Goal hungry Antrim hit the net five times at Croke Park and ultimately needed every one of those strikes to overcome Kerry in a thrilling Joe McDonagh Cup final, securing their MacCarthy Cup status for 2023.
Ciaran Clarke helped himself to 2-02 while Conal Cunning, who top scored for the victors with 1-12, James McNaughton and Seaan Elliott all raised green flags in a nine-goal thriller.
That's 25 goals in total that Antrim have scored in this season's competition though it took everything they had in attack to overcome a determined Kerry side who were seeking to avoid a three-in-a-row of final defeats.
Padraig Boyle was terrific for Kerry and his second goal right at the end of second-half stoppage time left just a point in it.
Full-time arrived moments later and Antrim, who'd led by 12 points at one stage in the first-half, escaped to a landmark victory, a repeat of their 2020 final win over Kerry.
Antrim will play in next season's Leinster SHC and will return to action next weekend against Cork in an All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-final while Kerry will take on Wexford. Both teams will have home advantage for those games.
With Antrim striking 20 goals in just five group games - six against Down and seven against Meath - the challenge for Kerry was clear: stop the Saffrons from raising green flags.
Unfortunately for the Kingdom they failed miserably to do that and by half-time the favourites had three goals registered, not to mention the 14 points they also plundered.
Kerry played with a two-man full-forward line of Colum Harty and Shane Conway, allowing them to drop Colin Walsh, wearing number 10, into defence and ultimately freeing Mikey Boyle to perform as a sweeper.
It was a clear ploy to prevent Antrim cutting their defence asunder but the Division 1 outfit found it a simple enough exercise to work their way around the extra bodies.
Some of their attacking moves were sumptuous as they dovetailed superbly and swooped for their first goal after just five minutes.
Clarke danced infield from the right beyond a couple of Kerry defenders after being played in by Joe Maskey and slammed the ball to the net.
Six minutes later, Clarke was the provider for McNaughton who still had some work to do to shake off Paudie O'Connor but showed real strength to break clear and make it goal number two.
Already Kerry looked in real trouble with Antrim 2-03 to 0-02 up.
Four Cunning points in a row, and another from Keelan Molloy, left 11 points between them - Antrim would stretch the gap to 12 after 25 minutes - and it looked at that early stage like the game might already be beyond Kerry.
Antrim hold a commanding lead in the Joe McDonagh Cup final after notching a third goal just before half-time #RTEGAA
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 4, 2022
📺 Watch - https://t.co/OQcxx05DOt
📱 Latest score - https://t.co/cx5UW5uqIa pic.twitter.com/r5IvqMV7ir
Credit to the Munster men for refusing to throw in the towel. Between the 24th and 33rd minutes they outscored Antrim by 1-3 to 0-1, Padraig Boyle hitting the net from a penalty that was won by Fionan Mackessy, to bring the gap back to a more manageable seven points.
The burst of scoring appeared to awaken Antrim from their mini-slumber because they responded by closing out the half strongly, adding a third goal through Elliott in stoppage time.
This time Molloy was the architect, breaking clear and drawing a save from Kerry goalkeeper Louis Dee, Elliott first onto the scene to double on the loose ball to the net.
Cunning added a point and suddenly Antrim were back sitting pretty again, leading 3-14 to 1-10 at half-time.
"It just shows the standard of forward play that we have"
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 4, 2022
Antrim's Man of the Match Conal Cunning reacts after their Joe McDonagh Cup final win #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/DgQxAQoX9T
The second half was a thrill-a-minute ride, Antrim adding two more goals through Cunning in the 41st minute and Clarke in the 60th and Kerry responding with 2-2 from substitute Jordan Conway and that late, late Boyle major.
Boyle's 77th minute goal left just one in it but Kerry simply ran out of time and will have a big challenge to raise themselves for next weekend's preliminary quarter-final tie.
Antrim: Ryan Elliott; David Kearney, Gerard Walsh, Paddy Burke; Michael Bradley, Eoghan Campbell, Joe Maskey; Conal Bohill, Keelan Molloy (0-02); Ciaran Clarke (2-02, 1-00pen), James McNaughton (1-01), Conor McCann; Seaan Elliott (1-00), Neil McManus (0-02), Conal Cunning (1-12, 0-09f).
Subs: Ryan McGarry for Campbell 22-24, blood, Daniel McKernan (0-01) for Bohill 50, Domhnall Nugent for McCann 53, Niall McKenna (0-01) for McNaughton 62, Conor Johnston for Clarke 64, Eoin O'Neill (0-01) for McManus 69.
Kerry: Louis Dee; Conor O'Keeffe, Sean Weir, Eric Leen; Eoin Ross, Mikey Boyle, Micheal Leane (0-02); Fionan Mackessy (0-01), Paudie O'Connor (0-01); Padraig Boyle (2-11, 1-00pen, 0-07f, 0-01 65), Daniel Collins (0-03), Gavin Dooley (0-01); Colin Walsh, Colum Harty, Shane Conway (0-02).
Subs: Jordan Conway (2-02) for Harty 25, Maurice O'Connor (0-01) for Dooley 45, Niall Mulcahy for Walsh 49, Brian Lonergan for Collins 64.
Referee: Sean Stack (Dublin).
