Ten of the Best - Football

Ten of the Best - Football
by JP Lonergan, 22 September 2008

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ootball-Season-Review/?facets/sport-space/great-britain-locale/

Another exhilarating year of the Senior Football Championship has come
to an end and with it we have new champions after Tyrone dashed Kerry's
bid for three-in-a-row, winning their own third All-Ireland of the
decade in the process.

That was the story of Sunday's hard-fought final but for the previous
four and a half months, there were plenty of other talking points and we
have decided to recall the best of them in our review of the year.

What was your favourite footballing memory? Did Cork's repeated
comebacks against Kerry have you on the edge of your seat? Was Wexford's
downing of Armagh the result of the year or was the Model County's
demolition at the hands of a ruthless Dublin on Leinster final day the
result of a perfect performance?

What about Micko falling over in excitement after Wicklow's win over
Kildare or Fermanagh's brilliant Ulster run? Or was the massive Croke
Park clash between Tyrone and Dublin, the meeting of Kerry and Galway or
indeed the final itself the highlight for you?

Let us know what your favourite moments were using the feedback form at
the foot of the page, but for now here's our top ten in no particular
order.

Micko's men make Croke Park history

When you think of football in Croke Park, thoughts of Tyrone, Kerry and
Dublin celebrating great wins come to mind and Wicklow are not even an
afterthought. However, they did their bit to change that in the first
round of this year's Leinster Championship as led by the legendary Mick
O'Dwyer, an ever-improving Garden County team proved too strong for a
Kildare side who would go on to reach the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

Tony Hannon, Seanie Furlong and Leighton Glynn were among the star
performers as Wicklow finally won a Championship match at Croke Park,
leaving an over-excited Micko jumping for joy - and falling over - on
the final whistle. Wicklow went out to Laois in the next round, however,
and - to Micko's chagrin - had no back door to enter due to their
Division Four status.

Erne men awesome in Ulster

While Wicklow were busy celebrating their first Croke Park success,
Fermanagh were chasing a first ever Ulster title and they certainly
showed their credentials when ousting much-fancied Monaghan and then NFL
champions Derry.

Their four-point quarter-final win over the Farney county was special
enough, but the semi-final success over Derry was a fairytale as Ronan
Gallagher saved a Conleth Gilligan penalty and Barry Owens emerged from
the bench after heart surgery to punch the winning goal. Sadly for
Malachy O'Rourke's men they failed to go all the way as - after a fine
comeback in the original game - they lost the final replay to Armagh.
They were then beaten by Kildare in the final round of qualifiers.

Sharpshooting Down down the eventual champions

Down came in for severe criticism in 2007, but came roaring back in the
Ulster Championship this year as their well-balanced midfield and
free-scoring forward lines reinvigorated what had been a fast-fading
force. After overcoming an abysmal start in their original Ulster semi
with Tyrone, the Mourne men again could not be beaten after 70 minutes
of the replay and they pounced for the killer goal from Benny Coulter
late in extra-time, quite a win when you look how the season turned out.

A hiding of Offaly and another win over Laois followed for Down in the
qualifiers before they - somewhat surprisingly - went out tamely to
Wexford.

Cussen and co punish sleeping giants

Cork and Kerry - minus the banned Paul Galvin, lest we forget to give
him at least one mention - met in what was the eighth of ten
Championship meetings in four years in the Munster final. And at
half-time it was fair to say that with defending provincial and
All-Ireland champions eight points clear, and with Cork lucky to have
scored three points, the game was over.

But as we would find out all summer, Cork no longer know when they are
beaten by Kerry and giant full forward Michael Cussen was fired on to
cause some trouble. Nobody could cope with him on the day as he fisted a
quick goal to the net. Kerry were limp in the second period and the
Rebels, led by Cussen and Daniel Goulding, had no sympathy as they
struck 1-13 after the break to regain the Munster trophy by an
impressive five points. More on these two later!

Royals' season in ruins after Ryan show

The qualifiers have their fair share of criticism, but not as much as
was levelled at 2007 All-Ireland semi-finalists Meath after they exited
the championship in embarrassing fashion, defeated 4-12 to 4-3 by
Limerick [with all four Meath goals scored in the final 12 minutes].

Ian Ryan, who had already been attracting the hovering AFL scouts, gave
the best performance of his fledgling Championship career as he netted a
fine hat-trick and 3-7 in all in the shock of the first round. Ryan
certainly drew his admirers over the season, though his missing of a
great chance in the subsequent game in which Limerick were surprisingly
pipped by Kildare is equally memorable.

