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2014 All-Ireland Football Championship final

Event	2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Kerry Donegal 2–9 (15) 0–12 (12)
Date	21 September 2014
Venue	Croke Park, Dublin
Man of the Match	Paul Murphy
Referee	Eddie Kinsella (Laois)
Weather	Partly cloudy 17 °C (63 °F)
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The 2014 All-Ireland Football Championship final, the culmination of the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, was played at Croke Park in Dublin on 21 September 2014. Ulster champions Donegal, last champions in 2012 took on Munster champions Kerry, last champions in 2009.

Both sides defeated the previous year's finalists Dublin and Mayo in their semi-finals to set up this match between "the two great football outposts of the west-coast extremities". This was their first encounter on All-Ireland final day, and only the second in 127 years of Championship history, Donegal having defeated Kerry in their previous encounter at the 2012 quarter-final stage. Kerry narrowly won a close game which ended with a scoreline of 2-9 to 0-12.

The game was televised nationally on RTÉ2 as part of The Sunday Game live programme, presented by Michael Lyster from Croke Park, with studio analysis from Joe Brolly, Ciarán Whelan and Colm O'Rourke — the last time until 2019 that the Brolly-O'Rourke-Pat Spillane axis was broken up for live coverage of an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.

Paths to the final

Donegal defeated Derry, Antrim and Monaghan to win the Ulster Senior Football Championship. They defeated Armagh in the All-Ireland quarter-final and the reigning champions Dublin in the semi-final. Kerry defeated Clare and Cork to win the Munster Senior Football Championship. They overcame Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final and Mayo in the semi-final after a replay which went to extra time.

Tickets

Demand for tickets was even higher than the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Alan Milton, the GAA's Head of Media Relations, said he believed the stadium could have been sold out two times over. The reasons he suggested for this included, "a) it's a novel pairing b) the semi-finals were of a such a high standard that there's big neutral interest and c) the numbers from each county who will travel back to Ireland – both Kerry and Donegal have a very strong overseas presence in the United States particularly but also farther afield.".

Kits

After Donegal's defeat of All-Ireland champions Dublin confirmed the teams for the final, there was speculation that the counties would wear alternative kits due to the similarities in their traditional county colours. The last time this had occurred on All-Ireland Final day was 2010 when Cork and Down came to a similar arrangement to what occurred when they played in a semi-final of the 1994 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. 2010 represented the first occasion since Kerry and Offaly played in the 1982 final that both teams playing in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final donned alternative strips, while the 1996 final was the last time one team (Meath) wore an alternative strip (versus Mayo). In the event, on 2 September 2014, it was announced that Donegal and Kerry would wear their traditional jerseys.

Team selection

Both teams announced two changes to their starting line-ups.

Kerry announced their team on 18 September, with Marc Ó Sé being recalled to the starting line-up and Kieran Donaghy starting at full-forward. Stephen O'Brien came into the half forward line in place of Michael Geaney. Donegal announced their team on 20 September, with Christy Toye and Patrick McBrearty in for Rory Kavanagh and David Walsh. On the day, Toye and McBrearty were named on the bench – though both featured, and indeed scored, later in the game – while Kavanagh and Darach O'Connor started in their place.

Six players from the 2006 All-Ireland minor semi-final meeting of the counties at Croke Park featured in the 2014 senior final. These were Michael Murphy, Leo McLoone and Martin McElhinney (Donegal) and Shane Enright, David Moran and Johnny Buckley (Kerry).

Match

Summary

Kerry got off to a great start with a goal from Paul Geaney within 60 seconds of the throw-in. Afterwards, a couple of points by both teams kept it a close game with Kerry always up a point or two. Near the end of the first half, Donegal tied it up. After a minute of extra time in the first half, it was 1–3 Kerry to 0–6 Donegal at half-time.

Heading into the second half, Donegal took the lead with another point from team captain Michael Murphy, but Kerry quickly answered. Kerry eventually built a small lead and with a one-point lead at ten minutes left, Kerry scored a goal making it 2–6 to 0–8. Donegal responded with three quick points making it 2–6 to 0–11. Kerry hit a couple points in response, and it was 2–8 to 0–12 when two minutes of injury time started. Kerry scored another point to extend their lead to three points. Donegal almost forced a replay when Colm McFadden hit the goalpost in the last minute but Kerry clung on the win by 2–9 to 0–12.

Details

Donegal	0–12 – 2–9	Kerry
M. Murphy (0–4, 3 frees) C. McFadden (0–1, 1 free) P. McBrearty (0–2) O. Mac Niallais (0–1) K. Lacey (0–1) N. McGee (0–1) D. Molloy (0–1) C. Toye (0–1)	Report	P. Geaney (1–2, 1 free) K. Donaghy (1–2) B. J. Keane (0–2, 2 frees) P. Murphy (0–1) B. Sheehan (0–1, 1 free) J. Buckley (0–1)

Donegal

Kerry

Donegal: 1 Paul Durcan 2 Eamon McGee 3 Neil McGee 4 Paddy McGrath 5 Anthony Thompson 6 Karl Lacey 7 Frank McGlynn 8 Neil Gallagher 26 Rory Kavanagh  64' 9 Odhrán Mac Niallais  52' 11 Leo McLoone  57' 12 Ryan McHugh  46' 15 Colm McFadden 14 Michael Murphy (Captain) 17 Darach O'Connor  28' Substitutes: 10 Christy Toye  28' 13 Patrick McBrearty  46' 24 Martin McElhinney  52' 18 David Walsh  57' 20 Dermot "Brick" Molloy  64' Manager: Jim McGuinness

