As it happened: Kerry secure 39th All-Ireland SFC title
Seán O'Shea, left, and David Clifford of Kerry celebrate. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Full-time: KERRY ARE ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONS FOR THE 39TH TIME!
69 mins: And a goal for Joe O'Connor, and what a goal it was. He deserves that.
68 mins: Shane Ryan plucks a Donegal effort out of the sky. Tom Leo O'Sullivan is in, as is Micheal Burns.
66 mins: That should be it for Kerry. A masterclass.
65 mins: Another for David Clifford after a nice Graham O'Sullivan delivery. Then Patton's kick-out leads to a great goal chance for David, but Conor O'Donnell clears it off the line. Shane Ryan's 45' goes astray. Tadhg Morley is in for Mike Breen.
63 mins: No joy for Joe O'Connor that time. Evan Looney is in for Brian Ó Beaglaioch.
61 mins: Daire Ó Baoill kicks over off his left. That was needed.
60 mins: After great work from Gavin White, Paudie gets his third point from play. Seven-point gap restored. Eoghan Bán Gallagher has made way for Jamie Brennan, too.
58 mins: Conor O'Donnell misses a handy one in front of goal. Bad miss by his standards for Donegal today. Kerry awarded another two-point free, and this time it's O'Shea. He delivers. Six-point lead.
57 mins: Shane Ryan comes up to kick a free. Maurice told us prior of his pre-match practicing. He slips, however.
55 mins: Again, Murphy pegs Kerry back with another accurate placed-ball.
54 mins: Gavin White finds the answer. His speed gets him in behind to stretch the lead back to five. Killian Spillane comes in for Dylan Geaney. Surely we'll see that shimmy, swivel of the hips and left-footed score from Spillane?
53 mins: Murphy kicks another free. Only four in it. Crucial period of play incoming.
50 mins: McBrearty hits his first effort wide, and it's Diarmuid O'Connor's turn to enter the fray. He's in for Seán O'Brien.
49 mins: Shane O'Donnell finds his range as Donegal line up another change. Captain Paddy McBrearty is ready to come in. Gallen departs. Another sub, Hugh McFadden, has done exactly what he was expected to and made the Kerry kick-out a contest.
47 mins: Dylan Geaney is a classy operator, and he's starting to show it on the biggest of stages. He swings over a beauty, but that man Conor O'Donnell finds the reply. Geaney's third, O'Donnell's fourth.
45 mins: Murphy's free-taking now very important. He lands a difficult one. Conor O'Donnell adds to his tally shortly after.
42 mins: A well-worked score if you ever saw one. Paudie finishes it, but it went through the hands of many, including Joe O'Connor, Dylan Geaney and briefly Sean O'Brien, before the posts were split.
40 mins: Oisin Gallen wins a free after a tussle inside the Kerry defence. Joe O'Connor not happy with it. Murphy knocks over the resulting free. McHugh has now departed, with Jason McGee on.
39 mins: Ryan McHugh clearly in bother with his shoulder and Donegal yet to make a change.
38 mins: Murphy cuts the gap to eight.
37 mins: Touch of class from Cliffords to grab Kerry's 19th point. Here's John Fogarty's take: That Paudie pass into David had shades of Cooper's into Walsh.
36 mins: Hugh McFadden - originally named to start - is on for the second-half in place of Caolan McColgan. Seán O'Shea opens the Kerry scoring and gives McFadden a welcoming thump.
4.30pm: Kerry 82% on their own kickout in that half. Paul Murphy has burst away from Michael Murphy for several short options. After the Aidan O'Mahony matchup in 2014, you can be sure the Donegal legend won't be holidaying in Rathmore any time soon.
4.26pm: Tomás Ó Sé's verdict at the interval: "When Kerry have possession they are on it, they are excellent."
4.24pm: Here's a look at that Clifford score to give his side a seven-point half-time lead. Clifford has spent little time on the ball - he's left that to brother Paudie. David's impact, however? Large.
Half-time: Donegal find themselves seven points down as they were at half-time in the quarter-final against Monaghan. Kicking into the scoring end now too.
35 mins: That worked well. After a lengthy period of keepball, Kerry work the shot for David Clifford and he lands another two. That's seven for him including three twos. KER 17 DON 10 at the break. Fogs says: Kerry finish the half on a high like Cork last weekend. You can't say that third David Clifford two-pointer has given them a false sense of security. Seven points is a reasonable lead for their dominance.
