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Details

Date Time Competition Season
30 July 2023 3:30 pm Sam Maguire Cup 2023

Match Report

Dublin produce comeback against Kerry to lift Sam Maguire

The Jacks are back. A strong finish from Dublin saw them claim the 2023 All-Ireland Football title with two points to spare over Kerry.

Dublin showed resolve and fight when they came back from three points down on two occasions in the second half. The game went down to the wire and it’s no surprise with these two great rivals involved.

In the end it was a terrific servant to Dublin football who scored the final score of the game; Dean Rock who came on as a sub late in the second half. There were two between the sides with time running out.

Both side’s defences were on top with some superb tackling and overturning of possession. It was the game’s best goalkeeper that opened the scoring inside the fourth minute; a well struck 45 from Stephen Cluxton. It was his score of the year.

Kerry drew level two minutes later with a lovely point from David Clifford. The sides were level two more times as attackers found it hard to get scores. Dublin were two ahead in the 24th minute. Cormac Costello kicked over a free before a terrific score from Paul Mannon. Lee Gannon overturned the ball in defence, he raced through before passing to Mannion who fired over.

Seanie O’Shea hit his first point from play in the 28th minute before a Cluxton free restored Dublin’s two point advantage. In first half stoppage time Kerry took the lead for the first time. David Clifford found Paul Geaney with an excellent pass, he turned and although there were a number of Dublin players in front of him he fired to the net. 

The sides were level for the fourth time in the 37th minute when Ciaran Kilkenny put in a great tackle to set up Brian Howard and he fired over. David Clifford pointed a free to edge Kerry back in front in the 39th minute.

In the space of one minute Con O’Callaghan hit a powerful shot off the crossbar and Kerry went down the other end with Paudie Clifford scoring a point. Paul Geaney hit over a point to put three between the sides in the 43rd minute.

It was end to end stuff. Dublin came back at Kerry but Jack O’Connor’s side went three ahead again in the 51st minute.

Two points from Mannion (one free) and one from Colm Basquel drew the Dubs level in the 56th minute. Brian Fenton then edged them ahead to give them the lead for the first time since first half stoppage time.

At the end of normal time it was a draw game with six minutes of additional time to be played. Kerry sub Michael Burns put in a superb tackle as Dublin went on the attack, the ball fell to Mannion and he pointed over.

Kerry had chances but couldn’t draw level. Right at the end Dublin had a free which Rock hit over and Sam was back in the capital.

Kerry
1Shane Ryan Goalkeeper
2Graham O’Sullivan Defender
3Jason Foley Defender
4Tom O’Sullivan Defender
5Paul Murphy Defender
6Tadhg Morley Defender 68'
8Diarmuid O’Connor Midfielder
7Gavin White Defender
9Jack Barry Midfielder
10Dara Moynihan Forward
11Seán O’Shea Forward 10', 14', 28', 48', 70'
12Stephen O’Brien Forward
13Paudie Clifford Forward 41', 49', 51'
52'
14David Clifford Forward 6', 39', 44'
55'
15Paul Geaney Forward 35'
43'
22Micheál Burns Forward
16Shane Murphy Goalkeeper
23Killian Spillane Forward 66'
17Adrian Spillane Forward
18Brian Ó Beaglaíoch Defender
24Dylan Casey Defender
19Mike Breen Defender
20Barry Dan O’Sullivan Midfielder
21Ruairi Murphy Forward
26Ronan Buckley Forward
25Donal O’Sullivan Forward

