10. Down 2-17 Derry 1-15
Ulster SFC quarter-final, 2 June
One of the football Championship’s forgotten gems, Down v Derry was a free-flowing game full of scores from play; of the sides’ combined 35 scores, only four came from placed balls.
Derry were four points up at the break but they were left reeling after the restart as Down strung together score after score to take control and win.
YouTube Credit: KilkennyFootball
9. Dublin 2-12 Mayo 1-14
All-Ireland SFC final, 22 Sept
THE FOOTBALL FINAL was by no means the most exciting game of the year but, come on, it was still an All-Ireland final. And for once, there was unanimous agreement that the two best teams of the summer were duking it out for the honours.
The storylines wrote themselves: Mayo hoping to end their 62-year wait for Sam at the seventh attempt; Dublin hoping to win the title in Jim Gavin’s first season as manager.
Despite large stretches of Mayo dominance, the game swung on two Bernard Brogan goals, one in either half.
Even at that, the game was still alive as a contest deep into stoppage time when Cillian O’Connor chose to point instead of going for goal.
Mayo’s wait goes on.
YouTube Credit: hjtvsports1
8. Dublin 1-16 Kilkenny 0-16
Leinster SHC semi-final replay, 29 June
You don’t get two chances to beat Kilkenny and so when TJ Reid equalised with the final puck of a gripping Leinster hurling semi-final, it looked as though Dublin’s chance had come and gone.
If anything, the replay a week later was an even better contest. Kilkenny started slow, allowing Dublin to lead by four at half-time, but the signs seemed ominous for Anthony Daly’s side when the Cats clawed them back early in the second half.
Dublin were only a single point up when Danny Sutcliffe scored a decisive goal in the 51st minute, and despite a tense finish, the Dubs were strong enough to see out their first Championship win over Kilkenny since 1942.
YouTube Credit: hjtvsports1
7. London 2-11 Leitrim 1-13
Connacht SFC semi-final replay, 30 June
London’s run to the Connacht final was undoubtedly the story of the early part of the football Championship.
Much like Dublin against Kilkenny, it looked as though the Exiles’ chance had been and gone when Leitrim pegged them back with two late points to force a replay.
With the wind at their backs in Dr Hyde Park, Paul Coggins’ side raced into a 2-10 to 0-2 lead that nobody could have predicted by half-time.
Fourteen points nearly wasn’t enough though and had Leitrim taken their opportunities late on, London’s adventure would have come to a premature end.
YouTube Credit: hjtvsports1
6. Limerick 1-18 Tipperary 1-15
Munster SHC semi-final, 9 June
The best game of this year’s Munster hurling championship came in the semi-finals and set Limerick on a path that many would have dreamed of but few would have expected at the start of the summer.
Tipp were red-hot favourites and looked good value for the win when John O’Dwyer put them four points up with just over 20 minutes to play.
But John Allen showed the power of his bench as Shane Dowling and Niall Moran came on to book Limerick’s place in the Munster final.
YouTube Credit: hjtvsports1
5. Cork 1-24 Dublin 1-19
All-Ireland SHC semi-final, 11 Aug
Before Dublin met Kerry, and before Clare and Cork’s hurlers renewed acquaintances, this was the first true epic of the GAA summer.
The sides were level an incredible 15 times over the 70 minutes with no fewer than 18 different players getting their names on the scoresheet.
The game hinged on an incident in the 50th minute. With Dublin leading by a score, referee James Owens sent off Ryan O’Dwyer for a second yellow card.
Down to 14, Dublin never led again though it wasn’t until the 66th minute that Pa Horgan — with a huge hand from Dubs keeper Gary Maguire — scored the goal that killed the game off decisively.
YouTube Credit: GAACork
4. Mayo 4-17 Donegal 1-10
All-Ireland SFC quarter-final, 4 Aug
As a contest, this one was effectively done after five minutes. Mayo led by 1-3 to no score; it must have seemed like the sweetest of revenge after the blitzkrieg of last year’s All-Ireland final.
