
Kerry dash Donegal's dream in All-Ireland final
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BreakingNews.ie
36 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Jack O'Connor to step down as Kerry manager after winning All-Ireland
Jack O'Connor has confirmed he is stepping down as manager of Kerry after winning the All-Ireland final. Kerry defeated Donegal in Croke Park to win their 39th All-Ireland, and a fifth for O'Connor across three spells in charge. Advertisement O'Connor previously won All-Ireland titles in 2004, 2006, 2009, 2022, and has now added a fifth after Kerry's win on Sunday. This season also included winning a league and Munster title. O'Connor described the win as his "last hurrah", signalling his intention to step down at the top in an interview with RTÉ Radio 1 following the final. Speaking after the game, O'Connor said:"If you take the year as a whole, we had a lot of adversity". Advertisement "We had a lot of injuries, we lost a lot of good men but we had a tremendous panel spirit. "We had men like Mark O'Shea and Seán O'Brien, lads like that that didn't think they'd be near the team, starting midfield in an All-Ireland final for Kerry. "It's the stuff of dreams so I'm delighted for them all. A massive team effort, panel effort, backroom team effort, so I'm thrilled for them all. "We'd two big performances here against Armagh and Tyrone. We felt that we were well tested coming into the game. Maybe the hammering that Donegal gave Meath two weeks ago mightn't have done them the same amount of good that our game with Tyrone did. "We felt we were well tested, we were in great shape leaving the hotel this morning. There was a great atmosphere in the room, just a great anticipation, ready for battle. "The boys fought on their backs out there."


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Messi comparisons 'motivated' Clifford in final
David Clifford says comparisons to being the Lionel Messi of Gaelic football motivated him in Kerry's All-Ireland final win over scored 0-9 at Croke Park to cement his place as one of the greatest players of his is a first Sam Maguire since 2022 for the Kingdom as they blew Donegal away in the 1-26 to 0-19 says he feels comparisons to Messi, considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, don't always come from the "right place" and that fuelled is final performance. "To be honest, I nearly take it as a hit because I think there are people who say it but it isn't coming from the right place," Clifford told BBC Sport NI."I think they are trying to build you up and hope that you will fail. That was a massive motivation for me today." Clifford said he was struggling for words after the win, which came after a blistering start from the Kingdom and Jack O'Connor's side had enough to hand to hold off any potential Donegal O'Connor's late goal was the icing on the cake for Kerry, and there were wild celebrations when the hooter went at Croke Park."You think about doing it all week and over the last two weeks you are nearly waking up in the middle of the night thinking about it. "When you are here and it goes well it's such a good feeling. We couldn't be happier."Clifford added that Kerry studied Meath's approach in the semi-finals and were able to score crucial two-pointers that Donegal's last-four opponents could not said it was not a specific tactic by the Kingdom, but the management "trust the forwards"."You could see Meath in the semi-final probably over do it. "The beauty of our set-up, our management team and how we approach things is we let the forwards do what they want. We trust the forwards to make good decisions and it's great when they go over."


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
All-Ireland win could be 'last hurrah' for O'Connor
Kerry manager Jack O'Connor says Sunday's All-Ireland final victory over Donegal could be his "last hurrah" in charge of the Kingdom.O'Connor guided Kerry to a 1-26 to 0-19 victory at Croke Park and Sam Maguire will head back home with the Munster champions for the first time since is a fifth All-Ireland for O'Connor, who has led the Kingdom across three spells since 2001. The 64-year-old's current term is set to expire this year and he said his future would be sorted in "due course", adding there was "no hurry" on a decision."I think I went on record earlier in the year that it would probably be my last hurrah," he said in his post-match press conference at Croke Park. "I don't want to be telling you lads [the media] before I tell anyone else, there are more important people down the corridor." He added that his wife, Bridie, had captured a special moment before he headed to Dublin with his team in case it was his last time with Kerry."I was going out the door on Thursday evening with my bag and my wife took a picture of me going out the gate," he said."I've a fair idea that will be up on the wall as my last. She'll be framing that one."Star forward David Clifford, who said comparisons to Lionel Messi motivated him in his 0-9 performance in the final, said O'Connor also had additional fuel due to praise given to opposite number Jim McGuinness."He's a winner," Clifford said on his manager. "I don't think Jack was happy with the commentary around the Donegal manager and all he could do."I think there was a lot of disrespect around that for Jack so that was for him today."