A Model performance from Ryan's Wexford

Ex-Waterford player Jason Ryan's appointment as Wexford football boss
went under the radar early in the calendar year as Kerry, Derry and Cork
made most of the headlines for various reasons. His name quickly became
familiar as he led the Models to the Division Three title and into the
Leinster final. That proved to be a black day for Ryan and Wexford as
Dublin tore them apart but they bounced back in the qualifiers to beat
Down and set up a daunting semi-final with the Ulster champions.

Not many gave Wexford a hope, recalling their previous trip to Croke
Park some three weeks previously, while the Orchard were seen as genuine
All-Ireland contenders. Not so! Wexford stayed with the 2002 All-Ireland
winners for most of the game and talisman Mattie Forde then popped up
with a late low finish to the net, his 1-5 and Ciaran Lyng's 0-5 doing
the business in the shock of the summer. They were beaten by Tyrone in
the semis but were not shamed and can look back on a good year overall,
regardless of the Dublin annihilation.

Stylish Kingdom overcome Galway, rain

There was little time for Croke Park fans to run to the brolly shop
after that Wexford-Armagh game as the day's second quarter-final between
Galway and Kerry, as well as a bout of torrential rain that left half of
Dublin flooded, was next on the bill. It proved to be a classic and
Galway can count themselves unfortunate after putting in a performance
which would probably have seen them beat any other team.

Michael Meehan was brilliant for the Tribesmen as he shot a blistering
0-10, far from a mean feat against the men whose win over Monaghan in
the qualifiers had re-ignited the drive for three-in-a-row. And that
drive was all too evident as they overpowered the Connacht champions in
a second half where conditions were particularly atrocious. Colm Cooper
and Bryan Sheehan were at their brilliant best and Donncha Walsh
finished off a superb move with a goal that must be up there in the
nominations for goal of the season. On this performance, nobody was
going to beat Pat O'Shea's men.

Return of the Red Hand, Pillar's last stand

Dublin's afore-mentioned 23-point pummelling of Wexford had Boys in Blue
fans dreaming of Sam once again after 13 years of hurt and a Tyrone side
that seemed to be past its best were not expected by too many to stop
that march. However, not only did they stop it, they sent it back from
whence it came in devastating fashion.

12 points was the eventual margin between the teams and while any Dublin
fan will quite rightly tell you that there are not 12 points between the
teams there could easily have been more on another wet day at Croke
Park. Sean Cavanagh, Joe McMahon and Davy Harte all netted goals in the
3-14 to 1-8 romp, the performance of the season by absolutely no doubt.
Along with that trio, every Tyrone player to a man shone, Justin McMahon
and Ciaran Gourley looked particularly dominant at the back as Enda
McGinley worked his socks off in midfield and Brian Dooher led his
charges with the heart of a lion.

It was all too much for Paul 'Pillar' Caffrey who brought his four-year
stint as Dubs boss to an end with business, in truth, unfinished. Tyrone
were only getting started.

Cork come back and back and back and.....

Cork may have beaten Kerry in Munster but meetings with their old rivals
at Croke Park tend to have just one result, one that leaves the Rebels a
long way adrift of the men in green and gold come the 70-minute mark.
And for a while this semi-final looked no different.

In the end, it was the game that had everything, a typically devastating
Kieran Donaghy goal, a disallowed goal, two red cards, some ridiculous
diving that we can all do without, two late goals including a
brilliantly dispatched pressure penalty from John Hayes and - as is fast
becoming the norm - Cork proving that an eight -point deficit to Kerry
is not what it was.

In the end it was a 1-13 to 3-7 draw and we had a third meeting of the
sides a week later as more than just a support act to the Tyrone-Wexford
semi. And this one had it all too, another five goals, another
eight-point lead for Kerry and a Cork comeback sealed with a brilliant
Pearse O'Neill goal and a marvellous Donncha O'Connor point. But
fittingly, it was Cork's chief tormentor this decade, 'Gooch' Cooper
whose goal finally saw them off and put Kerry within 70 minutes of
three-in-a-row.

Team of the decade?

And that coupled with Tyrone's win over Wexford brought us back to Croke
Park on September 21 as Kerry and the Red Hand clashed for the
unofficial title of the 'team of the decade.' A third successive
All-Ireland for Cooper, Donaghy, Sheehan and the O Se clan would surely
give them that mantel, but a third Sam Maguire for a Tyrone team that
had aged since its initial success in 2003 would mark a fantastic result
through adversity and would all but give them such a title.

That's the way it went after what was not the greatest game of the
season, but was a true contest of the best in the game. Heroes like
Dooher, McGinley and the brilliant Sean Cavanagh rose to the occasion
against a Kerry side who were always dangerous. Tommy McGuigan's goal
put Tyrone in the ascendancy but they were pegged back, before going the
extra mile to ensure legendary status for them and their great, great
manager Mickey Harte.

Both these teams could easily be deemed the team of the decade, but then
again the decade is not over yet.