Kerry are basking in All-Ireland glory once again after edging past Galway to land a first Sam Maguire Cup success in eight years.

In what was a compelling contest from start to finish, the Kingdom produced the goods in the second-half to run out 0-20 to 0-16 winners over the Tribesmen.

Remarkably, Jack O’Connor has now led Kerry to four All-Ireland SFC titles, including three in the first year of each of his three terms as manager.

His troops delivered a powerful fourth-quarter display to leave Padraic Joyce's side reeling, outscoring their opponents by 0-8 to 0-2 from the 53rd minute onwards.

The prodigious point scoring of David Clifford and the impact of their substitutes' bench were vital components in an impressive four-point victory for Kerry at Croke Park this afternoon.

Man-of-the-match Clifford finished on 0-8 (three from play), while Galway sensation Shane Walsh was equally impressive and top scored with nine points (five placed balls).

Galway's Shane Walsh with Tom O’Sullivan of Kerry. ©INPHO/Bryan Keane.

Tribe midfielder Cillian McDaid gave a barnstorming performance which yielded four points from play as 14 different players across both sides registered scores.

Galway, who were competing in their first final since 2001, scraped the first-half to lead 0-8 to 0-7 at the interval thanks to five efforts from Walsh - the Kingdom struggled to get into their stride and racked up seven wides with Clifford keeping them ticking over, yet only trailed by one point.

In front of an attendance of over 82,300 spectators, the only real goal chance of the day fell to Galway and Johnny Heaney on seven minutes but his shot was brilliantly blocked by Stephen O'Brien after Walsh had opened the scoring from a '45.

O'Connor reacted to a below par opening period by replacing Paul Geaney with Killian Spillane and the substitution had the desired effect as he chipped in with two crucial points and set up numerous other scores.

Walsh and Clifford traded scores during a frantic start to the second-half and Kerry led for the first time on 41 minutes thanks to two in-a-row from Clifford and his brother Paudie, 0-11 to 0-10.

The teams were level on no fewer than nine occasions until O'Connor's men grabbed the game by the neck entering the closing stages.

Relive how the action unfolded in our All-Ireland final match tracker.

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