DARRAGH LONG said ending Kerry’s wait for an All-Ireland title was the sweetest of box-ticking exercises.
The Kingdom shook off the pain of final defeats in 2022 and 2023 to win at the third attempt.
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Aoife Dillane’s fortunate first-half goal put Kerry eight points ahead at the break and on the brink of the breakthrough win.
And second-half goals from supersub Hannah O’Donoghue and full-forward Emma Dineen, who both finished with 1-2, secured the county’s first title since 1993.
Galway had no answer to Kerry’s ferocity and appetite for destruction after final defeats to Meath and Dublin.
The Kingdom also lost a Division 1 league final to Armagh this year.
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But they bounced back by ending long waits for both Munster and All-Ireland titles.
The thing is, joint-managerial duo Long and Declan Quill initially agreed after last year’s loss to Dublin that they were quitting before changing their minds.
And Long is glad they did as there were still some boxes left to tick. Long revealed: “Perseverance is some trait and we have it in abundance.
“We wrote down four items 5½ years ago when we took this job.
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“We have ticked every box as of today. We could have thrown in the towel last year and we were super close to doing that. We thought we had run our race.
“We thought we had asked as much of the girls as we could ask of them. But the girls wanted us back.
“It was tough losing against Meath two years ago but we probably weren’t expected to win. A lot thought we’d win last year so that one hurt.
“Last year still hurts even though we won today. But today is also going to make up for every bit of sacrifice we have asked of them and that they have asked of us over the last couple of years.”
Just 30,340 attended, down 26,000 on the record 2019 final crowd.
That was also the last year Galway played in a final and the outcome was exact the same — devastation.
While Hannah Tyrrell tore Kerry asunder in the first half of the 2023 final, Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh was the dominant first-half force this time. She fired five points in that period and with Dillane stroking a goal that lobbed in over the goalkeeper’s head, they were home and hosed at half-time with a 1-8 to 0-3 lead.
Ní Mhuircheartaigh said: “It means everything to do it after having that heartbreak last year and the year before, what a crew!”
The 2023 Footballer of the Year was not as influential this year but saved her best performance for the final.
Aside from scoring her sixth point in the second half, she laid on the final passes for 1-1 of O’Donoghue’s haul.
But O’Donoghue had her own intriguing tale to tell.
Left out for the semi-final to allow for 2023 captain Síofra O’Shea’s return from a cruciate injury, she started on the bench again.
And O’Donoghue looked like a player keen to make a point as she blasted 1-2 in a matter of minutes after coming on before playing the pass across the goalmouth for Dineen’s late goal.
Kayleigh Cronin was brilliant for Kerry again too and took the Player of the Match award. Galway lost captain Ailbhe Davoren to a 46th-minute sin-binning. But the game was up by then.
Galway boss Daniel Moynihan said: “There are a lot of girls new to the panel.
“We blooded a few players in the league. They’ve had a run to an All-Ireland final which is a huge experience.
“If you look at our league season, nobody had us in an All-Ireland final.”
Galway and Cork were both relegated from Division 1 of this year’s league.
There was defeat of sorts yesterday for Cork as Kerry moved ahead of them on to 12 titles in the Championship’s roll of honour.
But not even the most ardent Cork fan can begrudge Kerry’s feat.
KERRY: C Butler; E Lynch, K Cronin, A Dillane 1-0; A O’Connell, C Murphy, D Kearney; M O’Connell 0-1, A Galvin 0-1; N Carmody 0-1, S O’Shea, N Ni Chonchuir; D O’Leary, E Dineen 1-2, L Ni Mhuircheartaigh 0-6, 4f. Subs: H O’Donoghue 1-2 for Ni Chonchuir 43 mins; L Scanlon 0-1 for Kearney 47; K Brosna for Carmody 52; C Lynch for Dillane 53; K O’Sullivan for Ni Mhuircheartaigh 56.
GALWAY: D Gower; M Jordan, S Lynch, K Geraghty; C Cooney 0-1, N Ward, A Ni Cheallaigh; M Glynn, A Davoren; N Divilly 0-1, L Ward, O Divilly 0-4, 2f; E Reaney, L Coen, R Leonard 0-3, 2f. Subs: A Trill 0-1 for Reaney 24 mins; E Gavin for Ni Cheallaigh 38; M Banek for Jordan 38; S Hynes 0-1 for Glynn 46; A Morrissey for N Divilly 48.
REFEREE: J Murphy (Carlow).