• This event has passed.

August 2 @ 4:15 pm - 5:30 pm Croke Park Referee: Maggie Farrelly (Cavan)

Competition:

TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Final

Description:

Galway defeated Kerry by 2-7 to 0-12 in the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Final on Sunday August 2nd at Croke Park.

Galway 2-7 Kerry 0-12

By Daire Walsh

A 58th minute point from Eva Noone was the difference between the teams at Croke Park on Sunday as Galway bridged a 22-year gap to claim their second TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship title in a dramatic decider against Kerry.

In a repeat of the 2024 final between these counties – a game that saw Kerry triumphing on a final scoreline of 3-14 to 0-11 – Kingdom attacker Síofra O’Shea and Galway centre-forward Kate Slevin traded points during a largely cagey opening to the action.

Kerry created some daylight when O’Shea and 2024-winning skipper Niamh Carmody registered quickfire scores, but even though they were struggled to find the range off a series of promising attacks, Galway subsequently stormed into the contest.

Supplementing a Kate Thompson point, Leanne Coen was picked out close to the target by Eva Noone and dispatched an excellent shot with the outside of her right boot to the net in the 16th minute.

While Kerry responded to this set-back with a Jadyn Lucey point, a brace of Olivia Divilly efforts had Galway in the driving seat on 20 minutes. The Kingdom were keeping their composure, however, and unanswered white flag scores courtesy of Niamh Ní Chonchúir, Emma Costello and O’Shea meant the teams were inseparable at 0-7 to 1-4 at the break.

It continued to be a tight and tense affair on the resumption and a full nine minutes passed before Ní Chonchúir found space inside the Galway defence to edge the Kingdom back in front.

Yet Galway continued to get their hands on a lot of possession and they regained the ascendancy as a result of the always dependable Olivia Divilly and Róisín Leonard splitting the posts either side of the final-quarter mark.

Kerry had appeared to turn the tide in their favour when Ní Chonchúir and O’Shea (two) all found the range in quick succession, but Galway once again established a slender cushion when Nicola Ward fed Coen at the end of a trademark run on 54 minutes and the Corofin ace fired superbly beyond the reach of Mary Ellen Bolger for her second goal.

A determined Kerry replied with a Caoimhe Evans equaliser, only for Noone to round off another prolonged attack by curling over off her left foot from a right-hand angle.

Kerry continued to fight until the bitter end, but after the Munster champions had a goal ruled out for a square ball off an O’Shea two-point free attempt in the closing seconds, Galway finally added to their 2004 All-Ireland final success.

Scorers – Galway: L Coen 2-0, O Divilly 0-3 (1f), K Slevin, K Thompson, E Noone, R Leonard 0-1 each. Kerry: S O’Shea 0-5 (3f), N Ní Chonchúir 0-3, E Costello, N Carmody, C Evans, J Lucey 0-1 each.

GALWAY: L O’Halloran; B Quinn, S Ní Loingsigh, K Geraghty; H Noone, N Ward, N Divilly; L Ward, S Divilly; O Divilly, K Slevin, K Thompson; E Noone, L Coen, R Leonard
Subs: S Hynes for Thompson (52), E Power for S Divilly (56), A Trill for Leonard (59).

KERRY: ME Bolger; R Rahilly, D Kearney, E Lynch; A O’Connell, E Costello; A Dillane; M Mulvihill, M O’Connell; N Carmody, N Ní Chonchúir, C Evans; J Lucey, D O’Leary, S O’Shea
Subs: L McMahon for Mulvihill (43), E McGlynn for Lucey (52), R Dwyer for O’Leary (59).

Referee: Maggie Farrelly (Cavan).

Team News

GALWAY: L O’Halloran; B Quinn, S Ní Loingsigh, K Geraghty (capt.); H Noone, N Ward, N Divilly; L Ward, S Divilly; O Divilly, K Slevin, K Thompson; E Noone, L Coen, R Leonard.

KERRY: M Ellen Bolger; R Rahilly, D Kearney, E Lynch; A O’Connell, E Costello, A Dillane; A Galvin, M O’Connell; N Carmody, N Ní Chonchúir, C Evans; J Lucey, D O’Leary, S O’Shea (capt.).

Match Preview

TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship final
Galway v Kerry; Croke Park, 4.15pm – Live on TG4

FORMER captain Louise Ward returns to the Galway starting line-up for Sunday’s TG4 All-Ireland Senior final.

Club captain with AIB All-Ireland champions Kilkerrin-Clonberne, Ward has been nursing an injury throughout the inter-county campaign but after making appearances off the bench against Mayo and Armagh in the semi-final and quarter-final respectively, the vastly-experienced 29-year-old is named at midfield.