By half-time, the margin was 12. By full time, it was 16 and could have been more but for an opportunistic late goal by Colm McFadden. Rarely has an All-Ireland champion been stripped of their crown in such devastating, breathtaking style.
‘Jimmy’s Winning Matches,’ the back pages screamed this next morning. Same place, different Jimmy.
YouTube Credit: hjtvsports1
3. Clare 0-25 Cork 3-16
All-Ireland SHC final, 8 Sept
For 50 minutes, the drawn hurling final simmered along nicely. An end-to-end, entertaining game, but a puck or two short of a classic. Clare led by five and looked like they would deservedly be taking Liam MacCarthy back to the Banner for the first time since 1997.
What happened next transformed the game into a perfect microcosm of this summer’s hurling Championship: dramatic, totally unexpected and leaving us wanting more.
In a matter of minutes Anthony Nash had scored a 21-yard free, missed a penalty, and made a crucial intervention to deny Podge Collins what would have been the winning goal. Cork marched straight back down the pitch and Pa Cronin scored a goal of his own to draw the sides level.
Cork finally took the lead in the first minute of stoppage side through Pa Horgan and looked set to plunder a victory that would have been cruel on Clare, but with the penultimate puck of the ball, the Banner found the most unlikely of heroes.
Corner-back Domhnall O’Donovan abandoned his post and headed up the field, letting the chips fall where they may. His first-ever Championship point, well into the third minute of stoppage time, earned Clare their replay.
YouTube Credit: hockeyhurlingshinty4
2. Clare 5-16 Cork 3-16
All-Ireland SHC final replay, 28 Sept
It’s virtually impossible to separate the top two games of the Championship summer. In their own unique way, each was a triumph and a tribute.
The Irish Examiner described the hurling final replay as “a game borrowed from the gods.” If anything, that was an understatement.
It was pure sporting theatre, packed with drama, twists and turns until only one remained: triumphant.
Two hours before throw-in, the hero of the piece was set to play the understudy. Nineteen-year-old Shane O’Donnell was a late addition to the starting line-up. By the 20th minute he had scored a Croke Park hat-trick; by the final whistle, he had 3-3, an All-Ireland winners’ medal, and had changed his future if not forever then certainly for the moment.
The numbers — 72 minutes, eight goals, 40 scores — only begin to tell the tale. The dramatic arcs — Clare’s eight-point lead, Cork’s supreme efforts to draw them level but never quite head them — help fill in the gaps.
But whatever way you splice and dice it, this was a classic.
YouTube Credit: GAACork
1. Dublin 3-18 Kerry 3-11
All-Ireland SFC semi-final, 1 Sept
Was this the game of the summer? In the immediate aftermath a man who has seen more games than many of us will ever forget, Michael Ó Muircheartaigh, anointed it the best he has witnessed since 1948.
Games between Dublin and Kerry come from a long and storied tradition; safe to say that this resides with the best of them.
It was, as has been pointed out countless times since, the product of two teams playing football they way they believed it should be played. Consequences be damned.
It showcased one of the finest footballers of the modern era at the height of his powers. Colm Cooper was the puppeteer extraordinaire, orchestrating Kerry’s best attacks with consummate ease.
Their three goals in the first half would have left most counties dead and buried. Not this Dublin side though. The gap at the break was only two, setting the stage for a second half that was not unlike two heavyweight boxers standing toe-to-toe and trading blows, waiting to see who would crumble first.
In the end Dublin’s bench delivered the sucker punch. A game which was level in the 68th minute and could have gone either way was clinched by a superb 2-2 blitz as Dublin somehow won by seven.
As good as it gets.
YouTube Credit: MarcasOCallanain
Honourable mentions to: Monaghan 0-13 Donegal 0-7, Cavan 1-22 Derry 0-20 aet, Tyrone 0-17 Meath 2-9 (all football); Kilkenny 0-20 Tipperary 1-14, Kilkenny 1-22 Waterford 2-16 aet, Clare 3-24 Wexford 1-20 (all hurling).
