Paudie Clifford on TG4:
It was great to get a game in Croke Park. We did some good things, and not so good things. Both teams were stopping each other from scoring, we managed it a bit better. It’s obviously special for us to win [the Corn Mhichíl Uí Mhuircheartaigh] and to be the first to win it.
Full-time: Kerry 1-18 Mayo 1-12
Kerry are the first winners of the Corn Mhichíl Uí Mhuircheartaigh, Division One champions for 2025! The 24th in their history.
67 mins: Kerry with another point, Paudie Clifford finds Conor Geaney running through, who fists it over. McHale kicks one wide for Mayo, who are running out of time. Super kick pass by Tony Brosnan into David Clifford to score another and leave it six points.
Kerry 1-18 Mayo 1-12
65 mins: Another point for O’Donoghue, this time from a free, four points in it. Another miss by David Clifford, a few wides this half.
Kerry 1-16 Mayo 1-12
62 mins: Tom O’Sullivan finds a gap and runs all the way to the goal but then misses the target entirely when he tried to fist it over. Clifford wins another free and shakes his head, but they’ll be happy with another point as Geaney kicks it over.
Kerry 1-16 Mayo 1-11
59 mins: Aidan O’Shea badly miscues a free as Kerry look to slow the game down before David Clifford hits a wide, didn’t catch that one. O’Brien floats a ball in to the back post which is punched back in front of goal but no Kerry player can get control of it.
Kerry 1-15 Mayo 1-11
54 mins: Mayo still battling hard out there. Towey gets his first score as Mayo recycle it well to space and he converts. A blow for Mayo as Reape is injured, Adrian Phillips is on in goals. Injured his hand after a clash by Clifford, who was probably getting one back for the first half.
Kerry 1-15 Mayo 1-11
52 mins: O’Connor makes another driving run and lays off to Brosnan, who scores well for Kerry to make it four points again. Brosnan has been very good this half and plays a nice handpass to Clifford who fists it over the bar for one more. Kerry have responded well since being shocked by that goal and two-pointer in a minute.
Kerry 1-15 Mayo 1-10
49 mins: GOAL FOR MAYO! Makes things interesting, although not much reaction from manager Kevin McStay. McLaughlin powers through and slots it low past the keeper. Well-taken goal.
Then a two-point by O’Donoghue from a free from outside the arc. Well now.
Kerry 1-13 Mayo 1-10
46 mins: The game is slipping away from Mayo a bit, a great block by Gavin White on Flynn prevents a point, then a few moments later Flynn again hits it wide. Another David Clifford classic under pressure, turn, shot, point. Then nearly a magic score from Clifford again as he completely does his marker on the sideline with a quick turn but hits it wide unfortunately, deserved a point.
Kerry 1-13 Mayo 0-8
43 mins: O’Connor punches the ball over after being found with another nice find by Paudie Clifford. David Clifford then wins a free with Aidan O’Shea’s hands over him, soft but also couldn’t complain much. Clifford scores. Paul Towey on for Frank Irwin for Mayo.
Then a big chance missed by Burns! O’Connor catches in midfield and the Mayo defence are nowhere. David Clifford finds Burns on his own in front of the goal but his shot is well saved by Reape. From the resulting 45, Paudie Clifford scores again.
Kerry 1-12 Mayo 0-8
40 mins: Slow start to this half, but O’Donoghue finally kicks into gear with a direct run at goal, beating two men and shoots at goal but just over. A point though to reduce the deficit to four.
Kerry 1-9 Mayo 0-8
38 mins: Paudie Clifford looked to have scored the first point of the half after a good run, but Hawk Eye rules it out. Carney hits the post with Mayo’s first effort of the half.
Kerry 1-9 Mayo 0-7
From Seán Moran:
Disappointing end to the half for Mayo with Ryan O’Donoghue’s free for a 4v3 breach drifting wide. It was outside the arc and could have reduced the deficit to a single score, 1-9 to 0-9 but instead there remains five in it at the break.
The 12th-minute goal was also self-inflicted. Goalkeeper Colm Reape’s kick-out was intercepted by David Clifford, whose deft touch got brother Paudie motoring in on goal and his pass was knocked into the net by Paul Geaney.
It will be uphill for the Connacht team in the second half. They haven’t been able to get any grip on centrefield and although Mayo are marking diligently, Kerry have had enough chances to get away.
