The games that defined the decade: 25-20

Michael Hannon

Around the New Year, this column normally throws together a highlights of the year piece that gently ushers out one year before the dawn of the next.

However December 2019 wasn't just the end of the year, it was also the end of a decade, so it was felt that a look back on the last 10 years would be a more appropriate way to say goodbye at this time of the year.

But where do you start with a highlights reel in a decade that saw football utterly change from a playing perspective, a tactical perspective, and even from the way the casual supporter watches and engages with it?

From Jim McGuinness’ defensive Donegal side, and to the copycats that followed it. To Jim Gavin's rock and roll blues that morphed into the methodical and surgical machine that would win five-in-a row.

From James Horan’s hard-running and high-pressing Mayo team that would get so close to the summit so often with Horan and then Stephen Rochford in charge, to Mickey Harte's insistence that the mass defence was capable of winning another All-Ireland only to regularly fail in big games, and to the rise and rise of Kerry’s minors in anticipation of a senior breakthrough. Where do you begin?

Well, instead of trying to pick out highlights, we’ve gone for a different approach. We’ve painstakingly gone through the decade, year by year, and compiled a list of the 30 best games of football.

Not all of them were instant classics, some naturally are, but most, given the context in which they were played, have some level of significance to the decade. They might not define the decade but they certainly help us appreciate where the game was at.

Once those 25 games were picked out, trying to figure out what was number 18 versus what was number 17 took more time than compiling the top five for example.

The list will count down over the coming days. So, without further ado:

 

25 Down 1-16 Kerry 1-10
2010 All Ireland quarter-final

To say anyone saw this result or performance coming would be a falsehood. To put this into some perspective, Down had lost to Wicklow the previous year in the qualifiers in Aughrim while Kerry were All Ireland champions after appearing in six finals in a row.

Down raced into a lead, hitting the Kingdom for an early goal after 52 seconds to give the men from the Mourne county confidence and cockiness that showed through with their performance.

They pressed the Kingdom high up the field, turning them over time and again. Paddy Tally was coaching the team and his fingerprints were all over the performance.

The way Down played was reminiscent of another team he’d coached, Tyrone in 2003. Hounding Kerry all over the field, it soon became apparent that their early game momentum wasn’t about to falter.

Kerry, for their part, had squeaked past Cork by a point in their Munster semi-final and then did enough to defeat Limerick by three in the final so their form wasn’t exactly red hot, while Down had thrashed Sligo, hitting 3-20 against them in round four of the qualifiers.

Martin Clarke, back from Australia, gave a masterclass in Croke Park, angling passes into a mobile forward unit that included Danny Hughes, Mark Poland and Benny Coulter. Kerry hit a late penalty to put a gloss on the scoreline that they barely deserved. Down would progress to reach the All-Ireland final where they would lose by a point to Cork in what was almost the most unlikely of All-Ireland championship victories.

 

24 Tyrone 0-12 Mayo 0-13
2016 All Ireland quarter-final

This game might not exactly jump out straight away but it was important in shaping the outcome of the championships over the next two years.

Mayo had shown in the years after losing to Donegal in 2012 that they were able to over-power McGuinness’ men with their powerful running and defensive match-ups but Tyrone were a coming force, or so they believed, with a defensive set-up that was more taxing to break down than Donegal's original of the species.

Tyrone entered the game as favourites with every bookmaker in town. They got men back and only looked to win turnovers when Mayo entered the scoring zone.

Mayo committed men forward but tried to win turnovers on the transition back down the field, and if that didn’t work, they constructed a mass defence of their own.

It wasn’t a spectacle of football but it was an energy-sapping exercise that was going to be decided by the finest of margins.

Mayo led from the sixth minute when Aidan O’Shea hit a spectacular point from distance, all the way until late in the second half when Peter Harte hit a right-footed effort to nudge the Red Hands back in front.

Then Lee Keegan took over. He hit the last two points from play, one off either foot, to turn the game on its head. The final seven or eight minutes saw a nervy Mayo try to play keep ball while Tyrone failed to adequately step out of their mass defence to win turnovers. Mayo tried their best to throw the game away but somehow conspired to fall over the line.

Their strong showings agaisnt Dublin later that year would have Tyrone believing they were close to Dublin's level. But they weren’t, as they would spectacularly discover in 2017 and 2018.

23 Louth 1-10 Meath 1-12
2010 Leinster final

Best remembered for the goal that shouldn’t have been, referee Martin Sludden had to be escorted off the field as angry Louth supporters stormed Croke Park at the final whistle.