34 mins: Kerry keeping the ball until the hooter, which is an unfortunate side effect of that rule. Walking around for over a minute with the ball. Fogs says: Boos around the stadium as Kerry play the clock but then Donegal didn't seem bothered to engage either.
32 mins: Shane O'Donnell draws a line under that period by driving through for a point. KER 15 DON 10
30 mins: Paudie Clifford kicks wide with another two attempt. Conor O'Donnell then kicks Donegal's first wide. Shane Ryan's kickout goes over the sideline. Quality dropping a touch. Michael Murphy handpass is intercepted. David Clifford ambitious two attempt drops short. Messy spell.
28 mins: Conor O'Donnell angles over a point from wide right. Their shooting has been top drawer. 100% so far. KER 15 DON 9
27 mins: Seven Donegal kick-outs lost, reports John Fogs. Dylan Geaney points after a well-worked move, Kerry using the width of the pitch in build-up. The game lurches back their way again. KER 15 DON 8
24 mins: Fogs: Mark and Martin McHugh are in our vicinity in the press box and they're crying out for Paudie Clifford to be man-marked. As we speak, Paudie breaks through, hits the post, but he had been fouled in the act of shooting by Finnbarr Roarty. Easy free for O'Shea. He kicks over from the 21.
23 mins: Maurice says: Kerry have invested heavily in two-pointers so far. Eight attempts already. Great score by Michael Murphy cutting in on his right. Donegal in the game now. Murphy quickly adds another after Kerry turned over coming out. Four in a row for Donegal. As if that Murphy ignited Donegal rather than caused heads to drop. Great reaction.
22 mins: Conor O'Donnell makes it two in a row for Donegal. Couple of bad shooting decisions may have stalled Kerry momentum. Sadly for Donegal, Thompson is unable to continue. Daire Ó Baoill is on.
21 mins: Mike Breen kicks wide looking for another Kerry two. Oisin Gallen points after a lightning Donegla break. KER 13 DON 5
20 mins: Murphy hots the post with the free from edge of the old arc. Shades of Cork's woes last week. Maybe they are getting their bad half out of the way.
19 mins: Second wide for Kerry from Geaney, looking for a two. Dylan Casey penalised coming out for Kerry after Ciaran Thompson had been dispossessed. Should be another Murphy point from the free.First there is an injury delay as Thompson gets treatment. Maurice says: David Clifford has a one and two two-pointers already. He is a green flag away from Gaelic football's new hat-trick.
15 mins: Kerry have had 60% possession. David Clifford constantly drifting to right wing forward allowing Kerry attack down the centre or left. Yet he is managing to arrive in promising positions and kicks another point from just inside the arc. KER 13 DON 4
14 mins: Brendan McCole trips David Clifford and Sean O'Shea kicks the free from outside the arc. A third two for Kerry. Fogs says: Ciarán Moore now tagging Gavin White. Too many match-ups have gone wrong for Donegal early on.
13 mins: Oisin Gallen stems the tide with a point after Donegal finally break out after a spell pinned in. KER 10 DON 4 Eoghan Cormican says: Joe O'Connor, aerially, so impressive early doors. A Kerry kickout won, a Donegal kickout won, and another Donegal kickout won on the break. Two of those three restarts wins ending in points.
Corner back Dylan Casey another Kerry player so strong on the kickout breaks. Has won on either side. Both ended up white flags.
12 mins: Fogs says: Kerry have Shaun Patton's kick-out snared. Donegal have just won four of eight. McCole is giving up Clifford to others when he goes out and they ain't tracking him. Sean O'Brien kicks another point for Kerry.
11 mins: David Clifford does it again. Drifts around on the loop and launches a boomer. This looks ominous for Donegal. KER 9 DON 3
8 mins: Croke Park erupts as David Clifford lands the first ever two-pointer in an All-Ireland final. Super kick under pressure. A Paudie Clifford effort then drifts wide. The first wide of this final.
7 mins: Big kickout catch by Joe O'Connor which leads eventually to a Paudie Clifford point. Everything going over so far. KER 5 DON 3
6 mins: Ciaran Thompson kicks wide but he was fouled while kicking so it's a handy free for Donegal. Michael Murphy knocks it over to a loud ovation. KER 4 DON 3
5 mins: Gavin White again. He's been the key man so far. David Clifford pulling Brendan McCole away from the full back line. KER 4 DON 2 Fogs says: Gavin White is gaining huge traction cutting in from the left. Sets up a point after 11 seconds and has two points to his name. Kerry overloading on that side and it's working.
