Danielle O'Leary stars as Kerry end wait for Munster title

Cork 0-13 Kerry 2-15

There was sheer delight for Kerry as they were crowned TG4 Munster champions for the first time since 2017 at Mallow.

The Kingdom started well before falling behind to Cork, but a goal from Emma Dineen just before half-time got them back in contention.

When she raised her second green flag with nine minutes to go it, was the killer blow. That meant they led by six points and there was no way back for Cork.

Add in a simply outstanding display from Danielle O'Leary, who scored 10 points for Kerry, and it was a day to remember for the Kingdom, Kayleigh Cronin not far behind her when it came to player of the match.

O’Leary opened the scoring for Kerry in the fourth minute as she fisted over the bar from a long ball in.

She doubled their lead after 10 minutes, with a long stoppage for an injury in between to players from both sides.

The same player made it 0-03 to no score as Cork were finding it difficult to get going, thanks to some superb defending by Kerry.

Katie Quirke got Cork off the mark after 14 minutes and from the restart Rachel Leahy got their second point to make it 0-03 to 0-02.

With 16 minutes gone, Cork were back on level terms when Melissa Duggan did what she does best. She burst forward to score and Cork were very much in contention.

Quirke got her second from a free to put Cork in front for the first time after 19 minutes.

Another bursting run from a Cork player, this time Laura O’Mahony, put Cork two to the good and they were now playing the better football.

Quirke pointed from another free, with Aoife Healy and O’Mahony also scoring to make it 0-08 to 0-03 after 28 minutes.

Quirke then got Cork’s ninth point in a row as the Rebels were enjoying the better of the play.

O’Leary and Quirke exchanged