Donegal–Kerry Gaelic football rivalry
The Donegal–Kerry rivalry is a Gaelic football rivalry between Irish county teams Donegal and Kerry, whose first championship meeting was in 2012. The fixture has been an infrequent one in the history of the championship, and therefore the rivalry is not as intense between the two teams.[1] Donegal's home ground is MacCumhaill Park and Kerry's home ground is Fitzgerald Stadium; however, all of their championship meetings have been held at neutral venues, usually Croke Park.
| Locale | County Donegal County Kerry |
|---|---|
| Teams | Donegal Kerry |
| First meeting | Donegal 1-12 - 1-10 Kerry 2012 All-Ireland quarter-final (5 August 2012) |
| Latest meeting | Kerry 1-20 - 1-20 Donegal 2019 All-Ireland quarter-final group stage (21 July 2019) |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 3 |
| Top scorer | Michael Murphy (1-14) |
| All-time series | Donegal 1-1-1 Kerry |
| Largest victory | Kerry 2-9 - 0-12 Donegal 2014 All-Ireland final (21 September 2014) |
While Kerry have the highest number of Munster titles and Donegal are sixth on the roll of honour in Ulster, they have also enjoyed success in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, having won 39 championship titles between them to date.
In the National Football League the teams shared an eventful game at Austin Stack Park, Tralee, in the 2015 competition.[2]
Another memorable match occurred in November 1988 when Pat Spillane passed the ball to Brian Murray; Murray promptly scored a goal which defeated Kerry in their own stadium.[3][4]
Legend
| Kerry win | |
| Donegal win | |
| Match was a draw |
Senior
| No. | Date | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Venue | Stage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 5 August 2012 | Donegal | 1-12 - 1-10 | Kerry | Croke Park | All Ireland quarter-final | |
| 2. | 21 September 2014 | Kerry | 2-9 - 0-12 | Donegal | Croke Park | All Ireland final | |
| 3. | 21 July 2019 | Kerry | 1-20 - 1-20 | Donegal | Croke Park | All Ireland quarter-final group stage |
References
- Neville, Conor (19 September 2014). "How The Kerry And Donegal Teams Have Changed Since Their Last Championship Meeting". balls.ie. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- O'Riordan, Ian (15 March 2015). "Kerry hold nerve and Donegal in Tralee spring classic". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
Considering Donegal's last league victory in Tralee was 27 years ago, in 1988, there wasn't any great expectation, and yet at times Donegal looked perfectly capable of the win.
- McNulty, Chris (28 January 2018). "Kerry deny 14-man Donegal a historic win in Killarney: Kingdom take a mini-classic at Fitzgerald Stadium as David Clifford makes his bow". The Irish Times. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
It's 30 years now since Pat Spillane gifted Donegal's Brian Murray a game-winning goal...
- "Donegal star McBrearty relishing developing Kerry rivalry". Irish Independent. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
Donegal still haven't won on Kerry soil since November 1988 when a misplaced Pat Spillane pass gifted Donegal a goal, scored by Brian Murray.