Although it wasn’t quite the remarkable evening the Hoops faithful were hoping for, as a last-minute Derry City winner just moments before kick-off in Tallaght means the champions-elect now have to wait until Friday to clinch a fifth title in six seasons, but their hopes of a first double since 1987 remain on track as they eased to next month’s decider where Cork City await.
For Kerry, after the Mounthawk miracle, this was devastation in Dublin as Colin Healy’s First Division side were totally outclassed by the Hoops, although Joe Adams’ second-half penalty did give the travelling fans a memory to take home from their first semi-final in just their third year in existence.
But Stephen Bradley’s men never looked like suffering a David v Goliath upset as Graham Burke, who was very fortunate not to receive a red card before the break, hit an early brace, while 17-year-old Michael Noonan also bagged a double alongside strikes by Dylan Watts and Cian Barrett, as the record 25-time cup champions progressed to their first final since 2020.
Graham Burke celebrates after scoring Shamrock Rovers’ opening goal. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
With Noonan squandering an early chance, Josh Honohan should have hit the target on 10 minutes, the 1200-strong travelling support among the crowd of 5,438 enjoying the opportunity to jeer the Corkman as if it were a Munster football final. Rovers’ rising star Victor Ozhianvuna was rested and left out of the squad, two days after completing his €2m pre-contract deal with Arsenal, a League of Ireland record.
The hosts soon flexed their muscles and grabbed the opener. The move began with a fine Dan Cleary pass to break the lines, with Adam Matthews and Noonan playing a clever one-two, the latter putting Burke through, allowing the 32-year-old to slide the ball under Darragh Foley’s legs.
It went from bad to worse for the Tralee outfit moments later when Burke hit his and Rovers’ second of the night. A fabulous ball over the top by Dylan Watts found Danny Mandroiu, who cleverly cut it back to Burke, with the forward coolly finding the bottom corner for his fifth cup goal of 2025.
Colin Healy, who was supported in Dublin 24 by former women’s national team boss Eileen Gleeson, decided enough was enough, opting to make his first change of the evening after just 30 minutes by hooking the struggling Carl Mujaguzi, but it did little to quell Rovers’ utter dominance.
Having bagged an early brace to set his side on their way to the decider, Burke and his side were enjoying a stress-free night, but there was a moment of madness on 35 minutes when he was incredibly lucky to remain on the pitch after tensions boiled over. Adams took the forward down with a poor challenge on the sideline, but the Dubliner reacted badly to it and retaliated by shoving Adams to the ground. Remarkably, Burke avoided a straight red card, which would have seen him suspended for the final. Both were shown yellow cards.
Shamrock Rovers’ Michael Noonan scores the hosts’ fifth goal past Kerry FC goalkeeper Darragh Foley. Photo: Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Noonan went close to his second minutes after the restart, but from the resulting corner, Rovers added their fourth. Oran Crowe was deemed to have pulled Honohan down inside the box as referee Paul McLaughlin pointed straight to the spot. Watts made no mistake in copperfastening the victory.
From there, it was just a matter of counting down the clock for the Hoops, but Kerry did pull one back when Adams converted from the spot after Roberto Lopes brought quarter-final hero Daniel Okwute down inside the box.
But for Rovers, it only proved to be a small bump in the road as they breezed through the final 25 minutes, with Ireland U-21 striker Noonan adding his second by capitalising on a loose ball and jinking past Christopher McQueen with ease to bag his eighth goal of 2025. Two Hoops players with Kerry connections combined in injury-time to pile more misery on the visitors, as Tralee man Gary O’Neill crossed to Barrett, who slotted in his first goal for Rovers, having spent time on loan in the Kingdom in 2023 and 2024.
For all their success in the Bradley era, a league and cup double is the one box this Rovers team have yet to tick. On November 9, they will get their chance.
Shamrock Rovers: McGinty; Cleary (O’Neill 78), Lopes, O’Sullivan; Matthews, Watts, Healy (Barrett 64); Mandroiu (Kavanagh 46); Honohan (Malley 64); Noonan, Burke (Gaffney 46).
Kerry FC: Foley; Barrett, Brockwell, McQueen, O’Connell; Mujaguzi (Aladesanusi 39), Crowe; Cleary (Brosnan 60), Teahan, Adams (Healy 60); Okwute (McGrath 77).
Ref: P McLaughlin