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The Ireland players at the final whistle in the win over Australia. ©INPHO/Photosport/Andrew Cornaga
Look Back

The sporting year in review: September

The Cats reclaimed the All-Ireland title while the Dubs lifted their first in 16 years. Plus, New Zealand hosted some tournament or other.

SEPTEMBER SPELLS THE climatic end to the All-Ireland senior football and hurling championships.

There was also the small matter of the Rugby World Cup, where Ireland pulled off an unlikely win, while in tennis a new champion lifted the US Open for the first time.

In the Premier League, Manchester City ran into some problems at board level and on the sidelines with one particularly grumpy Argentinean.

The winners

Dublin footballers: Competing in their first All-Ireland final since lifting the Sam Maguire in 1995, the Jacks were trailing Kerry by four points before Kevin McManamon’s goal and late points from Kevin Nolan and Stephen Cluxton.

Kilkenny hurlers: After Tipperary had dashed their dreams of five-in-a-row at the same stage the previous year, the Cats claimed back the Liam MacCarthy Cup with a 2-17 to 1-16 win for Brian Cody’s men.

Novak Djokovic: The Serb capped off a tremendous year on the court by beating both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the way to a US Open triumph at Flushing Meadows. He dominated in 2011, winning three Grand Slams and wrestling the No1 ranking from Nadal.

The losers

Lokomotiv ice hockey team: Devastation hit Russia when all but one player from the team dies in a plane crash while travelling from Yaroslavl to Minsk to play in the opening game of the season.

Manchester City: First their chief executive is forced to resign after his latest PR blunder which sees an abusive email sent to a player’s mother, then the once talismanic striker refuses to warm-up during a Champions League game. Never a dull moment.

David De Gea: After a shaky start to his Manchester United career, he gets into a spot of bother off the field when he is accused of stealing a Krispy Kreme donut from a shop in Manchester.

Highlight of the month

Ireland beat Tri Nations champions Australia 15-6 at Eden Park to ignite their World Cup campaign. After that win, Irish fans began to dream of a place in the final, with Wales and France or England standing in the way. It wasn’t to be, however.

Headline of the month

‘Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful’ – Ronaldo Cristiano claims that the reasons fans boo him is because he is “rich, handsome and a great player”. He clearly forgot modest.

Picture of the month

Credit: ©INPHO/Cathal Noonan

Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton kicks the winning point during stoppage time in the All-Ireland final.

Sporting Viral of the month

Munster’s Gerry Flannery shows that he’s still got pinpoint accuracy in the line-out. Even with a hat over his face.

YouTube credit:

Tweet of the month

Profilic tweeter Joey Barton isn’t too chuffed at reading reports that Wolves didn’t fancy signing him. I bet he would’ve loved to join them… isn’t his mate ‘Kelvin’ Henry there?

Read more of our month-by-month review of 2011 here >