Donegal have not been in a final since 2014 when their bid for a third title fell short against Kerry who have suffered more final heartache than joy since, losing finals in 2015, 2019 and 2023, but they did scale the mountain in 2022 to secure a 38th success.

THE FINAL FLOURISH on a supremely dominant day for Kerry football came in the form of the only goal of the game. A chain of passes along the Cusack Stand side culminated in Killian Spillane feeding Joe O’Connor inside and the Austin Stacks man blasted a drive to the net past Shaun Patton.