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Check out the reactions of Pele, Tostao and the crowd behind the nets!   

Not taking away from Pele, but Tony Cascarino was regularly knocking them in from a few yards out for Millwall in the 80s . . .

Good God, your knowledge of World Cup folklore merits a Grade F.

Those aren't pictures of a goal, those are the iconic images of a save from Gordon Banks that is often called 'the greatest save of all time'.

Hi MW

I'm aware it wasn't a goal.

We can only take this world cup moment based on the footage we have of it. Banks made a superb save - no one will argue that, but my opinion (and i'm happy to give my opinion on this, and not just eat what's spoonfed to me) is that it was a poor finish by Pele. He should have scored from there and not headered it down so much.

Incidentally this save (great save) and Bobby Moore's tackle on Pele in the same match are often cited as the reasons that this was the best soccer match of all time. The match was reshown on BBC1 when Brazil and England met in 2002 world cup - just like some of the All ireland gold matches, it hasn't aged well! It makes for fairly lame fare watching it now.

cheers

The save was just unbelievable and my favourite non GAA sporting moment of all time. It was not just the save though. That move started, if memory serves me correctly, with a shot/cross from Francis Lee on the England right that Felix gathered well. He rolled the ball to Carlos Alberto who advanced towards half way and hit the most brilliant pass, with the outside of his right boot, over 50 or so yards, inside Terry Cooper and into the path of Jairzinho. His first touch was too heavy and he sent the ball, bouncing on a rock hard surface, hurtling towards the end line. He sprinted after it and somehow got his foot around it to send over the perfect cross. The rest is history! 

By the way Turk - agree about watching the match again, though I would suggest that no matter what match you watch in it's entirety, you will always fast forward some bits. That game though was a marvellous occasion, between the first and second best teams in the world, with great players on both sides! Tremendous!

[Hall of Fame - Patsy Nugent]

Forgot to mention - great night in the Club on Saturday night/Sunday morning. Fair few GAABoard heads knocking about, though most of them went home early! 

Anyway, congratulations to the following on their awards - all richly deserved.

Hall of Fame - Patsy Nugent

Committee Man of the Year - James Clifford

Club Services Award - Eileen Richards

Senior Player of the Year - Martin Gill

Most Consistent Senior Player - Chuckie Morris

'B' Player of the Year - Kevin Kelly

'B' Players' Player of the Year - Liam McAuley

Ladies Footballer of the Year - Paula Powell

Most Improved Ladies Footballer - Leanne O'Neill

Minor Player of the Year - Michael Kelly

Under 16 Player of the Year - Paul Kelly

Overall Youth Player of the Year - Simon Lennon

There were also four special awards made to Harps' members for great achievements throughout the year.

Paul Rath for becoming Mid Board referee of the year; Ciaran McMahon for winning the All Ireland Road Bowls Title in his grade, Declan Coulter (Cuchullians) for representing Armagh, Ulster and Ireland in hurling/shinty this year, and last and by no means least to our Number One sponsor, Jimmy Nugent, whose support is invaluable!

I ended up in Richie Nugent's house with the Hall of Fame winner - great craic. Stumpy and me left about half three when Richie started discussing his point in the 1991 County Final! 

[Harps v Whitecross]

Harps v Whitecross

Harps recorded another victory in the Armagh Under 21 Championship when they were full value for a six point victory at the South Armagh venue. Harps started with the same fifteen that started last week against Ballymacnab – the only positional change being the swapping of wings by half backs Martin McCoy and Smackers McAnaney. 

Harps played into the wind in the first half and soon opened the scoring with a Declan Coulter point after Darren Ward had knocked the ball down to him. Whitecross though began to apply pressure, though they were denied by some good defensive work, with Karl Grimes featuring prominently. They soon had their equaliser – a point from a long range free and quickly took the lead with another long range point, this time from play. Simon Lennon unfortunately had to retire injured at this stage. The reshuffle saw sub Mark McConville go into wing half back, with Smackers going to midfield. Harps began to exert pressure and had an excellent point from a Kevin Kelly '50'. Joe Quigley followed up with a point from a free but this good work was shortly undone. The Harps defence allowed an attacker to go through the centre unchallenged and he finished with a low shot to the net from fourteen yards. Harps returned to the attack thanks to good work around the middle. This led to points from Joe Quigley (2) and Charlie Vernon. Whitecross though managed to get one last attack before the interval that brought an equalising point from a fourteen yard free.