Kerry: 1 Brian Kelly 2 Marc Ó Sé 3 Aidan O'Mahony 4 Fionn Fitzgerald  55' (c) 5 Paul Murphy 6 Peter Crowley 7 Killian Young 8 Anthony Maher 9 David Moran  68' 10 Stephen O'Brien  36' 11 Johnny Buckley B 12 Donnchadh Walsh  57' 13 Paul Geaney  49' 14 Kieran Donaghy  70' 15 James O'Donoghue Substitutes Used: 18 Michael Geaney  36' 21 Barry John Keane  49' 17 Shane Enright  55' 19 Declan O'Sullivan  57' 20 Bryan Sheehan  68' 23 Kieran O'Leary  70' Manager: É. Fitzmaurice

Linesmen:
Marty Duffy (Sligo)
Pádraig Hughes (Armagh)

Sideline Official
Rory Hickey (Clare)

Celebrations

The Kerry team celebrated the night of the final at the Clyde Court Hotel where Paul Murphy received his man of the match award. The next day the team departed Heuston Station at 1.45 pm for their first stop at Rathmore for the homecoming celebrations before proceeding to Tralee at 6.10 pm and then on to Killarney at 9.00 pm.

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast live internationally.

RTÉ Sport

Seven Network

Sky Sports

BBC

Sky Sports

Sky Sports

References

1. "Kerry's Paul Murphy wins All-Ireland football final man of the match award". The Score. 21 September 2014. Archived from the original on 14 October 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
2. "Laois whistler Eddie Kinsella to ref Kerry-Donegal final". RTÉ Sport. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 8 September 2012. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
3. "GAA: Eddie Kinsella to referee the All-Ireland SFC final between Kerry and Donegal". Sky Sports. 8 September 2012. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
4. "Eddie Kinsella to referee Kerry and Donegal in the All-Ireland senior football final". The Score. 8 September 2012. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
5. "Daily Data". Met Eireann. 21 September 2014. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
6. Moran, Seán (1 September 2014). "Exceptional display by Donegal bursts Dublin's bubble: Jim McGuinness's team rediscover the spirit of 2012 but champions fail to rise to challenge". The Irish Times. p. 3. Retrieved 1 September 2014. All that remained were the increasingly frantic efforts by Dublin to score something but so wild was the finishing that wides outnumbered scores – a sobering end to what had been expected to be the county's first back-to-back season in 37 years. Instead the two great football outposts of the west-coast extremities will meet for the first time in an All-Ireland final.
7. "Kerry beat Mayo in replay thriller to grab final spot". RTÉ Sport. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
8. Harkin, Greg (31 August 2014). "Written off by everyone – but Donegal tear up the script". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
9. "5 talking points after Donegal stunned the Dubs in Croke Park". The Score. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
10. "As it happened: Kerry 2-9 Donegal 0-12". Irish Independent. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
11. "As It Happened: Kerry v Donegal, All-Ireland senior football final". The Score. 21 September 2014. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
12. Fogarty, John (11 September 2019). "Brolly now on the sidelines for biggest day of the GAA year". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 11 September 2019. Last Sunday week was the first time since 2014 that the long-standing triumvirate of Brolly, O'Rourke, and Pat Spillane was broken up. For the Kerry-Donegal decider five years ago, Whelan took the place of Spillane on the live panel alongside Brolly and O'Rourke.
13. Moran, Seán (17 September 2014). "Croke Park could have sold out final 'twice over': Pairing of Kerry and Donegal in All-Ireland football showpiece proving a popular draw". The Irish Times. Irish Times Trust. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
14. Moran, Seán (31 August 2010). "Alternative strip for football finalists". The Irish Times. Irish Times Trust. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
15. ^ "County colours to change for final". RTÉ Sport. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 30 August 2010. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
16. "Changed colours for both finalists". Setanta Sports. 30 August 2010. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
17. "Donegal and Kerry to wear traditional colours in final". Highland Radio. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
18. "Kerry, Donegal both to wear Green & Gold in final!". Hogan Stand. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
19. "No jersey change for Donegal or Kerry in the All Ireland football final: Both the Ulster and Munster champions have been cleared to wear their home kits for the decider on September 21st". The Score. 2 September 2014. Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
20. Foley, Cliona (19 September 2014). "O'Se recalled as Donaghy handed No 14 jersey for final". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
21. "Countdown to Croker: Donegal name 'team' for All-Ireland final". Donegal Daily. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
22. "Two changes to Donegal All-Ireland SFC final team". RTÉ Sport. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
23. "Team news: Toye and McBrearty in". Hogan Stand. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
24. "Surprise, surprise as Donegal make late changes". Hogan Stand. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
25. O'Brien, Kevin (21 September 2014). "Those on the current senior panels". The Score. Archived from the original on 3 October 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
26. "Sweetest ever for Kerry kids". Irish Examiner. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
27. "Official attendance at Croke Park: 82,184". 21 September 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
28. "Kerry 2-9 Donegal 0-12". GAA.ie. 22 September 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
29. "Kerry homecoming details". Hogan Stand. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
30. "Thousands out for Kerry homecoming in Rathmore, Tralee and Killarney". Irish Examiner. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
31. ^ "RTÉ & Sky secure GAA rights, RTÉ in worldwide deal". RTÉ Sport. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
32. Fogarty, John (2 April 2014). "Masters of hype must convince masses". Irish Examiner. Thomas Crosbie Holdings. Retrieved 2 April 2014. The point about worldwide exposure is a moot one when, thanks to Australia's terrestrial Channel 7, all 45 Championship games can be watched free of charge there. but why do Irish people there have gratis coverage when those at home don't?

External links

• Official GAA website
• Official team websites: Donegal, Kerry

• 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
• 2014 in Gaelic football
• 2010s in Dublin (city)
• September 2014 sports events in Ireland
• All-Ireland Senior Football Championship finals
• Donegal county football team matches
• Kerry county football team matches