Kerry win league decider by a point

Kerry 3-11 Galway 1-16

Two-goal Johnny Crowley goals helped Kerry to victory in a pulsating National Football League final at Croke Park, where a rousing Galway fightback fell just short.

Trailing by eight points with seven minutes to play, the Tribesmen narrowed the gap to a single point, but the Kingdom held out.

It was Crowley, with a goal in each half, who emerged as the hero, but there were many stars of a memorable decider, including corner forwards Colm Cooper and Mike Frank Russell, as well as Galway's Declan Meehan and Michael Donnellan.

Joe Bergin and Padraig Joyce struck early Galway points, but they were rocked by a seventh minute Kerry goal. Declan O'Sullivan tore through the defence before offloading to Colm Cooper, who sent Crowley in to beat Alan Keane with a low finish.

Galway continued to threaten on the breakaway, and kept in touch with scores from Joyce and Matthew Clancy.

Russell and Tomas O Se were on target at the other end, but defender Sean Og de Paor had the sides level for the third time midway through the half.

Both sides played some sparkling football, and the finishing was of the highest order, particularly when Meehan, the fourth defender to score, and Donnellan struck again for Galway.

But Kerry produced a meaningful response every time, and further scores from Eoin Brosnan, Russell, Cooper and Liam Hassett all split the posts.

Joyce had two more Galway points late in the half to reduce the gap to two points, Kerry ahead by 1-8 to 0-9 at the break.

Russell, sent clear by Cooper, sent a screamer crashing against the bar immediately after the restart, and Galway also had a goal chance, Declan Meehan slicing through the Kerry defence only to see his shot superbly saved by Diarmuid Murphy.

It was a sign of what was to follow in a gripping second half, with Galway's Donnellan and Kerry's Cooper showing magical attacking touches.

Donnellan led the Galway charge with a couple of sublime scores, but when Cooper sent Crowley through for his second goal in the 55th minute, the men from Connacht were facing a huge task.

And it got better for the Kingdom, six minutes later when Russell blasted home a penalty to bring his tally to 1-6 and give his side a massive eight points advantage.

But Donnellan hit back almost instantly with a goal, gifted by Michael McCarthy's poor clearance.

A superhuman effort saw Galway tag on points through Tommy Joyce, Nicky Joyce, Padraig Joyce and Donnellan to narrow the gap to a single point, but Kerry held out in a riveting finish.