Harps 0-06, Whitecross 1-03.

Harps immediately set to work on the restart and took the lead with a Declan Coulter point after a good run. Darren ward pointed from play before Whitecross responded with a point from a '50'. This was to prove a false dawn for the home side, as Harps began to take over. Declan Coulter set up Kevin Kelly for a point and with Harps exerting increasing pressure, frees began to be conceded. These frees led to points from Joe Quigley and Kevin Kelly, the latter a huge sixty yard effort. A good move out of defence saw Kevin Kelly add another point from play and Darren Ward repeated the dose. Kevin Kelly added another point from a free before Harps closed the game with a goal. Joe Quigley won possession and was brought down in the area for a penalty. He picked himself up and duly slotted the ball home. Nippy added another point from a sixty yard free. To their credit Whitecross did not give up, although Harps management will be concerned that with the game won, Harps like last week allowed the opposition in for scores. Whitecross added a goal and two points in the closing stages to leave Harps as deserved victors by six points. This was a good overall team performance form the Harps with everyone playing a part, although the efforts of Smackers, Joe Quigley, Mark McConville, Declan Coulter and Karl Grimes are worthy of mention.

Final score, Harps 1-15, Whitecross 2-06.

The Harps fielded as follows. John Daly, Karl Grimes, Ciaran Clifford, Fergus McAleavey, Smackers McAnaney, Charlie Vernon 0-1, Martin McCoy, Simon Lennon (Mark McCoville), Nippy Swift 0-1 (0-1 free), Joe Quigley 1-5 (1-0 penalty, 0-2 frees), Declan Coulter 0-2, Cormac Toner, Darren Ward 0-2, Kevin Kelly 0-5 (0-1 '50', 0-2 frees), and Liam Devlin.   

u 21s  have the potential to retain the cup and i wish them all the best.Great to see Patsy Nugent getting hall of fame award.Atrue gentleman who gave a hell of a lot of his time to get the harps were they are today.It was men like patsy who kept the harps going in the bad days,and who shared in the good times.

Agree one hundred percent with that - congratulations to Patsy.

Now time to take my leave of you - as young Oates once said (I think  ), I'm going out and I may be gone some time!! 

Maybe not the greatest sporting one, but a historical one




And laoislad is going like an express - his 'moments' wouild fill the Christmas TV schedule at this rate! 

Check out the reactions of Pele, Tostao and the crowd behind the nets!   

Not taking away from Pele, but Tony Cascarino was regularly knocking them in from a few yards out for Millwall in the 80s . . .

Good point Turk - not taking away from Pele or Caz, but I was knocking in two goals every three nights, at Sherry's Field Council Grounds over the winter of 2004/2005!

Any word of that greatest moment before laoislad uses up all the rest!?!?!  

Check out the reactions of Pele, Tostao and the crowd behind the nets!   

Kingspan Breffni Park is on a par with Clones at the moment, the town itself is nicer and more accessible but it gets damn all games. Not saying it should get Ulster finals as these need to be more central but the odd Ulster semi, if the geography of the pairing suits, wouldn't go astray.

The rest of your point though more or less hit the nail on the head. When Casement was done up a number of years ago, it was guaranteed one semi-final in Ulster each year, with Clones getting the other. Too many good stadiums and not enough big games. The likes of Cavan therefore gets squeezed out.

By the way, Breffni is a lovely ground since it was done up!

Has there ever been a Ulster final in Casement?

What was the largest attendance at a match in casement?
How many of you would be happy to have the final held in Belfast?

It was played there in the 1950s/1960s - the Ulster Final attendance record that lasted for many years was set in Casement - 41,000 for the 1961 Ulster Final between Armagh and Down.

The whole issue though raises many questions, not least of which is the Maze project. Prior to going to Croke Park, I always felt that Clones needed to be extended to about 50k - and there is the room to do that. As has also been stated though, Dublin is getting as handy as Clones with the improvement in the roads, so the need for a 50K stadium is diminishing.

By the way, outside of Croker, I would have to say Clones currently is as modern a GAA stadium as there is!

I would have dumbed down that report for orchardcounty rufus. 

Nice one my friend - there's a few 'interesting' contributors there alright! 

