Four first-half goals help Kingdom triumph to 86th Munster SFC title

Kerry struck four first-half goals - including an early brace from David Clifford – to triumph to their 86th Munster senior football championship crown at Clare’s expense this afternoon.

It finished 4-20 to 0-21 at Fitzgerald Stadium, where Clifford (2), Micheál Burns and Barry Dan O’Sullivan fired in the goals for Jack O’Connor’s side during the opening half-hour at the sunny Killarney venue.

Clifford’s coolly struck goal opened the flood gates for the Kingdom in the third minute and he’d rebound in Burns’ shot with a brilliant reaction effort some three minutes later.

Sean O’Shea’s score made it a nine-point game (2-4 to 0-1) with as many minutes on the clock and, after shipping a couple more points, the Banner men were truly left with a mountain to climb when Burns got in for the Kingdom’s third goal in the 22nd minute.

Three minutes later, the ball would be in the visitors’ net again, with O’Sullivan diving to punch it over the line, and a chance for Clare to get a goal back afterwards was sent over the bar from the penalty spot by Keelan Sexton as they went in at the break trailing by 4-10 to 0-7.

Emmet McMahon grabbed a couple of early scores for Peter Keane’s side in the second-half, but Kerry were able to keep the gap at around a dozen or more for its majority, as Clifford, O’Shea and Paul Geaney helped raise the winning tally to 4-20 to seal the win which marks a seventh five-in-a-row success for their county in the southern province.

It's an @MunsterGAA Championship 5⃣ in a row for the Kingdom 👑@Kerry_Official 4-20@GaaClare 0-21

Watch the highlights 📽️ here #KERvCLA pic.twitter.com/lL0hP5CzZA

— The GAA (@officialgaa) May 4, 2025