Kerry cap perfect year with the Holy Grailpublished at 17:47 British Summer Time 24 July 2022
FT: Kerry 0-20 Galway 0-16
And so, another championship campaign's in the books.
Kerry's year started back on 5 January. On a bitterly cold winter's night in Tralee, they annihilated Limerick 2-23 to 0-6 in their McGrath Cup opener.
They haven't looked back since, scooping the National League and Munster titles in impressive fashion to set them up for another crack at Sam.
And while their quarter-final win over Mayo set few pulses facing, claiming a massive scalp over regular tormentors Dublin in the semi-final gave Jack O'Connor's side the boost they needed to go on and get the job done.
But today's final was far from a cakewalk. Galway, who toppled Derry and Armagh to reach their first decider since 2001, battled hard, with exceptional performances from Shane Walsh and Cillian McDaid keeping their dream alive.
But in the end, Kerry just had too much in the tank. Too much scoring power. Too much fitness. Too much desire to end their famine.
Congratulations to Kerry. Thanks for following today's live text, and indeed all of our coverage this season. It's been a blast. I'll leave you with John Haughey's on-the-whistle report from Croker. The big man's still tapping away at it so maybe stick the kettle on before you tuck into his flowing prose.
And remember, we still have the club season to look forward to!
Right, time for my Sunday roast. See ya.