Donegal v Kerry - 2025 All-Ireland Football Final

[twohands!!!]

There were plenty of challenges let go by the referees over the weekend, Kerry in particular seemed to get away with a lot compared to Tyrone. Bit odd to focus on Murphy again.

Morris got no card for pulling McHugh to the ground in the same game

He didn't pull him to the ground - he pulled him back and then McHigh fell/went to ground.

Another evidence of the badly written GAA rules  - it should be a black card offence but the way the rules are written it wasn't a black card offence. Referee got it spot on.

RTÉ certainly believed he was dragged down.

I'm surprised that Tyrone fans are now content and have no complaints about the refereeing in their game against Kerry last weekend.

Ref was horrible to us but cant complain as we are not allowed to. Ref easily cost us 3 points. Never seen a ref pulling back for free when playing advantage after point was already scored.

Tyrone would have been beaten regardless of ref but that feck he has retired. Awful ref even going back to all those dublin games.

Ref deemed it a throw ball, which is a technical foul - the rule is that if a team with the advantage commits a technical foul while the advantage is ongoing, play is called back for a free where the initial foul occurred.

[WT4E]

Kerry win this with a bit to spare. Donegal bate twice by Tyrone this year and Donegal played nobody in QF SF

[DaleCooper]

Yes it'll be a matter of a Kerry misfire which I dont think is likely.

They have plenty of threat outside Clifford and the new rules just suit them.

Id like to see Dylan Geaney keep his place, Paul come on for him and maybe give a final hurrah for the crowd as hes nearing retirement.

[Truthsayer]

Kerry win this with a bit to spare. Donegal bate twice by Tyrone this year and Donegal played nobody in QF SF

Doesn't really work that way!
Donegal beat the reigning All Ireland champions (albeit so did Kerry).
Kerry lost to Meath and were very lucky to beat Cork.
All on the day man!

[u]

Kerry win this with a bit to spare. Donegal bate twice by Tyrone this year and Donegal played nobody in QF SF

Doesn't really work that way!
Donegal beat the reigning All Ireland champions (albeit so did Kerry).
Kerry lost to Meath and were very lucky to beat Cork.
All on the day man!

Cork only team to give Kerry a game.
Can't read anything into Meath asJack threw the game. Kerry wanted extra game goung into QF.

[u]

Have my money where my mouth is from Semi final winnings [donegal -3] [kerry-4].

Kerry -2 for Sam

Reasons : kerry are possessed this year. Their defence is underrated.

Despite some injuries they have some depth.

Really rate Dylan Geaney over Paul tbh despite him being raw.

Patton is vulnerable. Gallens form not great but semi will help him.

Kerry much more experienced side. Expect a less heralded player to produce a big display.

Shall wait and see what the Guru comes up with, kerry will take some beating.

Kerry tactical fouling high up the pitch allows bodies to get back behind the ball. Will Cawley be brave enough to blow closed fist tackles by O'Shea and Cliffords?

If he's strict on closed fist tackles Murphy wont make it to half time.

He's the master of the art - and never gets called on it.

I'm torn on this game.
On the one hand Donegal seem relentless at the minute and look like they have the confidence to beat anyone. On the other, they have looked really ordinary at times and even in the Ulster final didn't play overly well. They've had 2 really good halfs of football in the quarter and semi finals but seem slow to get going.

Kerry have been stop start all season, but in true Kerry form didn't really get challenged until the latter stages of the championship. They have that ability to score heavily, have been really strong defensively and have shown depth in the squad while missing players. They have only really shone in the last 2 games too though. Hard to bet against a team with David Clifford who could score 1-6 on a bad day.

It has the makings of a really good game - my head says Kerry by 3 or 4, but I have this niggly feeling that Donegal could sneak it.

Yeah totally agree. It'll hinge on Clifford, if he plays like he did the last 2 days Kerry should have enough, but if he goes missing Donegal will walk it.

Yes Murphy lethal for it too. I say kerry mafia won't be shy highlighting in coming week.

Kerry lads like Jason Foley like to fall down very dramatically.