Dublin
1Stephen Cluxton Goalkeeper 4', 35'
2Eoin Murchan Defender
3Michael Fitzsimons Defender 55'
4David Byrne Defender
5James McCarthy Defender 59'
6John Small Defender
7Lee Gannon 21 Defender 18'
8Brian Fenton Midfielder 12', 64'
9Brian Howard 20 Midfielder 37'
10Paddy Small 26 Forward 46'
66'
30'
11Paul Mannion Forward 9', 24', 52', 56', 70'
18Ciarán Kilkenny Forward
13Cormac Costello 12 Forward 15'
14Con O’Callaghan Forward
15Colm Basquel Forward 44', 55'
26'
25Lorcan O’Dell Forward
16Evan Comerford Goalkeeper
12Niall Scully 13 Forward
Ryan Basquel Forward
19Tom Lahiff Defender
22Ross McGarry Forward
20Sean MacMahon 9 Defender
26Dean Rock 10 Forward 70'
24Daire Newcombe Defender
23Cian Murphy Defender
21Jack McCaffrey 7 Defender

Timeline

  4' Stephen Cluxton
David Clifford 6' 
  9' Paul Mannion
Seán O'Shea 10' 
  12' Brian Fenton
Seán O'Shea 14' 
  15' Cormac Costello
  18' Lee Gannon
  24' Paul Mannion
  26' Colm Basquel
Seán O'Shea 28' 
  30' Paddy Small
Paul Geaney 35' 
  35' Stephen Cluxton
  37' Brian Howard
David Clifford 39' 
Paudie Clifford 41' 
Paul Geaney 43' 
David Clifford 44' 
  44' Colm Basquel
  46' Paddy Small
Seán O'Shea 48' 
  48' Lee Gannon
Jack McCaffrey
Paudie Clifford 49' 
Paudie Clifford 51' 
Paudie Clifford 52' 
  52' Paul Mannion
  54' Cormac Costello
Niall Scully
David Clifford 55' 
  55' Michael Fitzsimons
  55' Colm Basquel
  56' Paul Mannion
  59' James McCarthy
  63' Brian Howard
Sean MacMahon
  64' Brian Fenton
Killian Spillane 66' 
  66' Paddy Small
Tadhg Morley 68' 
  69' Paddy Small
Dean Rock
Seán O'Shea 70' 
  70' Paul Mannion
  70' Dean Rock

  • And that's it. Dublin are the All-Ireland Champions. A lot of talk about both benches and how strong Dublin's were.

  • 70'

    Dean Rock with the free. Two in it now

  • 70'

    Dublin win a free. Time is running out.

  • 70'

    David Clifford is human.

  • 70'

    The ball eventually falls to Paul Mannion and it's over the bar

  • 70'

    What a block from Kerry from Michael Burns

  • 70'

    6 minutes of stoppage time. My heart is racing and I'm from neither county.

  • 70'

    Seanie O'Shea with the free. We are level again!!

  • 70'

    David Clifford blasts the ball wide but his jersey was being pulled.

  • 69'

    Dean Rock is on for Dublin

  • 66'

    Paddy Small with a point and Dublin in front again.

  • 66'

    Fantastic point from Killian Spillane and we are level again

  • 64'

    Brian Fenton puts the Dubs ahead

  • 56'

    Paul Mannion draws Dublin level

  • 55'

    Colm Basquel cuts the gap to one

  • 52'

    Paul Mannion with a free

  • 51'

    Paudie Clifford with a great point.

  • 49'

    Paudie Clifford fists the ball over the bar

  • 48'

    Jack McCaffrey is on for Dublin

  • 48'

    Seanie O'Shea with a free

  • 46'

    A great finish from Paddy Small and the sides are level for the fifth time.

  • 44'

    David Clifford with a fine point

  • 44'

    Colm Basquel with a point for the Dubs

  • 43'

    Paul Geaney with a point and there's three in it

  • 41'

    And that's football. Kerry break from that chance and Paudie Clifford gets his first point

  • 40'

    Con O'Callaghan one on one, goal on and hits the crossbar with his effort. So close for Dublin.

  • 39'

    David Clifford points the free

  • 38'

    Cormac Costello tells David Gough what he thinks of that decision against Dublin. The free is brought in.