Aidan O’Shea has been causing some problems for Kerry and has 0-3 to his name but for the most part Mayo’s build-up has been ponderous and the shooting inaccurate.
35 mins: A breach of the new rules on three back gives Mayo a long-distance point chance from a free. But O’Donoghue kicks it wide in the last action of the half. No two-pointers scored all half.
Half-time: Kerry 1-9 Mayo 0-7
Decent match, Kerry well deserving of their lead. Mayo have been good in patches but a few passages of sloppy play have been punished by the Kingdom. Still all to play for in the second half.
34 mins: Nice point by Flynn after a smart pass by O’Shea. Darren McHale is on for Conor Reid for Mayo.
Kerry 1-9 Mayo 0-7
32 mins: Mayo give away the ball sloppily and in the new rules when you play the ball well into the front of David Clifford, there’s only one result. Straight over. Burns then wins a free off McLaughlin and another one for David Clifford, this time from a free.
Kerry 1-9 Mayo 0-6
29 mins: A point by Mayo after a bit of a gap from the last one, O’Shea with the finish. A slightly sloppy minute of play with both teams giving away the ball before Paudie Clifford puts over another sweetly taken score.
Kerry 1-7 Mayo 0-6
25 mins: A super pass by David Clifford to Paul Geaney but he hesitates on the shot and eventually ends up wide. Reape then flattens David Clifford off the ball, reckless play. The referee is having a word. Just a yellow card, a sore one for Clifford. After some good passing and probing, Graham O’Sullivan has a goal chance for Kerry but hits it wide.
Kerry 1-6 Mayo 0-5
21 mins: Mayo are struggling to deal with the Cliffords, McHugh beaten by David Clifford this time and has to foul him. Another free scored. Dylan Geaney misses a chance before Kerry win it again and Barry Dan O’Sullivan gets on the board.
Kerry 1-6 Mayo 0-5
18 mins: Mayo playing a direct running game against Kerry to some success, Ryan O’Donoghue doing a little roulette around the Kerry defence before he’s fouled. He scores to bring it back to two points.
Kerry 1-4 Mayo 0-5
15 mins: Big blow for Mayo who had started the game well, but the quality of Kerry’s attack it shows quickly it can turn. David Clifford then beats his man and swivels through to win a free, he converts to give them three-point lead.
Kerry 1-4 Mayo 0-4
12 mins: GOAL FOR KERRY! Changed in the blink of an eye! Paudie Clifford puts over a 45, then from the kickout, Reape’s pass is sloppy and intercepted by David Clifford, Paudie runs towards goal, two on two and fists to Geaney who taps into an empty net.
Kerry 1-3 Mayo 0-4
11 mins: Carney makes up for his earlier miss by bursting through from midfield, turning his man and knocking it over with his left. Then a second point of the day by Aidan O’Shea who runs powerfully at the Kerry defence, as is his style, a goal looked potentially on at one time but Kerry covered the chance and O’Shea pops it over from short-range.
Kerry 0-2 Mayo 0-4
8 mins: Frank Irwin with a nice point after some good play by Mayo as Mayo take the lead. Then a few minutes later, Paul Geaney shows his class by beating his man to a nicely played foot pass and sweeping it over the bar.
Kerry 0-2 Mayo 0-2
5 mins: Wide by Mayo with their first attempt, Carney pulls it wide. Then Aidan O’Shea shows his class to burst onto a pass and beat his man, kick over their first score.
Kerry 0-1 Mayo 0-1
2 mins: A point for Kerry after only 15 seconds! O’Connor bursts through from midfield from the throw-in and kicks it over. Clifford gets an attempt in as well in the early stages but hits it wide.
Kerry 0-1 Mayo 0-0
Beautiful sunny day at Croke Park, time for Amhrán na bhFiann. Match will start in a few minutes.
From GAA correspondent Seán Moran at Croke Park:
The new trophy for the National Football League, Corn Mhichíl Uí Mhuircheartaigh, named after the late broadcaster, who as the programme puts it, “made every match unforgettable for generations of fans” was brought onto the pitch by two of his grandchildren. It will be presented to winners of the Division One title.
Team news sees two changes for Mayo. Half forwards Davitt Neary and Daren McHale have been replaced by Eoghan McLaughlin and Conor Reid, respectively. Kerry will play as named.
