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The Football Year
2002
The play-off series,
for better
or worse, are probably here to stay in some form or other. The crowds
loved it, TV loved it, the sponsor loved it and that's what
counts. This year all four defending Provincial champions in
football were dethroned but that's not to say one of them won't
be crowned the All Ireland champions.
The
Connacht Championship:
For
once the form book meant something in the west. All-Ireland champions
Galway were too good to let the Connacht title slip this year, even if
they did not put in great performances. They were
also considered as strong contenders for the big prize. Sligo continued to show
promise while Mayo's longtime woes in front of goal were still
there.
All
three progressed to the latter rounds where they were to meet with
mixed fortunes.
The
Ulster Championship:
Another
notoriously hard to predict series, In over thirty years only one
county has retained their title. With a lot of 'big guns' falling
early, it came down to Armagh & Donegal with Armagh getting the nod.
Tyrone was to join these two in the latter stages of the play-offs.
The
Munster Championship:
If
Connacht is unpredictable & Ulster is a lottery then Munster
football is built like the Rock of Cashel. Barring a mix-up in the 'open
draw', a Cork/Kerry final is what we expect and what we get. On those
occasions when the draw says otherwise the Cork/Kerry game is seen by
all as the final anyway. No exception this year, it took 2 games
before
Cork emerged and when Tipperary also needed a replay to overcome
Clare, no one gave them any chance in the Final.
Well
every underdog has its day and Tipp, and just like Clare in '92, Tipperary
in '02 had theirs. But a great performance wasn't enough to snatch it
and the replay was always going to be a different game. Then the farce
of the 'subs' rule where Tipperary could have been awarded the title
saw the end of a strange year in Munster
Football. The All-Ireland series was, of course, going to add another
bit to the tale of Munster football 2002.
The
Leinster Championship:
Not
as predictable in recent years, the Dublin/Meath axis has seen Offaly
and latterly Kildare rise to the challenge. Westmeath looked to
be mounting a challenge but couldn't put back to back years together.
The big four contested the semis with Dublin seeing off Meath while
Kildare saw off Offaly. An exciting final ensued and after 7 years,
the Jacks are Back. Meath scraped through a few qualifier rounds
with trade mark late goals. But when it came to needing another late
goal against Donegal, it slipped narrowly wide.
The
'Back Door' series:
Despite
my qualms about this it was undoubtedly a roaring success last year. Some things
needed to be tightened up in the draws such as not facing a side you've
played already and that was good. But it gave some interesting pairings,
Wicklow v. Galway in Aughrim springs to mind, last year and this
year's first round had 7 first time championship meetings out of 8
games, including Wexford v. Tyrone.
In
the end, Limerick got a good run, losing out narrowly in the end to
Mayo. Louth were unlucky to concede not one but late two injury-time goals
to Meath.
In
the end it came down to Tipperary v. Mayo, Donegal v. Meath, Sligo v.
Tyrone and Kerry v. Kildare. Only the last pairing had ever faced each
other before in the championship.
The
All-Ireland Championship:
The four provincial winners, Dublin,
Cork, Armagh & Galway awaited the last 4 qualifier matches. After that we
knew the composition of the quarter-finals. They threw repeats of
recent finals and one brand new pairing.
Dublin faced their All-Ireland of '92
vanquishers Donegal, frequent recent opponents Kerry & Galway and
the favourites for the title were also drawn together. The '89
finalists and more recently semi-final opponents Cork and Mayo made up
the third match leaving Sligo facing Armagh for the first time ever in
the championship.
Over a hectic Bank-Holiday weekend,
Croke Park was home to two glorious double-headers. They saw Cork and
Kerry emerge victorious over their respective western opponents with
both Mayo and Galway failing to pose a serious challenge to the
Munster giants.
Sligo continued to defy the critics and
held the Ulster champions to a draw clawing back a 5 point defict
while a man down. Dublin had a 3 point lead over Donegal after Ray
Cosgrove scored his fifth goal in three games but saw that whittled
back as the TyrConnell men forced another replay and possible full
house at headquarters this weekend.
The semi-finals were drawn with Cork set
to face arch-rivals Kerry for the third time this year. The winners of
the replays faced each other. That could have seen a repeat of the Ulster
Final or a repeat of last year's qualifier match Dublin v. Sligo.. As
it turned out Dublin faced Armagh their recent record against Ulster
teams saw them defeated. Kerry's easy victory over Cork led to the
novel pairing of the record title holders against the team that never
won it.
Come the 4th Sunday, it was 31 counties
against Kerry and even the Kingdom could not deny the sheer excitement
when Armagh were finally crowned All-Ireland champions. Another new
name on the trophy following Donegal & Derry a decade before.
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