{"id":567818,"date":"2026-07-25T17:15:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T17:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/567818\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T17:15:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T17:15:13","slug":"3-key-battles-for-all-ireland-final-this-sunday-between-kerry-and-mayo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/567818\/","title":{"rendered":"3 key battles for All-Ireland Final this Sunday between Kerry and Mayo"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s all set now as the final game of the intercounty season takes place with underdogs Mayo facing reigning champions Kerry in the All-Ireland Final.<\/p>\n

Kerry come into the clash looking to make it back-to-back Sam Maguire Cups as well as make it their 40th All-Ireland crown. Meanwhile, for Mayo, they\u2019ll be hoping to finally end 75 years of hurt and win the coveted title.<\/p>\n

It may have been a final not many expected at the start of the year, but there\u2019s going to be plenty of quality on show from both sides<\/a> and some huge battles will decide the outcome. Here are 3 of the biggest ones.<\/p>\n

\"All-IrelandDavid Clifford of Kerry is tackled by Donnacha McHugh. Pic: Shauna Clinton\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

DAVID CLIFFORD V DONNACHA MCHUGH<\/p>\n

It will be fas\u00adcin\u00adat\u00ading to see who Andy Moran details to look after Paudie Clif\u00adford<\/a> \u2014 in-form Enda Hes\u00adsion is our guess \u2014 but McHugh is likely to renew acquaint\u00adances with the younger Clif\u00adford, as he has done so in Croke Park before. In the 2025 National League final, then-Mayo boss Kevin McStay insisted that McHugh has done a decent job on Clif\u00adford, even though he scored eight points, and that the Kerry maes\u00adtro may have even man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtured the odd free.<\/p>\n

So, a key part of how this battle unfolds is how Mar\u00adtin McNally, tak\u00ading charge of his first All-Ire\u00adland, decides to ref\u00aderee this final. There has cer\u00adtainly been a lais\u00adsez-faire approach to most games in Croke Park this sum\u00admer. McNally\u2019s approach could be a help or hindrance to McHugh in his mis\u00adsion impossible.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jason Foley of Kerry in action against Ryan O\u2019Donoghue. Pic: Piaras \u00d3 M\u00eddheach\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

JASON FOLEY V RYAN O\u2019DONOGHUE<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donoghue is the player who makes this Mayo attack tick. While Kobe McDon\u00adald and Dar\u00adragh Beirne have been grabbing the head\u00adlines, it has been the Belmul\u00adlet nat\u00adive between them knit\u00adting everything together while his work-rate when his team don\u2019t have the ball has been one of his most impress\u00adive aspects. <\/p>\n

Foley\u2019s repu\u00adta\u00adtion as one of the game\u2019s best full-backs con\u00adtin\u00adues to grow. Com\u00ading from an under\u00adage ath\u00adlet\u00adics back\u00adground, he is rarely beaten in a foot-race and has the excel\u00adlent sense of anti\u00adcip\u00ada\u00adtion that all good defend\u00aders need. Who\u00adever emerges on top here will be decis\u00adive.<\/p>\n

\"\"Shane Murphy. Pic: Ben McShane\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

SHANE MURPHY V JACK LIVINGSTONE<\/p>\n

It seems incred\u00adible to think that after the league final and in the early days of sum\u00admer Murphy was viewed as the weak link in this Kerry team. Not any\u00admore. His mas\u00adter\u00adful per\u00adform\u00adance off the kick\u00ading tee against Tyr\u00adone was integ\u00adral to them edging the win in the quarter-final. He makes bril\u00adliant use of the four gigantic tar\u00adgets he has in the middle third, but he is just as adept at find\u00ading any team\u00admate. Like Murphy, this will be Liv\u00ading\u00adstone\u2019s first All-Ire\u00adland final but only his third Cham\u00adpi\u00adon\u00adship game at Croke Park.<\/p>\n

But the 24-year-old Bre\u00adaffy nat\u00adive has brought a calmness and assured\u00adness to the role, pulling off a string of top-class saves against Mon\u00adaghan, Tyr\u00adone and Meath.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s all set now as the final game of the intercounty season takes place with underdogs Mayo facing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-567818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}