Kenneth Fox
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.
Veteran attacker Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh also helped herself to an impressive haul of 0-6 on a day when the Kingdom collected the Brendan Martin Cup for the 12th time 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, including two excellent contributions from play, the Munster champions were firmly in the driving seat.
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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, but the final outcome was effectively placed beyond 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.
Earlier on, Leitrim survived a late Tyrone fightback to win the TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Football Championship for the first time since they captured their only crown in 2007.
The Connacht side, inspired by Ailbhe Clancy, were five ahead in the early stages of the second half, but Tyrone rallied and made them work for the win.
Both sides were guilty of missing chances in the opening minutes with Leitrim creating two goal opportunities. Maria Canavan kicked the game’s first score in the fifth minute.
Leitrim finally got off the mark in the 12th minute when Muireann Devaney passed to Laura O’Dowd and she finished to the net. Clancy set Devaney up minutes later for a fine point to put three between the sides.
Michelle Guckian got a much needed score for Leitrim from a free in the 22nd minute. She then forced a good save from Tyrone keeper Amelia Coyle. In the 25th minute Guckian’s free was caught by Clancy and she fired to the net.
O’Dowd and Guckian (free) kicked over points as Leitrim went in at the break two points ahead by 2-5 to 2-2.
Leitrim started the second half like they had ended the first with Guckian (free) and Clancy hitting points to extend the lead to four points in the 33rd minute. Tyrone were guilty of poor shot selection in the opening exchanges of the second half.
Guckian kicked another free in the 36th minute. After 18 minutes without a score Tyrone substitute Sorcha Gormley hit a neat point in the 39th minute. Horisk followed up with a point but Leitrim cancelled those scores with excellent points from Guickian and Clancy.
Tyrone were back in the game in the 49th when Aoibhinn McHugh got in for a goal. Two points from McCaffrey, one of them a free, and an Emma Conroy effort cut the gap to one in the 59th minute but Leitrim hung on to bring the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup home.
*FULL TIME*
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