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May 10 @ 1:45 pm - 3:00 pm Fitzgerald Stadium Referee: Paul Faloon (Down)

Competition:

Munster Senior Football Championship Final

Description:

Kerry defeated Cork by 1-23 to 1-15 in the Munster Senior Football Championship Final on Sunday May 10th at Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney.

Match Highlights

Munster SFC Final: Clifford inspires Kerry to victory over Cork

Kerry 1-23 Cork 1-15

Report By Paul Brennan at Fitzgerald Stadium for GAA.ie

In the end it was almost as easy as the eight-point winning margin suggests, but Kerry’s march to a sixth successive Munster football championship title wasn’t quite as clear-cut.

David Clifford’s 39th minute goal wrestled the initiative back to the Kingdom after Cork had had the better of the first half to take a three-point lead to the interval, but Brian O’Driscoll’s goal on the hour-mark brought Cork back to within three points and forced the champions to sit up.

David Clifford Goal for Kerry

That was as good as it got for the Rebels – a county without a Munster senior title since 2012 – as Kerry pulled away and won pulling up, with Tony Brosnan scoring five points in his second half cameo to help deliver a 13th provincial crown to the Kingdom in 14 years, and keep the Rebels at bay.

The visit of Donegal to Killarney in a fortnight for the All-Ireland SFC first round game – and Meath’s trip to Leeside the same weekend – had somewhat overshadowed this Munster final, but that was hardly reflected in the 32,691 crowd that spilled into a sun-splashed Fitzgerald Stadium in anticipation of some sort of contest, perhaps even a shock Cork win – what would have been their first Championship win there in 31 years.

Cork certainly started like men without a Munster medal and in desperate want of one, with two-pointers from Brian O’Driscoll and Mark Cronin, a sideline point from Steven Sherlock, and a score from Chris Óg Jones putting them 0-6 to 0-1 ahead after Keith Evans had pointed Kerry into an early lead.

Paudie and David Clifford raised a couple of white flags for Kerry, and David forced a smart save from Patrick Doyle in the Cork goal, but there was an intensity and hunger to Cork that was causing the champions plenty of problems.

Evans’ point on 25 minutes levelled it at 0-9 apiece, but Jones and Colm O’Callaghan kicked Cork ahead again, and they made it to the break 0-13 to 0-10, though having played with a stiff wind, that lead felt a little on the light side.

Cork’s chances of that first title in 14 years got a boost when Paudie Clifford and Armin Heinrich failed to make it out for the second half, but Clifford’s replacement, Tony Brosnan, kicked the first score of the new half, and then played in David Clifford for a smashed goal to put Kerry 1-11 to 0-13 in front.

A huge Clifford two-pointer extended Kerry’s lead to four, and when Gavin White flicked over a point on 59 minutes Kerry had one hand on the cup, leading1-17 to 0-14.

Out of nothing, Brian O’Driscoll conjured a goal on the hour-mark to half the deficit, but Cork’s old inability to kick on in the end game came back to haunt them.

Brian O’Driscoll Goal for Cork

Kerry scored six points in the final 10 minutes, Cork only managed a point, and Kerry winning the second half by 1-13 to 1-2 is an illuminating a stat as any.

Kerry is it, then, who continue to dominate the Munster Championship, as Cork continue to play second best to their neighbour.

The Corn Pháidí Uí Shé cup safely back in West Kerry, in the hands of his son-in-law and Kerry captain Paul Geaney, attention can now turn to those Kerry v Donegal and Cork v Meath fixtures in a fortnight… if it hadn’t already.

Cup Presentation

Scorers for Kerry: D Clifford 1-6 (tp, f), T Brosnan 0-5 (tp), K Evans 0-2, A Heinrich 0-2, T Kennedy 0-2 (2f), M Breen 0-1, M Burns 0-1, P Clifford 0-1, G White 0-1, D Geaney 0-1, K Spillane 0-1

Cork: M Cronin 0-5 (tp, f), B O’Driscoll 1-2 (tp), S McDonnell 0-2 (tp), C Og Jones 0-2, S Sherlock 0-2 (sl, ‘45’), C O’Callaghan 0-1, D Buckley 0-1