3 mins: Gavin White punches a hole in Donegal and punches over after a slow build-up. McGonagle immedately replies for Donegal after cutting in on his left. KER 3 DON 2
2 mins: Sean O'Brien punches over from Kerry after a Paudie Clifford two-point attempt drops short.
1 min: Matchups via Maurice: Brendan McCole on David Clifford, Peadar Mogan on Paudie Clifford, Caolan McColgan on Dylan Geaney
1 min: Oisin Gallen levels for Donegal. Bright start.
0-00 Dylan Geaney scores immediately for Kerry after a break by Gavin White. 15 seconds in.
3.35pm We're under way
3.30pm: Donegal break early from the parade in front of Hill 16, but Kerry are going to stick it out. Who wins that mind game?
3.29pm: Paddy McBrearty is leading Donegal in the parade despite not being down to start the game. We're a little behind schedule again.
3:28pm: Tomas O Se thinks Kerry will eke it out. But none of the RTÉ panel - O Se, Lee Keegan and Peter Canavan - are expecting a classic.
3.25pm: President Higgins now greeting the teams at Croke Park. Paddy McBrearty is introducing the President to the starting Donegal team, though he's unlikely to be in the parade. Michael Murphy gets a huge cheer when he appears on the big screen at Croke Park.
3.15pm: Kerry keeper Shane Ryan has been practising frees off the ground. Does that mean anything, wonders .
3:05pm: Kerry win the toss. Gavin White points to the Davin end.
2.57pm: The talk all week was that McGonagle will start as centre-back given his defensive prowess. What does that mean for Donegal's midfield? Our guess is that Ciaran Moore will end up playing beside Michael Langan, Caolan McColgan will go to wing-forward and Eoghan Ban Gallagher will start as wing-back.
McGonagle is the first late change for an All-Ireland final since Ciarán Kilkenny in 2023. Before him, it was Mayo's Oisìn Mullin in 2021.
2.54pm Hugh McFadden loses out, with Caolan McGonagle in for Donegal. Kerry as selected. Kerry are out on the field five minutes ahead of schedule, reckons John Fogarty
2.49pm: Some earlier footage of the Kerry team arriving at Croke Park.
2.42pm: Jim Gavin on RTÉ saying FRC sandbox games still taking place. Will be examining the four-point goal again, as well as testing if teams should be prohibited from bringing the ball back into their own half once they cross centre-field. He's not taking anything for granted that the temporary rules in place will pass at Congress on October 4.
Gavin also rules out a return to inter-county management, but says he may come back at club level. And he wouldn't be surprised if today's final ends in a draw.
2.39pm: The Kerry 2000 winners now being celebrated at Croke Park. Here's the legendary Maurice Fitzgerald being introduced to the crowd as part of the jubilee team celebration from 2000. Quite a few Kingdom greats in that crop - and some quiet heroes like Mike McCarthy and Tom O’Sullivan.
2pm: Paul Rouse, Maurice Brosnan and James Horan have already recorded a pre-match podcast in Croke Park this morning, with a helping hand from Tom Clancy. Listen on this link below
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1:55pm: Kerry's extended panel members, including Tom O'Sullivan, were being held at the barrier at Gill's corner. Some issue in them being let through. Players in discussion with a Garda and steward, been held for a few minutes now.
1:50pm: John Fogarty: Will Donegal break early from the parade as they did in the All-Ireland semi-final against Meath? The odds are short. Prior to both the 2012 and ’14 finals against Mayo and Kerry, they moved away from it in front of Hill 16 to form team huddles before the anthem and team captain Michael Langan will probably do the same again here. The question is will Kerry continue behind the band or move away from it like Meath did after Donegal dispersed. Kerry have their piseogs but this seems to be one for Donegal.
1:47pm: Buzz is building
1:45pm: John Fogarty at Croke Park says: In some Donegal-related news, St Eunan’s chairman and former county midfielder John Haran tells us on X that Eamonn O’Hara and Dessie Sloyan are to become the Sligo senior football co-managers. The pair previously worked together with Sligo’s U20s. Current Boyle manager O’Hara is working on today’s All-Ireland final for RTÉ Radio 1 and has guided Mohill to back-to-back Leitrim SFC titles in recent years, while Sloyan has assisted the likes of Clare and Longford. If true, they will be succeeding Tony McEntee who stepped down last month after five years in charge.
And in case anybody doubts Haran, he has a nose for these things – he told the world the Donegal v Kerry league game in Killarney in January was off before it was eventually confirmed. Donegal couldn’t travel due to bad weather.
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