Sat beside Micky Moran at a match in croker one time. Lovely man.
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I sat beside Eamon Coleman at a match in Croker once. Lovely man. He hadn’t fallen out with Mickey by that stage.
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Roy has an incredible ability to make an absolute Cunt of a beautiful thing. He’s a fucking flute.
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The bare facts of the Harry Ruddle goal were as follows.
The three minutes of injury time were up. It was the last attack. It was an All-Ireland final. Ballygunner were two points down.
Ballyhale had done an excellent job of frustrating Ballygunner out the field in the moments immediately beforehand. They were forcing them back, and it looked improbable that Ballygunner could even manufacture a half chance.
A substitute took on the responsibility to both make the half chance and take on the responsibility of shooting himself. This is very rare. Usually when substitutes score sucker punch late goals they are opportunist efforts. This was not. One might reasonably expect a substitute in that position to pass to a player in a worse position, or lose the head and go for a point, and put it wide. Ruddle was under severe pressure from the defender. He zig zagged to make the space so he would not be hooked.
It was a sensational shot, perfectly placed, it used a defender as a shield to unsight the goalkeeper. It would have been a brilliant goal at any time. It was a bit reminiscent of Tom Kenny’s for Cork against Wexford in 2004.
Ballygunner had never won an All-Ireland. No Waterford team had ever won a senior club All-Ireland.
Ballyhale were the reigning champions and the unquestioned kingpins of the competition over the course of not just the last decade but over the entire history of the competition.
Ballyhale’s last puck winning goal in the semi-final, and that they were now the victims of the same thing, added an extra layer of context and rich narrative.
The facts are good enough. The memory of that moment will last a long time.
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That’s a great summation.
It really was perfect. Like Ballygunner could have come back and won it next year beating some unproven Galway or Ulster club by 10 points in the final and it wouldn’t have been the same.
This was the one they had to win and they did.
Crap final next year with Ulster or Galway club in final.
In GAA there are four comparable things I can think of, and three of them are in football. Seamus Darby is the first. That was the pinnacle of narrative and historical significance. It was a great goal, and scored by a substitute, but it was opportunist.
Meath’s goal and point to win at the end of the fourth match against Dublin in 1991 is the second. But it was not an All-Ireland final and Meath did not win the All-Ireland.
In terms of being clutch - taking responsibility, seeking the ball out, making and exploiting a gap and nailing a difficult shot with your team behind with the last play of an All-Ireland final, Cillian O’Connor’s equalising point for Mayo against Dublin in 2016 is the best example I can think of. But that was only an equaliser and Mayo lost the replay.
Domhnall O’Donovan’s equaliser for Clare against Cork in 2013 might be as close a comparison as there is, in that it was the last play, he was not a player that would have been expected to take the responsibility of a difficult shot, but did. But again, that was still only an equaliser, though Clare won the replay.
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In 1982 was the whistle blown on the kickout?
The fact Mason did his best to just launch the puckout and James Owens just blew the final whistle really added to it I thought.
There wasn’t time to breath between the net rattling and the whistle going
Mick Jacob against Kilkenny in 04? Made a block on a clearance and snap shot goal was the last puck of the game. Rory McCarthy against Cork in the 03 semi final but lost the replay
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No, Offaly had a bad wide afterwards by Gerry Carroll which would have put them two points up, then Kerry had an attack with the last play - which had two parts in that there was an initial chance where Martin Furlong in goal intercepted the first part of it and then gave the ball away, before a desperate point attempt by Tom Spillane (I think?) fell into the arms of Sean Lowry and the final whistle went.
I love when the whistle goes before there is time to start play again. Clare had a good one of that genre in the Munster football championship in 1997 when Martin Daly scored the winning goal against Cork.
The difference between an equaliser and going from behind to in front with one shot is huge. That’s why I hate that the away goals rule in association football has been scrapped.
In wider sport, Michael Thomas and Jonny Sexton’s drop goal against France were great examples of this sort of drama.
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In terms of a stand alone match itself yes but the wider context of it was that despite winning that match dramatically, Wexford were still routed by a Cork team which had come through the back door, and Kilkenny themselves reached the All-Ireland final through the back door. The finality of that moment only counted on that particular day, not in the context of the competition itself.
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Tadhg Murphy for Cork v Kerry 1983 was another of the goal to win by a point and no time to take the kickout genre.
Barney Rock’s equalising goal in the semi-final evened the score on two counts.
Tom Spillane had a terrible pot shot for a point at the end to try level it, he should have recycled it
It was his last outing in the forwards, was centre back in the 3 in a row 1984-1986
I think Kerry played Ogie Moran at wing forward rather than 11 that day. Ogie won 8 all irelands at 11, any year they played him at wing forward or wing back, they didnt win the all ireland. Playing Ogie away from 11 was always a bad idea
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Not a like for like comparison either but the sideline cut from another parish to win the junior hurling all ireland last week was another iconic moment
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Bryan McLoughneys goal for Kildangan vs Loughmore in the 2020 Tipp hurling final is the closest comparison I can remember.
Game blown up on the PO.
1st time winner
Sub who got the goal (He started, was taken off and reintroduced in ET)
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Jody Dillons goal to stop Portlaoise getting the 10 in a row was a classic of the genre. A team who had seen it all, paralysed by fear of the finish line. Hit with a sucker punch when there was simply no time left to rise from the ashes
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Crossmaglen were done in a County semi final in similar circumstances in 2016.
But the one at the weekend was so completely mental, and in an AI Final it’ll hardly ever be beaten.
Mad to think there are people out there who’d scrap these competitions in a heartbeat. If they were there on Saturday, they’d quickly change their tune.
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TBH the Football was shite for about 90% of the contest. The Crokes goalie and Rory Carroll stood soloed the ball on their 45 on a number of different occasions. Both goals were harmless jobs. There was plenty of endeavour, but on the whole, lacking in real quality. But thats the Club game for you, its a local story writ large.
Ballygunnar took advantage of a Ballyhale side who were out on their feet, and even at that, needed a shot to nothing to do so. I wouldnt be writing epic poetry about them yet.
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Maybe it was because so many matches were televised this year but I think the standard of football was worst I can remember in club championship for years
I think club football games are generally fairly dour affairs until the last 10 minutes if its close