GAA Betting: Kerry Favourites For National League Glory
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The regular phase of the competition is at an end, and with the identity of the finalists now known, the best betting sites have been forced to rethink their odds for the National Football League.
Heading into the seventh and final round of the NFL, pace-setters Galway were seen as the frontrunners for the 2025 title.
A draw or a narrow defeat might have secured them a spot in this weekend’s Division One decider, but the Tribesmen ultimately came up short against Kerry in Pearse Stadium on Sunday.
Dramatic Final Round
Despite Rob Finnerty and Matthew Tierney bagging goals in either half, three-pointers from Gavin White, Dylan Geaney and Damien Bourke propelled Kerry to a 3-24 to 2-19 victory.
Throughout their meeting with Donegal at MacHale Park in Castlebar, the live table saw Mayo move regularly between first and seventh place in the top-tier table.
This meant there was an equal chance they would reach the league final or be relegated to Division Two for 2026.
In the end, the scoring hauls of Ryan O’Donoghue (0-6), Jack Carney (1-3) and Matthew Ruane (0-3) helped them to record a 1-18 to 1-16 win on their home patch.
At Healy Park in Omagh on Sunday, there was a strong possibility that a positive result for Dublin against Tyrone would book them into a Division One showpiece for the second year in succession.
Their opponents badly needed a win to give themselves a shot at retaining their top-flight status.
Still, even though goals from Darragh Canavan and Michael McKernan paved the way for a 2-20 to 1-16 victory, the Red Hand suffered relegation to Division Two.
At the Athletic Grounds, current All-Ireland champions Armagh were looking to remain in Division One for another year when they met the already-relegated Derry in an all-Ulster clash.
Thanks to a plethora of second-half goals – including efforts from Barry McCambridge and Conor Turbitt – Kieran McGeeney’s men did just that by cruising to a 4-24 to 1-18 triumph.
Kerry And Mayo Book Final Spots
All the above means that, while 2024 winners Derry were joined by Tyrone in dropping down to next year’s Division Two, Kerry and Mayo are left to duke it out for the right to be crowned the new NFL champions.
They previously met in the 2019 and 2022 league deciders, and with one win each across those two finals, there is a certain level of intrigue surrounding their duel in Croke Park this Sunday.
Given how close the start of the championship is to the NFL showpieces in Divisions One, Two, Three and Four, there has been a question mark over how much desire some counties had to reach this stage of the competition.
Yet, now that Kerry and Mayo have advanced this far, you can expect they will both want to get one over on the other in this weekend’s game.
Suffice to say that just a couple of weeks ago, betting apps thought it unlikely that these two teams would be the last ones standing.
Division One Finalists Previously Seen As Rank Outsiders
After three defeats in their opening five league games, the Kingdom were an astonishing 50/1 with some GAA betting sites to win this year’s NFL top-tier.
While a good run of form did see their odds shorten coming into last weekend, back-to-back reversals to Dublin and Galway at the beginning of their campaign also saw Mayo being rated as 50/1 long shots to win a second football league title in just three years.
However, that has all changed, and the incredibly tight nature of Division One has made this all possible.
Just two points separated a table-topping Mayo and a second-from-bottom Tyrone in the final top-tier standings, with the latter becoming the first county under the current format to be relegated to Division Two after accumulating seven points.
Kerry’s eight-point victory over Galway was vital to their finishing ahead of them, Donegal and Dublin on score difference.
This is despite them losing out to the latter duo in the group stages.
Kerry Favourites For The Final
Now that they have reached the final, Kerry are viewed as the favourites for NFL glory, which would see them extend their current record haul of 23 titles in the competition.
Since the most recent adjustments to the new playing rules for Gaelic football were made, the Kingdom have been playing with an attacking freedom that has seen them rack up big tallies against both Armagh and Galway.
This bodes well for the months to come, and with Jack O’Connor having won league crowns in the four years that he has guided his native county to an All-Ireland title, he might see an NFL success as a positive omen.
A few days out from their league final clash with Mayo, Kerry are rated at 3/10 with William Hill to pick up silverware in GAA HQ this weekend.
Although Mayo’s most recent championship campaigns have been somewhat mixed, they have remained extremely competitive in the National Football League.
Having won the competition as recently as 2019 and 2023, they will believe that another Division One crown is within their grasp on Sunday.
They look like a much better side now that some of their top performers are back in harness, and a round five victory at home to Kerry at the start of March will also give them confidence ahead of a trip to Croke Park.
Nevertheless, with the Kingdom available at almost unbackable odds, it comes as little surprise that Kevin McStay’s charges are 5/2 with BoyleSports.
However, when you consider that the Connacht outfit have defied the odds by making it to a league final, it would be foolish to completely dismiss their chances of success.
McStay has already guided them to a league title during his tenure, so he will be eager to add a second crown to his list of achievements.