A real pity TG4 don’t seem to be showing Friday/Saturday night games like last year.
Hopper ?
Mainly because the club game isn’t considered a product
With the exception of the Cuala - Na Piarsaigh finals and the shenanigans at the end of the Corofin-Kilcoo final the club finals have largely been terrible spectacles for a good number of years now.
John McGrath
Yes, “hopper” McGrath
Informative.
Borrisileigh v Ballyhale was a good game. As was Slaughneil v Dr. Crokes in 2017.
The semi finals have thrown up some great clashes in both codes. Slaughtneil v Ballyhale, Corofin v Dr. Crokes 2017, Na Piarsaigh v Slaughtneil a few off the top of my head.
And the provincial championships have always been box office.
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The senior club final is less than 1% of the total amount of games played each year
From recollection Ballyhale v Borrisoleigh was one of those matches where there was never any real doubt about who’d come out on top, a bit like that Limerick v Galway semi-final last year. It was close enough on the scoreboard but not in the real sense.
Slaughtneil v Dr. Crokes started out well and turned into a shitfest. It’s hard to put into words how bad the second half of it was.
Most of the All-Ireland finals since 2015 or so have been dire fare. And to be honest it’s rare enough you’d get a real humdinger at any stage. Matches like that Ballyboden-Na Fianna clash from 2019 and the St. Vincent’s-Ballymun finals of 2013 stand out from the Dublin championships but little enough else. The 2017 final between the same teams had the McCarthy hit at the start and that was about it, it was dreadful stuff.
I generally find the provincial rounds are where the most interesting matches take place. The one between Ballyea and Thurles Sarsfields from 2016 sticks in the memory.
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Yeah Ballyhale always looked 3 or 4 points the better team. That’s a very good comparison. Slaughtneil briefly got within a score of Ballyhale near the end of the semi-final is a similar game.
The Borrisoleigh win over Ballygunner was a classic in the Munster final that season. St. Brigid’s v Ballymun probably my favourite final of the last 10 years in the club codes.
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Vinnie’s v Nemo in 2008 was an excellent final and well worth suffering through the coldest draught I’ve ever experienced at Croke Park. The Nemo-Crossmolina finals were good too.
Clarinbridge v De La Salle Waterford in a semi-final in 2011 is probably as good as it gets at club level.
Club hurling finals are always going to be poor with average Galway teams making the finals every couple of years. Galway champions should be in Leinster.
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Club Football peaked between 2011 and 2013.
Crossmaglen were involved in some absolute belters v Kilmacud 2011, Dr Crokes & Garrycastle Draw 2012 and St Brigids 2013.
St. Brigids were involved in some classics too v Ballymun, Corofin and Garrycastle.
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Frankie Dolan was a great player, proper character too.
How Brigids came back to win the AI Club in 2013 having lost the final in 2011 to Cross and the Semi final to their local neighbours Garycastle in 2012 was serious, serious going.
Frankie Dolan and Senan Kilbride were unreal back in those days.
That time they beat Corofin on their home pitch when Cake Curran was steward and had to give the ref an escort off the pitch was something else. Like a throwback to the 1970’s.
Ah yes that was a beauty of a match. It was played on a pitch in the middle of nowhere, Kiltoom or some such. Great feeling of an ambush about it.
The Mullinalaghta with over Kilmacud in 2018 was a classic storyline and ending as well. Game itself was middling quality but engrossing. They had such a small pool of players too.
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Allez Allez Allez
The Waterford quarter finals had 2,5,8 and 6 goals. The Wexford county final had 7 goals. The Barr’s v Erin’s Own had 4 goals. The only hurling game. tonight that had no goals was the Carlow county final.