This was no ordinary weekend in the Madden household as special memories were made that will last for life.
Since moving to live in Moneyglass in 2012, I’ve become involved with the local club, St Ergnat’s, in various roles, including helping out with the coaching of a few teams.
My skin in the game are my two daughters, Aoife and Étaín, who are football-mad and love nothing more than playing and dreaming that someday they will emulate their county and club role models, local girls ‘Coach Cathy’ [Carey] and Orlaith Prenter.
After winning the Antrim U15 Feile a few weeks back, on Saturday the girls got the opportunity to represent the county in the All-Ireland Feile competition in Connacht.
After five tough games and an intense final the girls emerged victorious to capture the cup against all the odds.
All-Ireland success is some boast for a girl of 13 or 14, or in Aoife’s case, 12. I don’t think I grasped how big a deal winning it would be until I saw the raw emotion of the mums, dads and grandparents, many of whom had tears flooding down their cheeks as the referee eventually called time at the end of the final.
I love the purity of coaching at this level. In our case, tactics, systems, and sweepers are pretty much alien terms as we concentrate on letting the girls express their footballing ability through the execution of skills alone.
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Of course, things are very different at the top level, and as we approach the business end of the All-Ireland SFC it is clear a lot of the games can take on a life of their own. Although tactics are massive at the top end of the inter-county game, Croke Park allows for a more traditional kicking game and a bit more end-to-end football. We saw lots of direct play in the four quarter-finals over the weekend but that doesn’t always result in entertainment or excitement.
Let’s be honest, we saw three processions and one game that kept us on the edge of our seats, with only Armagh’s agonising loss to Monaghan capturing the imagination.
Ironically, it was the lowest-scoring encounter yet it ultimately provided all of the thrills and spills, as well as heartbreak for the unfortunate Callum Cumiskey, who missed two penalties in the shoot-out.
To suffer a third Championship defeat in this manner in the space of 12 months must be hard to stomach for Kieran McGeeney and his players, as another dramatic finale showcased just how cruel the game we all love can be at times. Incredibly, the sides were level 14 times across the 90-plus minutes as the Farney county somehow escaped to book their place in the last four, where they will meet Dublin.
‘Secret sauce’ and ‘Farney dogs of war’ were classy metaphors used by Neil Loughran in his match report to describe what Armagh have lacked and, equally, what Monaghan bring when it comes to the heat of knock-out Championship football. In boxing terms, Armagh are that fighter who will seek to win on points, even when the opponent is hanging on for dear life.
The ‘secret sauce’ of being able to knock a formidable team out has been badly lacking and time and time again has cost them dear.
On the other hand, that’s the thing about this Monaghan team. They thrive in that high-pressure scenario and are masters at grinding out a result. Many of us were entitled to think that when Vinny Corey took on the manager’s gig it was going to be a rebuild job but that couldn’t be further from the truth as they now get a free shot at the Dubs in an attempt to reach their first All-Ireland decider since 1930.
I HAD this fear in the pit of my stomach that Tyrone might be due a licking this time around as they faced a Kerry team with a major point to prove.
The form – and lack of it – of Tyrone over the last 18 months indicated that Kerry might just do a number on them and at the same time soothe some of the sores still raw from 2021.
I think we have run out of superlatives for David Clifford at this stage but the piece of play that he conjured up in the build-up to Sean O’Shea’s goal was simply incredible. After coasting home against Cork,
Derry will actually be happier about playing the Kingdom in the last four rather than the Dubs, but it is hard to see past a final involving anybody other than the ‘big two’.
Sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Including this year, there will have been 55 All-Ireland finals since Down won their third title in quick succession in 1968, with 39 of those deciders involving either Dublin or Kerry, and in many cases both.
I hope I am wrong but I get the feeling 2023 will follow the same pattern. Unlike Neil Loughran, I have no classy metaphors to sum up a busy weekend of football, so a bit of alliteration will just have to do instead.
Devastating Dubs. Kerry class.
And, of course, magic Moneyglass.
