Kerry have been beaten in the Joe McDonagh Cup Final.
They lost out to Antrim in Croke Park by 22 points to 1-17.
Kerry played into the Hill 16 end while the sun shone towards the Canal End and into the eyes of the Antrim goal.
The Kingdom played as selected and off they went into attack straight away but Antrim were the first to threaten to score only for the green and gold to clear the danger in the opening minute.
It was a nervy start from Kerry and after some early mistakes, they eventually conceded a free to Antrim on the 45-metre line and Ciaran Clark opened the scoring after 3 minutes of play.
The Antrim corner forward doubled his tally and his team’s lead from the restart after Mikey Boyle’s first effort for Kerry went wide.
Shane Conway’s free from the half-way line settled the Kerry nerves after 5 minutes.
Antrim restored their two-point advantage over the next four minutes to lead 0-04 to 0-01 after 10 minutes.
Paudie O’Connor halved the Antrim lead with a fine point from midfield after 13 minutes.
Antrim tacked on two more points to leave four between the sides at the first half water break.
Kerry 0-02 Antrim 0-06 (18 minutes)
It was Kerry’s Daniel Collins who had the first chance to score after the water break but his poor effort was soon forgotten when Mikey Boyle pounced on an Antrim error to drive the ball to the net
Kerry 1-02 Antrim 0-06 after 20 minutes and then two minutes later, the sides were level from the stick of Shane Conway.
Antrim’s first score for quite some time came in the 25th minute to regain the lead, however it didn’t last long after Shane Conway punished the foul on Shane Nolan with another free.
The sides exchanged scores over the next few minutes to stay level heading towards the 30 minute mark.
There were calls for VAR when John B O’Halloran was forced to stretch to clear the ball off the line and save Kerry’s bacon. Antrim did win a free from the same passage of play and Ciaran Clark restored Antrim’s lead heading into stoppage time at the end of the first half.
Shane Conway and Michael O’Leary turned things around in Kerry’s favour just before the break with two quick points to go in at the break leading by a point.
Half-time: Kerry 1-07 Antrim 0-09.
Antrim started the second half with an air of animation and desire to regain the momentum that had given them an early lead and the sides were level within seconds.
Ciaran Clark was the man who put Antrim back into the lead with a free that came on the back of a Kerry mistake.
Kerry 1-07 Antrim 0-11
The Kingdom were as nervous in the opening minutes of the second half as they were in the first half failing to score before the 12 minute and conceding five points to allow Antrim to open a four point lead.
Kerry 1-07 Antrim 0-14 (after 48 minutes)
Podge Boyle was brought on for Paudie O’Connor after Antrim extended their lead to 5 points.
Podge justified being added to the fray with a point from his first action of the second half. Antrim answered immediately with a point of their own.
Kerry 1-08 Antrim 0-16 at the second half water break (52 minutes)
Colum Harty came on for Mikey Boyle with 15 minutes to go on the clock.
Shane Conway narrowed the lead to four points with a free from inside the Kerry half and in the next attack, Colum Harty pointed to make it a one-score game.
Kerry 1-10 Antrim 0-16
Antrim remained calm under the pressure of the Kerry efforts and they extended their lead out to six points with 10 minutes remaining.
Michael O’Leary kept Kerry in touch with a lovely point. Brendan O’Leary scored another point to leave 4 between them. It was Conway then, who narrowed it to 3 points with less than five minutes to go.
Kerry 1-13 Antrim 0-19 (64 minutes)
Here come Kerry…Daniel Collins found the black spot for the second time to put two in it and both sides were living on their nerves.
Antrim’s next attack yielded a point with the help of Hawk-eye to put a goal between them again, albeit for only 30 seconds as Shane Conway pointed again from a free heading into stoppage time.
The referee added five minutes at the end of the 70 and in the first of those additional minutes, Antrim went back into a 3-point lead from a free.
The insurance point for Antrim came from a 65 and with less than 3 minutes of stoppage time remaining, a point from Shane Conway meant that Kerry needed a goal.
Conway added another point after the additional time had ticked past the allocated 5 minutes, but it was too little too late. Antrim have won the Joe McDonagh Cup for 2020.
Final Score: Kerry 1-17 Antrim 0-22.
Here's how the match finished; commentary from Mike O'Halloran and Andrew Morrissey
Our analyst Andrew Morrissey reviews the Final
Kerry manager Fintan O'Connor
Antrim boss Darren Gleeson
