THE GAA has announced that Brendan Cawley will officiate this year’s All-Ireland football final between Kerry and Donegal on July 27.
It’ll be the Kildare native’s first time refereeing Gaelic football’s showpiece occasion.
The Sarsfields clubman has been on the inter-county officiating circuit since 2019 and is a widely respected figure across the game.
Last year saw him oversee Galway’s narrow semi-final triumph over Donegal. This time around Jim McGuinness’ men had a far easier time of it as they demolished Meath 3-26 to 0-15 on Sunday.
In the wake of their 2024 defeat to Galway, McGuinness lamented their failure to convert nine of 14 scoring opportunities in the second half.
But having seen his team hit 3-13 after the change of ends at a packed Croke Park, there were no such complaints this time after they ruthlessly disposed of Meath’s attempt to take another major scalp.
The Royals have already tasted unlikely Championship victories over Dublin, Kerry and Galway this summer. Hopes of a first All-Ireland final appearance in 24 years were therefore high.
But Robbie Brennan’s superb first season at the helm was brought to an end in chastening fashion. Even at half-time, things looked ominous for Meath as they trailed by 0-13 to 0-8.
With a Sam Maguire decider against Kerry to come on Sunday week, Donegal could even afford to withdraw 35-year-old talisman Michael Murphy with 25 minutes still to play.
Murphy made way just moments after kicking his side into an eight-point lead. By then, the Ulster champions had also bagged the first of three second-half goals.
Donegal can now look forward to a first All-Ireland final appearance since the defeat to the Kingdom 11 years ago. McGuinness’ side played five games in 99 days to reach that stage then.
It has taken them twice as many outings in the same number of days to do it again.
Every facet of Donegal’s output was impressive here. Singling out just one of their awesome attackers would do a disservice to the others.
At the back, high standards were set by the colossal contributions of Brendan McCole and Finnbarr Roarty.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
On a day when Paddy McBrearty came off the bench and kicked 0-3, McGuinness noted that the strength of his panel has been a key factor in taking Donegal a step further than in 2024.
He said: “We didn’t know at that stage the rule changes that were coming down the line and the physical demands of the rule changes, but certainly we knew that we needed people to come in and give us more depth and strengthen.
“We knew we had to be stronger and it would build its own energy within the group because it’d be more competitive and people want to play naturally, so I think we did see that today.
“We were able to make those changes the whole way through the game and going in to play Kerry in an All-Ireland final, you’re going to need every man that you’ve got.
“That’s a huge challenge and they’re so confident about what they do.
“There’s a rite of passage there almost in terms of winning All-Irelands, so that’s the first thing we’re going to have to meet head on.
“But certainly it’ll not be 15 players, it’ll be every single player that can get onto the pitch that’ll be needed.”
