Donegal blow Meath away in second-half to set-up mouthwatering All-Ireland final showdown with Kerry

Donegal will play Kerry in the All-Ireland senior football championship final in two weeks’ time after thumping Meath with a 3-26 to 0-15 victory at Croke Park this afternoon.

Oisin Gallen, Ciaran Moore and Conor O’Donnell hit the Ulster champions’ goals in the second-half as they rubber stamped their county’s return to the Sam Maguire Cup decider for the first time since 2014, bringing the Royals' remarkable summer run to an end in the process.

Jim McGuinness’s side registered seven points from their first six efforts at headquarters and, while Meath had a couple of two-pointers from Eoghan Frayne and Ruairí Kinsella, they’d rue nine first-half wides as they went in trailing by 0-13 to 0-8 at half-time.

Keith Curtis shot over the trailers’ ninth point 30 seconds into the restart and captain Frayne added another prior to Gallen latching onto possession and finding the top corner of Billy Hogan’s net in the 42nd minute.

Michael Murphy added a point before being withdrawn by McGuinness in the 45th minute and replaced by 2012 All-Ireland winning team mate Paddy McBrearty.

Donegal kept their foot on the throttle with McBrearty landing their 16th point of the day ahead of Moore firing in their second goal and a ‘45’ by Shaun Patton had the margin at a dozen points by the 51st minute.

Conor Duke and Frayne grabbed sorely needed scores to try and stop the rot for Robbie Brennan’s men, but their Tir Chonaill counterparts stayed ruthless to the end with, Peadar Mogan, McBrearty (2) and O’Donnell all sailing over points ahead of the latter smashing in the game’s third goal to well and truly seal Donegal’s date with the Kingdom on July 27th.

Is Sam for the Hills or the Kingdom? Donegal are through to face @Kerry_Official in the All Ireland 🏐Final@MeathGAA 0-15@officialdonegal 3-26 Watch the highlights here 🎥 #MEAVDON pic.twitter.com/Gtl2AUcmxL

— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 13, 2025