Kerry and Fermanagh triumph as Tyrone edged out
Aoife Dillane celebrates scoring a goal for Kerry against Galway at Croke Park
- Published
Kerry cruised to a first All-Ireland Ladies senior title since since 1993 thanks to a 3-14 to 0-11 victory over Galway at Croke Park on Sunday.
The Kingdom are now out on their own on 12 Brendan Martin Cup successes and one clear of Cork in second.
Fermanagh also tasted All-Ireland glory after defeating Louth 1-11 to 0-12 in the junior final.
This game will forever be known as the Eimear Smyth final as the young Derrygonnelly attacker landed 1-9 of her county's 1-11 in a performance for the ages.
However, there was disappointment for Tyrone in the intermediate decider as they lost out 3-11 to 3-10 against Leitrim.
Louise Ni Mhuirheartaigh top scored for Kerry with 0-6 in a fine individual display. Goals in either half from Aoife Dillane, Hannah O'Donoghue and Emma Dineen quelled any hope of a Galway resurgence.
Kerry took the lead after just seven minutes and it proved to be a lead they would never lose with Ni Mhuirheartaigh landing five scores on the bounce before Aoife Dillane's effort for a point dropped into the net on the stroke of half-time, giving the Kingdom a 1-8 to 0-3 lead at the break.
Kerry's dominance continued in the second half with substitute Hannah O'Donoghue scoring a goal with her first touch. Emma Dineen added further gloss to the scoreline with a fine goal in the dying embers.
It proved to be third time lucky for Kerry who have been beaten on this stage for the past two seasons. For Galway it's heartbreak for both the men and the ladies sides in All-Ireland finals at Croke Park in the space of seven days.
Aoife Horisk fires home a goal for Tyrone but the Ulster side lost out to Leitrim
Leitrim claimed a shock of sorts by edging Tyrone to take the All-Ireland intermediate title.
Ailbhe Clancy kicked 2-3 across the hour to give the Wild Rose County an unlikely victory.
The Connacht side will ply their trade in Division Four of the National League for 2025 while Tyrone will battle it out in Division One.
Helter-skelter would be the only way to describe the first half with Muireann Devaney hitting the net for Leitrim for their first score on 14 minutes.
Tyrone replied with 2-2 without reply thanks to Aoife Horisk's double, this all before a quickfire 1-2 including a goal from Clancy to give Leitrim a slender two-point advantage at the break.
In the second half the action did not stop - Leitrim skipper Michelle Guckian slotted over four points before Joanne Barrett pulled Muireann Devaney down in the small parallelogram.
Clancy stepped up to fire the penalty to the back of the net as Barrett headed to the sin bin. Tyrone captain Aoibheann McHugh rattled the net with less than 10 minutes to play but it proved to be in vain as Leitrim held out for a famous win.
Eimear Smyth celebrates scoring Fermanagh's goal against Louth on Sunday
Fermanagh are All-Ireland junior football champions for the third time and the first time since 2020.
Ulster champions Fermanagh led 1-5 to 0-5 at the break against Louth and it was a first half dominated by Erne full-forward Smyth, who landed 1-4 inside the opening half an hour.
The decisive score came on 10 minutes as Smyth gathered a high ball from Blaithin Bogue before expertly rounding Rebecca Lambe Fegan in the Louth goal and firing into the empty net.
Early in the second half Fermanagh were denied what looked to be a sure goal as Fegan saved Niamh McManus' effort from point-blank range with the rebound colliding with the post and somehow staying out of the net.
Louth battled hard in the second half with scores from Niamh Rice and Kate Flood but could not get level as everything Smyth touched turned to gold.