Football Gets Shot In The Arm With All-Time Classic

In amongst the avalanche of media coverage about Dublin’s drive for five last week, by far the most interesting piece turned up in – of all places – the sports section of The Star, where Jim McGuinness finally resurfaced after a failed attempt to crack soccer management with US side Charlotte Independence earlier this year,

Seven seasons into Jim Gavin’s reign as Dublin boss, McGuinness remains the only coach to have bested him in championship football. For Kerry to overcome Dublin yesterday, McGuinness reckoned, they were going to need “a gameplan for every different period of the game, treat the first 15 minutes completely different to the final five minutes”.

As it happened, after Johnny Cooper received his marching orders just before the break, the Kingdom could treat the entire second half differently to the first. With the Dubs a man down, the Kingdom – led by the majestic Sean O’Shea – poured forward for 40 minutes as they sought to arrest a four-point arrears, and prevent their arch rivals from completing a historic feat Mick O’Dwyer’s great Kerry team came so agonisingly close to against Offaly in 1982.

In yet another example of the brilliance that has become so routine under Jim Gavin, Dublin again showed incredible composure and iron resolve as they lived to fight another day. Many of us were doubtful we’d ever see a final that bettered Dublin’s unforgettable trio of encounters with Mayo in 2016 and ’17, but given the historic nature of what was at stake, yesterday actually eclipsed that trilogy.

Indeed, it was a strong contender for the best final of all-time – and it didn’t come a moment too soon. After a 2018 championship where virtually the sole point of interest was the insurrection Kildare staged with Newbridge Or Nowhere, Dublin were once more in cruise control this summer, and – bar 60 minutes against Cork and 35 against Mayo – again didn’t receive a single decently competitive game.

Amidst growing complaints around the country about the capital’s level of funding, yesterday wasn’t so much a welcome boost for football’s health as an utterly essential visit to the emergency ward. And what a truly epic contest it was.

As with the Champions League fare we witnessed in the spring, this was completely gripping, nerve-shredding stuff; melodrama on an almost ludicrous scale, gratefully savoured by those around the country not at Electric Picnic (and quite a few who were).

With Kerry trying to hunt them down in the second half, Dublin – with the magnificent Jack McCaffrey to the fore – refused to budge. In fact, when the irrepressible McCaffrey put them five up, they were well on course for victory.

But then Tommy Walsh played through Killian Spillane for a goal that electrified the whole stadium and the game was up for grabs again, with the historic weight growing by the minute. The drama was now unfolding so quickly that it was difficult to keep up.

Just weeks after his planned stay in Boston for the summer was aborted due to complications with his visa at Dublin airport, Diarmuid Connolly entered the fray and saw a spectacular 40-yard point attempt drift narrowly wide. Walsh and O’Shea combined for a sublime equaliser, before Spillane raised the country’s collective heart-beat with a brilliant curled effort to take the lead.

Fully seven minutes of injury time having been announced, Cormac Costello levelled much to the Dubs’ relief. But wait: in a moment reminiscent of VAR’s interjection in the Spurs-Man City Champions League clash, Hawkeye deemed that the shot had gone wide.

By this stage, those of at home could hardly bear to watch: Christ knows what it was like for supporters in the stadium. As the tension reached unbearable levels, the typically ice cool Dean Rock sniped the equaliser. Moments later, the same player had the chance to seal his sporting immortality with a difficult free on the 21-yard line out under the Cusack Stand.

Had it gone over – and for a brief moment it looked like it would – the footage would have been played a century from now; as it was, the gods, like the rest of us, wanted more and the shot tailed to the left and wide. Similarly to the Mayo replay in 2016, the smart money is on Dublin sharpening up for the second game and sealing the deal.

But whatever the outcome, the biggest blockbuster franchise in Irish sport gets another mouthwatering installment at 6pm on September 14. Miss it at your peril.