Kerry sharp-shooter David Clifford admitted that lifting Sam Maguire was something he's 'dreamt of all his life’, after helping the Kingdom to their first All-Ireland senior football crown in eight years.

Clifford’s side came out on top in a titanic battle with Galway at Croke Park, winning 0-20 to 0-16 to end their All-Ireland drought.

The Kingdom recovered from a shaky first-half, marked by wayward shooting from them to eventually rally in the second-half and pull away from Galway.

It was a sweet return to Croke Park for Kerry, having been narrowly edged out by Tyrone in last year’s semi-final.

Clifford who had a 100% shooting record in the second-half, scoring 0-04, was named the man-of-the-match and afterwards revealed that he never thought his side would leave headquarters without Sam Maguire.

"It’s very hard to put it into words," he said on The Sunday Game. "I think it’s very obvious it’s something I’ve dreamt of all my life.

"I was always confident we would get over the line even though last year it didn’t work out for us.

"It was unbelievable to hear the crowd getting behind us in the second-half. It was unbelievable."

For his team-mate David Moran, the result is just reward for all of the panel’s hard work this season and he was at pains to point out that trophy belongs to everyone on the squad, not just those who made the match-day team.

"In fairness it was a real panel effort," Moran said. "The guys that came in made a huge difference.

"We’ve trained very hard all year, we backed out fitness and as the game went on we felt we were getting stronger. It’s fantastic."