That’s the only change in personnel to the team that started against Armagh in the comfortable semi-final win, as Ellen Power drops to the bench.

For Kerry, former skipper Anna Galvin is named to start, amid speculation that she is nursing a knee injury.

Galvin, 31, was a late withdrawal ahead of the semi-final victory over Dublin, with Mikala Mulvihill drafted in.

Galvin has been listed in the line-up for Sunday, with Mulvihill dropping out, but whether or not the long-serving Southern Gaels ace starts remains to be seen.

For the second time in three seasons, Galway and Kerry will clash in a TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Senior Football Championship Final.

Back in 2024, the sides met in the Brendan Martin Cup decider, with Kerry coming out on top to win the title for the first time since 1993.

For Kerry, who have been on an impressive run in recent years, this will be a fourth final appearance in five seasons.

After losing back-to-back finals in 2022 and 2023, the Kingdom finally got over the line two years ago to banish that previous heartbreak and end a 31-year famine.

Galway will hope that their time has now come, as they aim to avenge that 2024 final reverse and claim the title for the first time since the Tribeswomen’s one and only success in 2004.

Galway have lost three finals since that famous day – 2005, 2019 and 2024 – but have shown really impressive form en route to Sunday’s final.

Kerry, similarly, have produced some excellent displays and both sides excelled in their respective semi-finals.

Galway cruised past the challenge of Armagh at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park in Longford, as Kerry ended the reign of 2025 winners Dublin with an emphatic display at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles.

Those were psychologically important victories for Galway and Kerry, who had both fallen at the semi-final stage last year.

There’s one previous competitive meeting between the sides in 2026, and that occurred back in March when they clashed in Division 1 of the Lidl National League.

At Austin Stack Park in Tralee, Galway made their visit a winning one as they claimed a two-point victory, 1-11 to 1-9.

Fast forward to the TG4 Provincial Championships and both Galway and Kerry ruled the roost.

Kerry made it three-in-a-row in Munster as they prevailed against Waterford in the provincial decider, as Galway also claimed a third successive Connacht title, with victory over old rivals Mayo.

Moving on to the All-Ireland series, Galway defeated Meath and Tyrone to top Group 4, as Kerry accounted for Kildare and Tipperary to finish at the summit of Group 2.

The TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-finals paired Kerry with Meath, while Galway were handed a home tie with Mayo. Kerry and Galway both won well, before performance levels appeared to move up another level at the semi-final stage.

Both sides appear to have timed their runs perfectly and there are plenty of potential match-winners on show.

Galway have Olivia Divilly in a rich vein of form, with 2-24 to date in the All-Ireland series. She’s Galway’s leading scorer, with Róisín Leonard (2-14) also very much on song. The spread of scorers across the forward division has been impressive, with Leanne Coen (1-10), Kate Slevin (1-10), Kate Thompson (1-5) and Eva Noone (1-4) also making valuable contributions. For Kerry, captain Síofra O’Shea is playing a captain’s role and her individual haul of 3-25 is the best in the 2026 TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship. Danielle O’Leary (1-7) and Jaydn Lucey (1-6) have also shown up well.

On paper, this looks like an incredibly difficult game to call. Shrewd management teams have guided these squads to Croke Park and now it’s down to who can produce the better performance levels on the day. Kerry start on 12 TG4 All-Ireland senior titles and a 13th would send them two clear of neighbours Cork on all-time roll of honour.

Galway, in contrast, go in search of just their second senior title, and a win would end a 22-year famine and help to erase the memories of their most recent final defeats.

Only one captain can lift the Brendan Martin Cup at full-time, and it remains to be seen whether it’s O’Shea, who’s been pulling the strings for Kerry, or Galway’s Kate Geraghty, who’s one member of a defence aiming to shut down the mercurial Kingdom talent.

Ticket Information

Tickets are on sale ahead of the 2026 TG4 All-Ireland Finals at Croke Park on Sunday August 2.

  • Junior Final: 11.45am – Antrim v Carlow
  • Intermediate Final: 1.45pm – Fermanagh v Roscommon
  • Senior Final: 4.15pm – Galway v Kerry

Tickets for Sunday’s games are priced at €30 for adults and €15 for students, OAPs and U-18s, Family: 2 adults and 2 U-18s – €70.

Group rates are available only from the LGFA Office (1 Adult @ €10 for every group of 10 U-18s at €5 per child – €60)

Email tickets@lgfa.ie or phone 01-8363156 for more details.

Tickets are also available at usual GAA outlets and online via Ticketmaster by clicking here.

Referee and Officials

Referee: Margaret Farrelly, Cavan
4th Official: Philip Conway, Armagh
Stand By Referee: Barry Redmond, Wexford

Broadcast Details:

Venue:

  • Croke Park