[statto]

Kerry win this with a bit to spare. Donegal bate twice by Tyrone this year and Donegal played nobody in QF SF

Doesn't really work that way!
Donegal beat the reigning All Ireland champions (albeit so did Kerry).
Kerry lost to Meath and were very lucky to beat Cork.
All on the day man!

Cork only team to give Kerry a game.
Can't read anything into Meath asJack threw the game. Kerry wanted extra game goung into QF.

Why would he throw the game when historically teams not topping the group and playing three weeks in a row have struggled?

[Blowitupref]

Kerry win this with a bit to spare. Donegal bate twice by Tyrone this year and Donegal played nobody in QF SF

Doesn't really work that way!
Donegal beat the reigning All Ireland champions (albeit so did Kerry).
Kerry lost to Meath and were very lucky to beat Cork.
All on the day man!

Cork only team to give Kerry a game.
Can't read anything into Meath asJack threw the game. Kerry wanted extra game goung into QF.

Why would he throw the game when historically teams not topping the group and playing three weeks in a row have struggled?

Was no throwing of the game. Kerry had injuries and Meath did a number on the Kerry's kick outs which has proved to be blessing in disguise as they were much improved on their own kickout against Tyrone,Armagh.

[clonian]

I think this is a really tight one to call. There's a few pundits getting carried away with Donegal and they could be right. Jimmy has a lot of things going well. They are coming to the boil in good time and if anyone can combat a team like Kerry it's Donegal. I think their score taking is underrated - they have some serious options up front.

Kerry have played better than some have give them credit for. I was at the Armagh game and I thought they were excellent at closing space down for Armagh and the score taking was a level above most others. People thought Tyrone would sort out the spaces Armagh left but by closing down SOS they gave Clifford more room inside. Similar happened against Armagh when they had the purple patch in the 2nd half.

Donegal play a zonal system like Armagh and it didn't work for Armagh against Kerry. Donegal will no doubt tweak the system to ensure it closes more of the Kerry forwards down than Armagh did. Can Kerry give Patton as hard a time as Monaghan did in the 1st half? Can Kerry secure more possession from their own kick outs than they did against Tyrone because Donegal will be more ruthless if they get that amount of turnover ball.

There's a lot of things could go either way - it'll hopefully be a good watch for the neutral.

[larryin89]

. This is really good Kerry team and it's not getting the recognition it deserves . Imagine any other county in a final with players showing like paudie Clifford, seanie o Shea , Joe o Connor (form he's found is outstanding ) pace of Gavin white , kick passing of Dylan geaney going unnoticed and then you have for the icing on the cake the most skilful footballer of all time on show . I'd be amazed if Kerry don't win this and maybe with a bit to spare too . Bad news for the rest of us is there's more than this year in this Kerry team .

[DaleCooper]

Yup the focus on Clifford takes the shine off the supporting cast.

Its a great Kerry team and but for a few hiccups could easily be on hunt for 4th Sam as a group.

[armaghniac]

Yup the focus on Clifford takes the shine off the supporting cast.

Its a great Kerry team and but for a few hiccups could easily be on hunt for 4th Sam as a group.

Of course, if the other team puts two much attention on one player than others can have their day. In one Armagh final, Crossmaglen won by a large margin although Jamie Clark only scored 2 or 3, but he assisted in another dozen scores and all the attention on him meant that less famous players could make hay.

[Mario]

Yup the focus on Clifford takes the shine off the supporting cast.

Its a great Kerry team and but for a few hiccups could easily be on hunt for 4th Sam as a group.

How did you get 4

[Captain Obvious]

Joe Brolly has tipped Donegal to win and given his track record with predictions that is good news for Kerry.

[Truthsayer]

Joe Brolly has tipped Donegal to win and given his track record with predictions that is good news for Kerry.

I listened to that podcast and agree with Brolly's analysis. I think McGuinness is a remarkable coach where he took Donegal the last time 2011-12-14.. to return and win two Ulsters and so close to reaching the All Ireland final last year .. the rules totally revamped and here he is in the final. Makes for a great contest but I'd go with Brolly on this one.