  • 37'

    Ciaran Kilkenny with a great tackle. A lovely sidestep from Howard and we are level for the fourth time

  • 36'

    No changes at half-time. Rain during the break so conditions will be greasy underfoot

  • 35'

    Kerry lead by one at the break. Their first time ahead in this game

  • 35'

    A lovely pass from David Clifford, he finds Paul Geaney, he twists and turns, and then finds the back of the net

  • 35'

    A well struck free from Cluxton puts the Dubs ahead by two again

  • 34'

    Both sides have kicked a few wides

  • 32'

    Fantastic defending from Dublin to prevent David Clifford from getting a score.

  • 30'

    Paddy Small is booked

  • 28'

    Seanie O'Shea with a great point from play. Kerry needed that

  • 26'

    Colm Basquel is booked

  • 26'

    Some fantastic defending from both sides.

  • 25'

    Kerry are penalised for overcarrying and a free out to Dublin

  • 24'

    A fantastic score. Lee Gannon turns the ball over, races forward and plays to Paul Mannion and he shoots over.

  • 23'

    The Dublin fans are in full voice now to rouse their team.

  • 22'

    Down the other end Lee Gannon's effort hits the post.

  • 21'

    Paul Geaney does well, takes a shot but his effort comes off the post and out

  • 18'

    Lee Gannon is booked for that foul on Ryan

  • 18'

    Paul Mannion with a big high ball into square. Kerry keeper Shane Ryan and Lee Gannon clash. Ryan is down

  • 18'

    Dublin with possession. Hoping to go 2 ahead

  • 15'

    Cormac Costello with a free to edge Dublin in front again

  • 14'

    Seanie O'Shea with a free from the ground. Well struck. We are level again

  • 13'

    Kerry win another free

  • 12'

    Brian Fenton gets too much space and points for Dublin

  • 10'

    Seanie O'Shea with a free to draw Kerry level again

  • 9'

    Good point from Paul Mannion

  • 6'

    David Clifford with a beauty

  • 6'

    Great from Stephen O'Brien with a tackle in defence

  • 5'

    Kerry with a goal chance but cleared.

  • 4'

    Stephen Cluxton with a 45. His first of the year.

  • 3'

    45 for Dublin. Good ball in from Lee Gannon

  • 2'

    First wide of the game from Dublin's Brian Howard

  • 1'

    Stephen Cluxton wins a short ball from Seanie O'Shea and the Dubs will try and attack

  • 1'

    Kerry with early possession from the throw-in

  • In a late change for Dublin Ciaran Kilkenny is in for Dublin. He replaces Niall Scully.

  • Last year these two sides met in the semi-final with Seanie O'Shea scoring a late free to claim a win for Kerry.

  • This is the 17th time these sides have meet in the final. Kerry have won eight, while Dublin won six and there was two draws.

  • Kerry are the reigning champions while the Dubs last won the Sam Maguire back in 2020. That day they claimed a remarkable six titles in a row.

  • Two great rivals meet in the biggest game in Gaelic Football this afternoon in Croke Park. It's Dublin v Kerry in the All-Ireland Football Final.

Past Meetings
(Semi Final)
1-13 1-14
Sam Maguire Cup
Croke Park
(Round 2)
1-15 0-11
NFL Division 1
Fitzgerald Stadium
(Round 2)
NFL Division 1 South
Croke Park

Ground

Croke Park
Croke Park, Jones's Road, Dublin, D01 WY49, Ireland

Deniese is a freelance sports journalist/broadcaster. She has worked for several local and national media outlets. GAA and soccer are her great loves and she also follows rugby league and snooker. She's a big supporter of her local clubs St. Mary's GAA Granard and Longford Town. She also follows Celtic, Liverpool and Leeds Rhinos. She presented and produced a popular sports podcast last year where she interviewed Ray Houghton, Chris Kamara and John Hartson. Deniese is currently Head of Communications for Boccia Ireland