KERRY: Shane Murphy; Evan Looney, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Tadhg Morley, Mike Breen, Armin Heinrich; Mark O’Shea, Seán O’Brien, Micheál Burns, Paudie Clifford, Diarmuid O’Connor; David Clifford, Tomás Kennedy, Keith Evans.
Subs: Gavin White for D Casey (temp, 26-ht), G White for A Heinrich (ht), Tony Brosnan for P Clifford (ht), Killian Spillane for T Kennedy (54), Dylan Geaney for S O’Brien (temp, 55), Eddie Healy for M Breen (temp, 60-65), Cillian Trant for M Burns (62), E Healy for T Morley (65)

CORK: Patrick Doyle; Muarice Shanley, Daniel O’Mahony, Sean Meehan; Brian O’Driscoll, Tommy Walsh, Luke Fahy; Colm O’Callaghan, Ian Maguire; Paul Walsh, Sean McDonnell, Ruairí Deane; Mark Cronin, Chris Óg Jones, Steven Sherlock.
Subs: Sean Brady for S Meehan (48), Conor Corbett for R Deane (48), David Buckley for P Walsh (59), Sean Walsh for S McDonnell (63), Rory Maguire for S Brady (65),

REFEREE: Paul Faloon (Down)

Seán O’Brien of Kerry and Ian Maguire of Cork compete for a high ball during the Munster GAA Football Senior Championship final match between Kerry and Cork at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney, Kerry. Photo by Paul Phelan/Sportsfile

Ticket Information

Team News

Kerry: Shane Murphy; Evan Looney, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Tadhg Morley, Mike Breen, Armin Heinrich; Mark O’Shea, Sean O’Brien; Micheál Burns, Paudie Clifford, Diarmuid O’Connor; David Clifford, Paul Geaney, Keith Evans.
Subs: Seán Broderick, Tony Brosnan, Cillian Trant, Killian Spillane, Eddie Healy, Gavin White, Dylan Geaney, Tomás Kennedy, Donagh O’Sullivan, Joey Nagle, Ciarán Collins.

Parking / Traffic Management

Cork v Kerry

They meet in the Munster final for the first time since 2021 when Kerry won by 22 points. Cork beat Limerick (4-16 to 1-16) and Tipperary (4-18 to 1-12) to reach this year’s final. Kerry, in their only outing so far, beat Clare (2-19 to 1-14).

Last Five Championship Meetings

  • 2025: Kerry 1-28 Cork 0-20 (All-Ireland Round Robin)
  • 2025: Kerry 3-21 Cork 1-25 aet (Munster Semi-Final)
  • 2024: Kerry 0-18 Cork 1-12 (Munster Semi-Final)
  • 2023: Kerry 1-14 Cork 0-15 (All-Ireland Round Robin)
  • 2022: Kerry 0-23 Cork 0-11 (Munster Semi-Final)

Last Five Munster Final Meetings

  • 2021: Kerry 4-22 Cork 1-9
  • 2019: Kerry 1-19 Cork 3-10
  • 2018: Kerry 3-28 Cork 2-4
  • 2017: Kerry 1-23 Cork 0-15
  • 2015: Kerry 1-11 Cork 1-6 (Replay)

Munster Final Record
Cork’s last win over Kerry in a Munster final was in 2008. They last beat Kerry in the Munster Championship in Killarney in the 1995 final.

Recent Trends
Kerry are bidding for their sixth successive Munster title. Cork last won the title in 2012, their longest barren spell since going from 1928 to 1943 without a Championship success.

Recent Championship Meetings
It took extra time to separate Cork and Kerry in last year’s Munster semi-final, with Kerry winning by two points. Six weeks later, Kerry won by eleven points in the All-Ireland round robin.

Head-to-Head Since 2000
Cork and Kerry have met 37 times in the Championship since 2000. Kerry have won 25 times, Cork six, with six draws.

Manager Record
Jack O’Connor has led Kerry against Cork in 17 Championship matches, winning 12, losing three and drawing two.

2026 Form (League and Championship)
Cork: Played 10, Won 8, Lost 2 (Division 2)
Kerry: Played 9, Won 5, Drew 2, Lost 2 (Division 1)

Munster Title Wins
Kerry 86
Cork 37
Tipperary 10
Clare 2
Waterford 1
Limerick 1

Broadcast Details:

Venue:

  • Fitzgerald Stadium