their will on the game. This time, however, the underdogs had as many chances as the champions in the early stages — they just didn’t take them. It did, of course, seem ominous when Kerry’s men made it 1-4 to 0-1 with their goal and then added another point. That turned out to be the biggest gap, 7 points, that either side enjoyed in the game.
Kerry drew first blood, with a well-taken point by Dylan Casey ending an attack he began himself before moving into space in front of Mayo’s goal to receive and score. Midfielder Sean O’Brien came close with a shot on goal in the next attack, which was engineered by Paudie Clifford.
David Clifford then kicked a point from a counterattack, product of a third successive turnover, and a little later he punched over a second, Kerry’s third, after he was found by a brilliant cross-field pass from brother Paudie.
Mayo got on the board in 7 minutes courtesy of the same method, as deployed by David McBrien. Sean O’Shea made it 0-4 to 0-1 and then that player popped up on the right side and punched the ball to David Clifford who’d slipped in along the end line behind the Mayo defenders, ran past goalkeeper Jack Livingstone, turned and shot with his preferred left foot into the empty net. The younger Clifford had now matched Mikey Sheehy’s all time championship goal record for Kerry, 29.
O’Shea was soon in action again, scoring a near identical point to his first, after some passing it about from his teammates. It was 1-05 to 0-01.
Approaching 17 minutes, Carney got a morale-boosting two-pointer, steadying young Mayo nerves (it was the first final for 10 of their starters).
After O’Shea got his third point to make it 1-06 to 0-03, Mayo began to find their rhythm and the claw-back was fully on. Ryan O’Donoghue got a two-pointer, which was added to with a free from Darragh Beirne from out on the right and another from O’Donoghue in front of the posts. Mayo had found a way to deal with the Kerry press.
Kobe McDonald moving through the center found in front of him Sam Callinan, who kicked over for a point. A Tom O’Sullivan effort for Kerry was matched and surpassed by two at the other end, a free from Beirne and a mighty kicked point by Tommy Conroy. They were level. Joe O’Connor stepped up, though, to give Kerry the narrow advantage going in at the break, even if the momentum appeared to be with Mayo.
So it proved. Beirne rode some tough challenges before getting over a fine point, his third and his first from play. An attack on the Kerry goal by Kobe led to a 45, which he converted and Mayo had the lead for the first time.
Then came the goal for Mayo and it was a classic. David McBrien intercepted on the half-back line and after some interplay with Diarmuid O'Connor and Ryan O’Donoghue, the latter player took the ball up the field, getting past numerous Kerry challengers, and passing finally to McBrien in front of him, who punched on to Beirne, free on the left a few yards outside the parallelogram, and the red-headed first-year UL student fired left-footed past the advancing Shane Murphy into the corner of the net.
Kerry responded with a Keith Evans point, and then came Carney’s second two-pointer, putting Mayo five points ahead, 1-14 to 1-09, on 44 minutes.
Next, Paudie Clifford kicked a 45. After that, he kicked another from play, and for his next trick he won possession and a free in middle of the pitch and quickly found his brother David in front of the posts, who turned and scored another point. Graham O’Sullivan came from the back to kick another point for Kerry. It was now 1-14 to 1-13 and there was a quarter of an hour still on the clock.
Mayo ended their lean spell by aggressively dispossessing Kerry defenders, getting the ball up to McDonald who fired on goal, only for Shane Murphy’s arm to keep the damage to a single point. David Clifford hit back for what was his seventh point (1-04), putting him well past Colm Cooper’s record number of championship points for the county.
The only point that mattered at this stage was the single one between the teams, and Mayo’s Jordan Flynn made it two with a kicked point from the left. Kobe ran past teammate Conor Loftus, and then took his pass, beat a defender and kicked over to make it a three-point game. Sean O’Shea missed for Kerry and seconds later Ryan O’Donoghue scored a fabulous two-pointer. It was now a five-point gap in favor of the county that had not won in 75 years, and eight minutes were on the clock.
Mayo almost made it safe when an O’Donoghue ball from the sideline found Jordan Flynn who palmed it off the crossbar from close range. David Clifford made it interesting at the other end with a two-pointer, and Paudie followed up with a single point, one of the best of the game.
The next effort fell short for Kerry, however, and in the final minute Mayo got the ball up the field, and Kobe found an unmarked Conroy, who fired over at close range for the final point. Seconds later, it was all over. Mayo had won their fourth senior football All Ireland title.
Kerry: Shane Murphy; Paul Murphy, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey (0-01); Graham O'Sullivan (0-01), Mike Breen, Gavin White; Mark O'Shea, Sean O'Brien; Joe O'Connor (0-01), Seán O'Shea (0-03), Tom O'Sullivan (0-01); Paudie Clifford (0-03, 1 '45'), David Clifford (1-06, 1tp), Dylan Geaney.
Subs: Evan Looney for Casey (29-ht, temp), Keith Evans (0-01) for Tom O’Sullivan (ht), Tomás Kennedy for Geaney (51), Brian Ó Beaglaoich for White (59), Looney for Murphy (61), Michéal Burns for O’Brien (63).
Mayo: Jack Livingstone; Jack Coyne, Donnacha McHugh, Eoin McGreal; Sam Callinan (0-01), David McBrien (0-01), Enda Hession; Bob Tuohy, Jack Carney (0-04, 2tps); Diarmuid O'Connor, Paul Towey, Jordan Flynn (0-01); Darragh Beirne (1-03, 0-02fs), Ryan O'Donoghue (0-05, 2tps, 0-01f), Kobe McDonald (0-03, 1 '45').
Subs: Tommy Conroy (0-02) for Towey (29), Matthew Ruane for Touhy (53), Rory Brickenden for McGreal (53), Conor Loftus for O’Connor (58), Paddy Durcan for Callinan (65).
Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan).
