Ballyduff had to show all their battling qualities to edge out Crotta O'Neill's in an exciting Kerry SHC final at Austin Stack Park, Tralee.

Ballyduff 2-11
Crotta O'Neill's 0-15

Trailing by 0-6 to 0-12 eight minutes into the second half, Ballyduff - who are managed by new Antrim boss Jerry Wallis - staged a great comeback to claim their 23rd title. Anthony O'Carroll and Gary O'Brien pounced for goals to turn the tide in their favour. It was tough on Crotta and on their county star Shane Nolan who shot 0-13 and certainly didn't deserve to finish on the losing side.

Underdogs O'Neill's dominated the early exchanges to lead by 0-5 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter. With Nolan to the fore, they had extended their advantage to 0-10 to 0-5 by half-time and another brace from the sharpshooter had them six clear early in the second half.

But with Padraig O'Grady and the Boyles, Liam and Mikey, coming more into the game, Ballyduff began to find their rhythm and O'Carroll's 39th minute goal brought them back into it. When O'Brien netted 10 minutes later, they had the lead for the first time, 2-9 to 0-14, and they held on to it until the final whistle.

Scorers - Ballyduff: B O'Sullivan 0-7 (0-6 frees, 0-1 '65), G O'Brien and A O'Carroll 1-0 each, P Boyle and P J Connolly 0-2 each. Crotta O'Neill's: S Nolan 0-13 (0-11 frees), C Lynch and I McCarthy 0-1 each.

BALLYDUFF: P J O'Gorman, J Bowler, P Costello, D O'Grady, L Boyle, A O'Connor, P O'Grady, B O'Sullivan, B O'Grady, G O'Brien, A Boyle, M Boyle , P J Connolly, P Boyle , A O'Carroll.

CROTTA O'NEILL'S: S Twomey, D Galvin, P Twomey, T B McElligott, D Twomey, A Keane, P Quille, C Lynch, R Nolan, Matt Lynch, Mike Lynch, S Weir, I McCarthy, D Carney, S Nolan. Subs: P Costello for R Nolan (29), E O'Sullivan for D Carney (45), T Cronin for Me McCarthy (51), B Culhane for C Lynch (53).

Referee: John Healy (Clare). Tweet

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