2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final

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2014 All-Ireland Football Final
2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final programme.jpg
Event 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Date 21 September 2014
Venue Croke Park, Dublin
Man of the Match Paul Murphy[1]
Referee Eddie Kinsella (Laois)[2][3][4]
Weather Partly cloudy, 17ºC [5]
2013
2015

The 2014 All-Ireland Football Final, the 127th event of its kind and the culmination of the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, was played at Croke Park in Dublin on 21 September 2014. North-western side Donegal, last champions in 2012 and famed for their deployment of The System,[6] took on south-western outfit Kerry, last champions in 2009.

Both sides defeated the previous year's finalists Dublin and Mayo in their semi-finals to set up this final match between "the two great football outposts of the west-coast extremities".[7][8][9] This was their first encounter on All-Ireland final day, and only the second in 127 years of Championship history, Donegal having defeated Kerry in their previous encounter at the 2012 quarter-final stage.[10] Kerry narrowly won a close game which ended with a scoreline of 2-9 to 0-12 - and the width of a post from being a draw when Michael Murphy charged straight through the middle of Kerry's blanket defence and their goalkeeper pawed Patrick McBrearty's shot into the waiting arms of Colm McFadden, who hit the rebound against the Kerry post; then a frantic goalmouth scramble ensued during which the referee sent off Johnny Buckley for a black card offence.[11][12]

Paths to the final

Donegal defeated Derry, Antrim and Monaghan to win the Ulster Senior Football Championship. They defeated Armagh in the All-Ireland quarter-final and the reigning All-Ireland Champions Dublin in the semi-final. The semi-final result was considered the greatest shock in the history of the Championship, with Dublin placed at unbackable odds by bookmakers on the morning of the game.[13] The bookmakers took a bashing.[14][15][16] It was Paddy Power's worst result in its history.[17]

Kerry defeated Clare and Cork to win the Munster Senior Football Championship. They overcame Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final and Mayo in the semi-final after a replay. Notably, the semi-final replay between Kerry and Mayo was not played in Croke Park; it was moved to the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick to make way for a controversial college American football game held at Gaelic football's traditional site.[18]

A panorama of Croke Park on All-Ireland Football Final day ten years previously

Tickets

Demand for tickets was even higher than the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Alan Milton, the GAA’s Head of Media Relations, said he believed the stadium could have been sold out twice over. The reasons he suggested for this included, "a) it's a novel pairing b) the semi-finals were of a such a high standard that there's big neutral interest and c) the numbers from each county who will travel back to Ireland – both Kerry and Donegal have a very strong overseas presence in the United States particularly but also farther afield."[19]

Kits

After Donegal's defeat of All-Ireland champions Dublin confirmed the teams for the final, there was speculation that the counties would wear alternative kits due to the perceived similarities in their traditional county colours. The last time this had occurred on All-Ireland Final day was 2010 when Cork and Down came to a similar arrangement to what occurred when they played in a semi-final of the 1994 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.[20][21] 2010 represented the first occasion since Kerry and Offaly played in the 1982 final that both teams playing in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final donned alternative strips,[22] while the 1996 final was the last time one team (Meath) wore an alternative strip (versus Mayo).[21] In the event, on 2 September 2014, it was announced that Donegal and Kerry would wear their traditional jerseys.[23][24][25]

Training

Kerry trained on Fota Island, while Donegal trained at Lough Erne ahead of the match.[26] Labour politician John Kelly criticised Donegal's decision to, as he put it, "splash out" on training at Lough Erne before the match. Kelly expected Donegal to travel as far south as his Roscommon constituency, located in the Irish midlands.[27] Bundoran-based former politician Michael McMahon criticised Kelly's "partitionist" agenda.[28]

Team selection

Both teams announced two changes to their starting line-ups.

Kerry announced their team on 18 September, with Marc Ó Sé being recalled to the starting line-up and Kieran Donaghy starting at full-forward. Stephen O'Brien came into the half forward line in place of Michael Geaney.[29] Donega announced their team on 20 September, with Christy Toye and Patrick McBrearty in for Rory Kavanagh and David Walsh.[30][31][32] On the day, Toye and McBrearty were named on the bench - though both featured, and indeed scored, later in the game - while Kavanagh and Darach O'Connor started in their place.[33]

Six players from the 2006 All-Ireland minor semi-final meeting of the counties at Croke Park featured in the 2014 senior final. These were Michael Murphy, Leo McLoone and Martin McElhinney (Donegal) and Shane Enright, David Moran and Johnny Buckley (Kerry).[34]

Match

Summary

It started off with a quick goal by Kerry. Afterwards, a couple of points by both teams kept it a close game with Kerry always up a point or two. Near the end of the first half, Donegal tied it up. After a minute of extra time in the first half, it was 1-3 Kerry to 0-6 Donegal at half-time.[35]