Louth, who were aiming for their first Leinster title since 1957, were robbed by a refereeing decision. Joe Sheridan's controversial hand rugby-style touchdown over the line in the 74th minute of the game saw the Royals come from a point down to win by two.

What is often forgotten about the game is the way both sides went at it over the previous 70 minutes. The novelty of Dublin not being in the final added to the occasion and it soon became clear that Louth quite fancied their chances of causing an unlikely upset.

They raced into a lead, moving the ball quicker than their more fancied Meath opponents, who had knocked out Dublin in the previous round by scoring five goals against Stephen Cluxton.

Paddy Keenan gave an exhibition for Louth at midfield that day but they were holding on for dear life as the predictable Royal comeback was beginning to transpire.

However the heartbreak at the end was compounded by the injustice of the final act. Replays showed that Sheridan had fallen over the goal line before throwing the ball into the net, both illegal moves, while he had initially been inside the square at the time the ball reached him which should have resulted in a square ball and a free out.

22 Dublin 2-12 Mayo 1-14
2013 All-Ireland final

This game could arguably be much higher up this list, but finds itself outside the top 20 thanks to the huge number of wides both sides shot in the first half.

A classic Stephen Cluxton performance in the second half saw Dublin turn the tables on the possession count after Mayo had dominated much of the opening proceedings.

James Horan’s men had raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead off the back of a possession count that was almost treble that of Jim Gavin's side. But from around the 25th minute mark Dublin had solved the problem and from then on looked the most likely team to win it.

However by the time we had reached injury time they were effectively playing with 13 men against 15 after they used up all their substitues but incurred late injuries to Eoghan O’Gara and Rory O'Carroll.

Dublin repeatedly fouled Mayo which saw the free count end 32-12 in favour of Mayo, and the metropolitans receive four yellow cards in the final ten minutes.

While Gavin bemoaned the free count afterwards, Horan complained of Dublin cynicism. Cillian O’Connor had a late free right in front of the goals but believing he had 30 seconds left of play, took a long time deliberating before knocking it over the bar. Joe McQuillan blew almost immediately to see Gavin’s maiden season end in glory.

21 Kildare 1-11 Dublin 1-12
2011 Leinster semi-final

Dublin were well in control of this encounter by half-time. Bernard Brogan was coming off his Player of the Year form in 2010 and had kicked three points by the 24th minute.

A Paul Flynn first half goal stretched the lead out as Kildare struggled for scores, changing their freetaker at one point in the first half.

Then five minutes into the second half Eoghan O’Gara received a second yellow card that swung momentum back towards the Lilywhites.

Both sides would trade scores for 20 minutes with Kildare getting it back to a two-point deficit before Dublin would open up a four-point lead once again.

And then, with two minutes left on the clock Eamon Callaghan scored a beautiful goal from 20 metres out against a fully out-stretched Cluxton.

A point a few minutes later from the same player had the sides level deep in injury time. Then controversy ensued.

From the kick-out, Dublin worked possession to the halfway line where a long speculative ball into Brogan saw the referee blow for a free that no-one else in Croke park could see.

Brogan stepped up to convert the dead ball chance and moments later Kildare found themselves dumped once more into the qualifiers.

20 Cork 2-20 Mayo 0-27 AET
2017 Rd 4 Qualifier

This was played out in the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick with both sides going into it struggling for form. Mayo had been taken to extra time by Derry, and struggled for long periods of the first half against Clare in the previous rounds of the qualifiers.

Meanwhile, Cork had found themselves caught in a downward spiral of negativity and poor performances. The charm of this game was both sides could turn up and be awful - or awesome.

Cork's second half display against Tipperary earlier in the championship showed them at their best, running hard with men high up the field coming on loops to create chances.

Any team who could match Mayo for running power had the potential to stay with them. But would Cork play to their strengths?

This game caught fire early on with both sides trading points. At 8-7 to Mayo, the men from the west went through the gears to open up a double scores lead, 0-14 to 0-7 with 20 odd minutes left to play.

But Mayo being Mayo allowed Cork back into it and two well-taken goals gave us a grandstand finish that saw injury time scores for either side from Paddy Durcan and Luke Connolly force us into extra time.

Mayo were beginning to look a little leggy and Cork were the team with all the energy. They pushed on to go two points up before four late scores from Mayo reversed that scoreline.

A late point for Cork, and a number of chances squandered, saw Mayo hang on by the finest of margins. The team that had brought Dublin to a replay the previous year was beginning to show signs that they were stirring.

Given the number of veterans on the Mayo squad the adage of needing the old dog for the hard road sprang to mind.

Check back here in the coming days as the countdown continues. Follow Michael Hannon Twitter here.