KERRY: S Murphy; P Murphy, J Foley, D Casey; G White, M Breen, B Ó Beaglaoich; J O’Connor, B D O’Sullivan; M Burns, P Clifford, G O’Sullivan; D Clifford, P Geaney, D Geaney. Subs: S Murphy, C Geaney, D Bourke, T Brosnan, T O’Sullivan, A Heinrich, R Murphy, K Spillane, C Ó Beaglaoich, M O’Shea, T L O’Sullivan.
MAYO: C Reape; J Coyne, D McHugh, E Hession; S Callinan, D McBrien, S Coen; J Carney, M Ruane; C Reid, E McLaughlin, J Flynn; A O’Shea, F Irwin, R O’Donoghue. Subs: A Phillips, C Reid, D O’Connor, D Thornton, D McHale, S Akram, F Boland, F Kelly, N Coggins, P Towey, S Morahan.
Kildare knock on another score to bring it within two after 68 minutes. But Offaly win a kickout and are playing kieep-ball for now, trying to hang on.
Full-time: Offaly 2-17 Kildare 1-18
Offaly have won the Division Three title. Scenes of jubilation at Croke Park.
Darragh Kirwan has a big goal chance for Kildare but his effort goes just over the bar, it’s Kildare 1-17 Offaly 2-17 with Kildare piling on the pressure late on. 66 minutes played.
Big goal for Offaly, Cormac Egan with it, moves them four points ahead of Kildare with just under 10 minutes to go. Kildare 1-14 Offaly 2-15.
Kildare 1-11 Offaly 1-12 is the score after 43 minutes at Croke Park in Division Three.
Great piece by Denis Walsh on Mayo and the roller coaster for their fans over the last few years. He interviews John Gunnigan, owner and moderator of the MayoGAABlog website.
“It [the following for the team] has changed hugely and there’s a very specific breakpoint and that was the 2021 All-Ireland.
“Everyone prostrated themselves in front of the greatest team of all-time, which were Dublin. But we never gave them an inch. We fought them all the way and I think they respected us. But if you remember that ‘21 final, we blew it, we absolutely blew it.
“Our narrative was now gone. Every Mayo supporter up to then would always have gone to war over the notion that we were chokers, because we never choked in those big finals against Dublin. We fought to our dying breath every single time and we were just beaten by a better team. In 2021, though, we choked. Of course we did.”
[ Can Mayo rekindle the hope once more for their deflated fanbase?Opens in new window ]
Here’s the preview of the game from Seán Moran:
“There has something undeniably energetic about Kerry’s recent offensive movement. They have 16 goals bagged to date albeit just one against this weekend’s opponents but their turnaround in form has been striking.”
[ Mayo may find it harder to put the squeeze on Kerry a second timeOpens in new window ]
It’s a good spell for Offaly in the Division Three final. At half-time, it’s Kildare 0-10 Offaly 1-10.
After 26 minutes, it’s level between Kildare and Offaly, it’s Offaly 1-6 to Kildare 0-9.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the NFL Division One final between Kerry and Mayo at Croke Park. Throw-in is at 4pm. We will also bring you some updates from the conclusion of the Division Three final between Kildare and Offaly.
Division One was more volatile than ever this season, with Kerry and Mayo staring at a relegation battle at one point. The top three teams – Donegal, Dublin, Galway – all lost their last game and so we have these two in the final for what should be an interesting game.
Kerry have made two changes to their side from the one beat Galway last Sunday. In goal, Shane Ryan replaces Shane Murphy while in midfield Barry Dan O’Sullivan takes the place of Séan O’Brien exited the Galway game with an injury.
Mayo have made one change from the team which started the victory over Donegal last Sunday. Davitt Neary comes in for Fenton Kelly.
KERRY: S Murphy; P Murphy, J Foley, D Casey; G White, M Breen, B Ó Beaglaoich; J O’Connor, B D O’Sullivan; M Burns, P Clifford, G O’Sullivan; D Clifford, P Geaney, D Geaney. Subs: S Murphy, C Geaney, D Bourke, T Brosnan, T O’Sullivan, A Heinrich, R Murphy, K Spillane, C Ó Beaglaoich, M O’Shea, T L O’Sullivan.
MAYO: C Reape; J Coyne, D McHugh, E Hession; S Callinan, D McBrien, S Coen; J Carney, M Ruane; D Neary, D McHale, J Flynn; A O’Shea, F Irwin, R O’Donoghue. Subs: A Phillips, C Reid, D O’Connor, D Thornton, E McLaughlin, S Akram, F Boland, F Kelly, N Coggins, P Towey, S Morahan.