Heading into the second half, Donegal took the lead with another point from team captain Michael Murphy, but Kerry quickly answered. Kerry eventually built a small lead and with a one-point lead at 10 minutes left, Kerry scored a goal making it 2-6 to 0-8. Donegal responded with 3 quick points making it 2-6 to 0-11 and the game was on. Kerry hit a couple points in response, and it was 2-8 to 0-12 when 2 minutes of injury time started. Kerry scored a point, and with a minute left Donegal marched down the field. Michael Murphy charged straight through the middle of Kerry's blanket defence until they pulled him down. But not before passing the ball to Patrick McBrearty who shimmied, twirled and shot at goal. The Kerry goalkeeper pawed McBrearty's shot into the waiting arms of Colm McFadden, who hit the goal post for a miss. After a quick player skirmish and a black card for Johnny Buckley, Kerry got the ball, and the final seconds ticked off and Kerry won, 2-9 to 0-12.

Kerry's talented forward James O'Donoghue failed to score a single point in the game.[36] In the closing seconds Barry John Keane knocked the ball off the tee as the Donegal goalkeeper prepared to take a kick-out to waste precious seconds. This piece of cynical "gamesmanship" was remarked upon by many and became one of the game's most memorable incidents.[37][38][39]

Details

21 September 2014
Donegal
Donegal colours.jpg
0-12 - 2-9 Kerry
40px
M. Murphy (0–04, 3 frees)
C. McFadden (0–01, 1 free)
P. McBrearty (0–02)
O. Mac Niallais (0–01)
K. Lacey (0–01)
N. McGee (0–01)
D. Molloy (0–01)
C. Toye (0–01)
Report P. Geaney (1-02, 1 free)
K. Donaghy (1-02)
BJ Keane (0-02, 2 frees)
P. Murphy (0-01)
B. Sheehan (0-01, 1 free)
J. Buckley (0-01)
Croke Park, Dublin
Attendance: 82,184[40][41]
Referee: Eddie Kinsella (Laois)
Donegal
Kerry
Donegal:
1 Paul Durcan
2 Eamon McGee
3 Neil McGee
4 Paddy McGrath
5 Anthony Thompson
6 Karl Lacey
7 Frank McGlynn
8 Neil Gallagher
26 Rory Kavanagh Substituted off 64
9 Odhrán Mac Niallais Substituted off 52
11 Leo McLoone Substituted off 57
12 Ryan McHugh Substituted off 46
15 Colm McFadden
14 Michael Murphy (Captain)
17 Darach O'Connor Substituted off 28
Substitutes:
10 Christy Toye Substituted in 28
13 Patrick McBrearty Substituted in 46
24 Martin McElhinney Substituted in 52
18 David Walsh Substituted in 57
20 dermot "Brick" Molloy Substituted in 64
Manager:
Jim McGuinness
Kerry:
1 Brian Kelly
2 Marc Ó Sé
3 Aidan O'Mahony
4 Fionn Fitzgerald Substituted off 55 (c)
5 Paul Murphy
6 Peter Crowley
7 Killian Young
8 Anthony Maher Booked
9 David Moran Substituted off 68
10 Stephen O'Brien Substituted off 36 Booked
11 Johnny Buckley Red card B
12 Donnchadh Walsh Substituted off 57
13 Paul Geaney Substituted off 49
14 Kieran Donaghy Substituted off 70
15 James O'Donoghue
Substitutes Used:
18 Michael Geaney Substituted in 36
21 Barry John Keane Substituted in 49
17 Shane Enright Substituted in 55
19 Declan O'Sullivan Substituted in 57
20 Bryan Sheehan Substituted in 68
23 Kieran O'Leary Substituted in 70
Manager:
É. Fitzmaurice

Linesmen:
Marty Duffy (Sligo)
Padraig Hughes (Armagh)

Sideline Official
Rory Hickey (Clare)

Celebrations

Kerry's "wild" celebrations at the final whistle were likened to those of Wimbledon's soccerballers after beating Liverpool in England's 1988 FA Cup Final.[42] The Kerry team celebrated the night of the final at the Clyde Court Hotel where Paul Murphy received his man of the match award. The next day the team departed Heuston Station at 1.45pm for their first stop at Rathmore for the homecoming celebrations before proceeding to Tralee at 6.10pm and then on to Killarney at 9.00pm.[43][44]

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast live internationally.

Republic of Ireland RTÉ Sport[45]

Australia Seven Network[46]

England Sky Sports[45]

Northern Ireland BBC[45]

Scotland Sky Sports[45]

Wales Sky Sports[45]

References

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External links