[Harps v Ballymacnab]

Harps v Ballymacnab

Champions Harps made it safely through to the next round of the Under 21 Championship with a hard fought victory over Ballymacnab in difficult conditions at Abbey Park this morning. Thankfully the torrential rain and thunder and lightning that had battered the city an hour and a half before throw in had abated, although a gale force wind blew into the dressing room goals.

Harps played into the gale in the first half and started promisingly, with Joe Quigley pointing a free early on. Ballymacnab though quickly found their feet and with the help of the breeze began to dominate. They could not make this dominance count and had three wides from scoreable frees before they opened their account on ten minutes with a point. Harps were still under the cosh and were thankful for some great defensive play from Ciaran Clifford and Martin McCoy. Harps regained the lead against the run of play when Declan Coulter fielded a kick out and set up Joe Quigley for a point from play. Harps began having more of the play at this stage thanks to excellent play through the middle from the midfield pairing of Simon Lennon and Nippy along with centre half forward Declan Coulter. Nippy was fielding impressively in the middle although the team as a whole was guilty of over elaborating in an attempt to retain possession. Ballymacnab still looked threatening and managed to edge ahead just before half time with consecutive points from frees. The one point lead was of little comfort for the 'nab, as they turned to face the gale – the really telling statistic was their eight first half wides. 

Half time, Harps 0-02, Ballymacnab 0-03.

Harps hit the front almost immediately on the restart. A long ball out of defence found full forward Kevin Kelly in space. His first shot was blocked but he managed to gather the rebound and shoot to the net. Charlie Vernon had a point after a great run and this was followed up with points from Darren Ward and a Kevin Kelly fifty. It was all Harps at this stage, although to be fair Ballymacnab defended heroically. Martin McCoy pointed a monstrous effort from beyond the fifty-yard line to give the Harps a six point lead. Ballymacnab refused to buckle and began to get the ball forward more often, and had the next two points (one a free). They kept pressing and Harps were indebted to a brilliant John Daly save. Harps made the most of this let off and Declan Coulter put Charlie Vernon through the middle for a great goal. This score seemed to rattle the 'nab and three points followed from Joe Quigley, Kevin Kelly (a free) and Simon Lennon. Ballymacnab keeper Sean Hughes, playing against his old team mates, made a great save from Charlie Vernon. Ballymacnab to their credit kept going to the end, and finished the scoring late on with a goal and a point. Unfortunately for them, it was too little too late.

Final score, Harps 2-09, Ballymacnab 1-06.

After a long time waiting, Harps will have been glad to get their campaign started. Harps made the game difficult for themselves throughout, although they were deserving of their victory. Best for the Harps were Declan Coulter, Nippy Swift, Simon Lennon, Ciaran Clifford and Martin McCoy. The Harps fielded as follows, John Daly, Karl Grimes, Ciaran Clifford, Fergus McAleavey, Martin McCoy 0-1, Charlie Vernon 1-1, Smackers McAnaney, Simon Lennon 0-1, Nippy Swift, Joe Quigley 0-3 (0-1 free), Declan Coulter, Cormac Toner, Darren Ward 0-1, Kevin Kelly 1-2 (0-1 '50', 0-1 free) and Liam Devlin. Substitutes used were Conal O'Hara and Mark McConville. 

Rufus,
Any other award winners last night?

Sorry exile - only know those two - I think Ballymacnab won the Club of the Year award.

Congratulations to Rangers -another great achievement, despite the fact that the team continues to change from the start of this run (1996). Well done to all concerned! 

Congratulations to two fellow Harps men who were in receipt of awards at the County Dinner last night in the Carrickdale Hotel.

Our esteemed President, Sean Hart Senior, received a Lifetime Achievement award in honour of many years of service to both Club and County and Declan Coulter was named County Senior Hurler of the year. Declan plays his hurling with Armagh Cuchulainns and represented not only Cuchulianns and Armagh, but also Ulster in the Railway Cup and Ireland (against Scotland) in the hurling/shinty. Congratulations to both on these well deserved accolades.

Thats Why Tir na nOg have never won anything in their lives, to many boys telling you how to play when they couldn't do it on the field. . And the last team in Armagh who should have beaten Cross was indeed the Ogs in keady, i was at the game and Bendover is correct

Ditto, the Ogs were very unlucky that day, thank God!!! 

Disagree Sureyouwill - luck did not come into it and neither in my opinion did the Oisin McConville incident. The real reason the Ogs didn't win is that they didn't believe in themselves - end of! They beat themselves.