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Brave Kerry down Dubs thanks to ‘unkickable’ Seánie Shea free

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Adam Moynihan reports from Croke Park

All-Ireland SFC Semi-Final

Kerry 1-14 Dublin 1-13

Speaking to the media after the game, Jack O’Connor admitted that he didn’t think it was kickable.

77 minutes on the clock.

All square.

54 metres out.

A place in the All-Ireland final on the line.

Deafening noise from Hill 16.

A stiff wind coming the wrong way.

A decade of Dublin dominance hanging in the air.

Seán O’Shea, who had fluffed a penalty in the first half, stands upright, draws one last deliberate intake of breath, strides, and strikes.

It wasn’t kickable.

Until it was.

When the dust settles, O’Shea’s point – the final, killer blow in an absorbing slugfest – could well go down as the greatest act of individual brilliance in the history of Kerry football.

Joyous scenes followed the final whistle as Kerry booked a spot in the All-Ireland final, where they will face Galway.

That’s two weeks down the road. For now, players, management and supporters can bask in one of the county’s sweetest ever wins.

ATMOSPHERE

As the match began, the atmosphere inside a sun-soaked Croke Park was spine-tingling. Due to a combination of Covid and premature championship exits, both sets of fans had been waiting for a big Dublin-Kerry match like this since 2019. Certainly in terms of drama, this battle did not disappoint.

Dublin corner back Lee Gannon kicked the first score of the game into the Hill and into a strong breeze, but the Sky Blues quickly found themselves chasing the game.

Seán O’Shea equalised within seconds of Gannon’s opener and Kerry fans really found their voice in the fourth minute when O’Shea latched on to David Moran’s long ball before dispatching a cool finish beyond the reach of Evan Comerford.

Dean Rock (free) and Brian Howard replied for the Dubs and then Kerry scored three on the bounce. David Clifford (free), Tom O’Sullivan and Clifford again pushed the lead out to four in the 12th minute.

That gap was cut to three by John Small before Clifford grabbed the spotlight once again with two superb scores. The first came from a mark after a great catch and the second was a thing of beauty from long range.

While he was shaping up to kick the latter shot, John Small was dragging Paul Geaney down off the ball, an incident which resulted in a black card.

Rock and O’Shea exchanged scores and then O’Shea missed a golden opportunity in the 31st minute when his tame penalty was saved by Comerford. The Kerry centre forward lashed at the rebound from close range but Comerford saved again, and a scuffle broke out as the Dubs accused O’Shea of dangerous play.

Tempers cooled as Comerford slowly recovered, and the Munster champions finished the half in the ascendency when David Clifford fired over a brilliant individual point. Kerry led by five at the break (1-8 to 0-6). Half the job done, and no more than that.

SPARKED

The Kingdom appeared to be handling the game well in the early stages of the second half but a fabulously executed goal by Cormac Costello in the 45th minute sparked the home team into life. Ciarán Kilkenny fisted over to make it a one-point game shortly after.

Man of the Match Paudie Clifford tagged on two crucial scores as he and his colleagues tried to hold back the wave but three straight points by Kilkenny, James McCarthy, and Kilkenny again drew Dublin level with a minute of normal time to play.

Croker was rocking at this point and the nerves of Kerry supporters were jangling, but in the 73rd minute O’Shea engineered a free near the goal which he then converted to put Kerry ahead.

Dean Rock equalised with a free of his own two minutes later and the game looked to be heading for extra time until David Clifford was fouled way out from the posts.

Goalkeeper Shane Ryan came forward to offer his services but O’Shea waved him away. He didn’t want an out. He was the man for the job.

Kerry's number 11. The captain on the field. The man who kicked the unkickable free.

KERRY: S Ryan; G O’Sullivan, J Foley, T O'Sullivan (0-1); B Ó Beaglaoich, G White, T Morley; J Barry, D Moran; D O’Connor, S O’Shea (1-4, 2f), S O’Brien; P Clifford (0-2), D Clifford (0-6, 1f, 1m), P Geaney.

Subs: D Moynihan (0-1) for O’Brien (41), K Spillane for Geaney (41), A Spillane for Moran (51), P Murphy for G O’Sullivan (62), J O’Connor for White (66).

DUBLIN: E Comerford; E Murchan, M Fitzsimons, L Gannon (0-1); J Small (0-1), J Cooper, J McCarthy (0-1); B Fenton (0-1), T Lahiff; S Bugler (0-1), B Howard (0-1), C Kilkenny (0-3); C Costello (1-0), D Rock (0-3f), L O’Dell.

Subs: P Small (0-1) for O’Dell (40), D Byrne for Cooper (41), S McMahon for Murchan (57), N Scully for Howard (61), C Murphy for Fitzsimons (72).

Attendance: 73,602

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Kerry’s All-Ireland heroes launch new football camp for girls

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Legendary Kerry ladies’ player Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh will be inspiring the next generation of superstars at the new Laochra football camp, which takes place in Killarney in August.

Aimed at girls aged 12 to 16, the camp is being run by three leaders who were central to Kerry’s magnificent All-Ireland triumph in 2024: Darragh Long (joint manager), Declan Quill (joint manager) and Anna Maria O’Donoghue (selector).

Camp ambassador Louise will be on hand to offer guidance in a coaching capacity, as will some members of the current Kerry team.

“We want you to train with your heroes so you can be the next hero,” explains Darragh Long.

“We feel very strongly about ladies’ football. It has been brilliant to myself and Declan over the last five or six years, and it has been brilliant to Anna Maria and Louise over their full careers, so we just see it as an opportunity to give something back to a sport that gave an awful lot to us.

“We’re aiming at an age group of 12 to 16, girls who will hopefully be starting on their intercounty journey. We will be able to give them a skillset they will be able to use as their steps to success. To try and be the next Louise or the next Síofra O’Shea.

“We have three workshops planned. One with Eric McDonnell, who was our strength and conditioning coach when we won the All-Ireland. One with Michelle O’Connor, an All-Ireland winning performance coach. And one with Claire O’Sullivan, our nutritionist when we won the All-Ireland.

“It’s all about giving the girls the skills and the bits and pieces they’ll need if they want to make it to the top. We really think we can give them a good grounding. We’ll also be providing a huge amount of coaching throughout the week.”

Many teenage girls give up on sport around the ages of 15 or 16. Long and his fellow camp founders are hopeful that attending Laochra might encourage girls to stick with it that bit longer.

“We would see it as a huge success if 10, 15, or 20 of the girls who come to the camp continue to play football after the camp because they got a bit of a buzz or a bit of energy from us during the week.”

The Laochra camp will run from August 12-15 at Dr Crokes GAA grounds in Killarney. You can register here.

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St Paul’s sign 6ft American guard Burnham

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Having really found their feet in the Women’s Super League in the second half of the season, culminating in a drive to the final, Utility Trust St Paul’s have signalled their intent to push on for the 2025/26 season by announcing the signing of American guard Maisie Burnham.

Burnham (24) comes to Killarney following an honour-laden time in the Liberty High School where she also excelled at volleyball. She went to the Eastern Washington University where she led the team in scoring in the 2020/21 season with over 14 points per game – the highest PPG ever for an EWU freshman.

She moved onto the University of Portland where she really found her feet with the team and as her time progressed with the Pilots her stats went north, peaking in the 2024/2025 season when she averaged 16.3 points per game.

Maisie, a guard and standing at 6ft, is a native of Spangle City in Washington and the club will welcome her to the Kingdom in plenty of time ahead of the new season.

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