Dr Crokes (Kerry) 1-9

Slaughtneil (Derry) 1-7

Kerry legend Colm Cooper completed his medal collection as Dr Crokes ended a 25-year wait for All-Ireland club football glory by edging out 14-man Slaughtneil at Croke Park.

Fittingly, 'Gooch' was the Crokes scoring hero with a tally of 1-2 as he finally got his hands on the one medal that has eluded him in an illustrious career. He showed his delight at the final whistle by jumping into the arms of Pat O'Shea, who joins a select group of managers to have won All-Irelands at both senior inter-county and club level.

Cooper's 20th minute goal was crucial, as were the three points scored by both Brian Looney and Daithi Casey, to the Killarney side's victory. For Slaughtneil, who played the entire second half with 14 players after Padraig Cassidy received a straight red card in first half injury-time, there was further Croke Park heartbreak as they suffered their second final loss in three seasons.

The south Derry men, who were bidding to emulate their All-Ireland winning camogie counterparts, started brightly to lead by 1-4 to 0-3. After Shane McGuigan and Christopher Bradley had traded early points with Looney and Cooper, Cassidy ran onto a Cormac O'Doherty pass and side-stepped the Crokes goalkeeper for a beautifully-taken goal.  

However, that was as good as it got for the Emmet's with Cooper's goal, following a powerful run through the centre by Casey, bringing the Kerry men back into it. A brace of Looney points left Crokes 1-6 to 1-5 in front at the break and they were further boosted when Cassidy received his marching orders from referee Maurice Deegan for striking out at Kieran O'Leary.

Cassidy's 'moment of madness' proved extremely costly for Slaughtneil who were outscored by 0-3 to 0-2 in a second half that won't live long in the memory for anyone outside Lewis Road, where the Andy Merrigan Cup is heading for the first time since 1992.

Dr Crokes - S Murphy; J Payne, M Moloney, L Quinn; D O'Leary, G White, F Fitzgerald; A O'Donovan, J Buckley; A O'Sullivan, G O'Shea, B Looney (0-3); C Cooper (1-2, 0-2f), D Casey (0-3, 2f), K O'Leary. Subs: M Burns (0-1) for A O'Sullivan, J Kiely for G O'Shea, T Brosnan for B Looney, E Brosnan for D Casey, C Brady for K O'Leary.

Slaughtneil - A McMullan; P McNeill, B Rogers, K McKaigue; K Feeney, C McKaigue, F McEldowney (0-1); Patsy Bradley, P Cassidy (1-0); M McGrath, C Bradley (0-2), Shane McGuigan (0-1); Se McGuigan, C O'Doherty, Paul Bradley (0-3f). Subs: B Cassidy for C O'Doherty, B McGuigan for K Feeney, R Bradley for M McGrath, G Bradley for Se McGuigan.

Referee - M Deegan.

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