Top 3 Matches since 1983

[Sidney]

1. Clare v Cork 2013

[Wildweasel74]

Just the 2nd Half Sid, 1st was poor enough fair

[Syferus]

Those hurling bastàrds did that just to spite the footballers. Awful petty yokes.

[Sidney]

Just the 2nd Half Sid, 1st was poor enough fair

I thought the first half itself was engrossing stuff. Cork didn't play to their potential but that was down to Clare's display which was exhilarating. Incredible to see a team of what are not much more than babies play with such fearlessness and skill.

The second half was Shakespearean, Hitchcockian, insert your own superlatives here.

[Captain Obvious]

1. Clare v Cork 2013

Cork v Dublin semi final was better than todays match.

[Sidney]

1. Clare v Cork 2013

Cork v Dublin semi final was better than todays match.

Great match but today's game, and especially the drama, was superior.

The second half scores by Podge Collins, Conor Ryan and the equaliser by Domhnall O'Donovan will live forever.

[blanketattack]

Podge Collins' point was great but it's annoying to add to the legend by saying it was directly after the Cork goal, it wasn't, it was the 2nd Clare score after the goal.

[nrico2006]

Only the league and probably not widely seen as they weren't on television but I have a soft spot for the drawn and replayed league semi-final in 2004 between Galway and Tyrone. Maybe because I was at both of them and they were two of the best games I have ever seen in person. Found a match report of the first game. Two hidden classics.

Byline: Orla BANNON

ANY remaining sceptics of league football should have been in Omagh yesterday as Tyrone and Galway served up an absolute classic Allianz semi-final contest which ended in a draw after extra-time.

Both teams really emptied the tank in this absorbing thriller played with all the intensity and pace of an All-Ireland final.

It was as good a game of football as we'll see all year and the only pity was that Croke Park didn't stage it although at least we have another pulsating contest to look forward to in Pearse Stadium, Salthill this Sunday.

No words can describe the quality, the fitness levels and the character of these teams who lived up to their billing as two of the top teams in the country and were level an amazing nine times over the 90 minutes.

The sight of John O'Mahony and Mickey Harte - normally two of the shrewdest, coollest customers you'll see on the sideline - losing the plot and jostling each other in the dying seconds of the game best summed up the fever pitch emotion.

Padraic Joyce was sent-off for a second booking five minutes into extra-time and on a day when it seemed nothing separated the teams, Kevin Hughes received his marching orders towards the end, also for two yellows.

This was the complete game, a match brimming with high fielding, brilliant point-scoring and fierce tackling.

They were locked at 1-7 apiece at half-time after Tyrone raced into a 1-3 to 0-0 lead after just six minutes helped by a cracking goal from Sean Cavanagh.

Galway refused to buckle and hit back with a John Devane goal in the 11th minute.

Padraic Joyce was giving Ciaran Gourley a torrid time and fired over four points from play until Conor Gormley, returning after an appendix op five weeks ago, moved to full-back and nullified his threat.

Either side could have won or lost it in the second-half and it was no surprise when it finished level 1-12 apiece after the regulation 70 minutes.

However Tyrone were furious when a crucial refereeing decision in injury-time cost them the match.

Leading 1-12 to 1-11 after an inspiration score from defender Brendan Donnelly, Mark Harte's 45 metre free sailed over the bar but was disallowed for stealing yards even though similar offences from Owen Mulligan and Padraic Joyce went unpunished.

"I'm still a bit concerned with the inconsistencies in refereeing," rapped Harte.

"That's as nicely as I can put it, both the inconsistencies each day and the inconsistencies in each game - there's too many of them.

"I know it's not an easy job but I think there are grave inconsistencies and we saw a lot of them today."

When a peach from Colm McCullagh gave Tyrone a three point lead in the 53rd minute it looked like the home side would go on to victory but Galway had arrived in Healy Park really pumped up and determined to beat Tyrone at their own game.

They defended in numbers and displayed a phenomenal work-rate, showing a new hunger which confirmed they will certainly be serious All-Ireland contenders this year.

They battled back well a few times, notably after Tyrone raced into a 1-3 to 0-0 lead and again when 1-11 to 1-8 down after McCullagh's fine score.

But no-one in the 12,000 crowd was complaining when faced with two 10 minute periods of extra-time.

Joyce saw red early for a tackle on Gormley - a dubious call - and although he furiously threw his gloves in the direction of referee Michael Monahan Tyrone felt aggrieved he had stayed on the pitch so long insisting later he had dished out a lot worse after his first-half booking.

The Red Hands were in no mood to surrender the first of their national titles here yesterday and mounted one last challenge with a Mulligan free and a great point from sub Joe McMahon giving them an early 1-14 to 1-12 advantage in extra-time.

Again Galway, who moved Michael Donnellan to midfield for the extra 20 minutes, replied with two Donnellan frees at the half-time interval.

Both sets of players were out on their feet at this stage but somehow they found the energy to mount one last flurry in the final 10 minutes.

Twice Galway took the lead through Michael Meehan but twice Tyrone pegged them back first through Cavanagh and then another superb monstrous left-footed point from McCullagh to level it up at 1-16 apiece.

Brian Dooher, whose tireless running all day epitomised the never-say-die attitude of both teams, was tripped late on but the referee was in no mood to make a contentious call after such a rollercoaster battle.

There's no doubt who was most pleased afterwards with the prospect of another titanic battle in store in seven days time.

With no serious championship match until June 27 (after playing London on May 30) Galway are delighted to have another competitive match.

"A draw was probably a fair result although it could have gone either way but we're delighted to still be in the national league and looking forward to next week," said O'Mahony.

"When you get to this stage of a knockout competition you want to win and it's important we build on it now.

"This was good rehabilitation after the Wexford display and although we showed some improvement against Cavan this was good improvement again.

"The extra-time was great from our point of view because it was as competitive a game of football as you can get. Tyrone obviously didn't want to lose their winning record and we wanted to get some consistency back so we're delighted with another game."

Harte added: "People talk about this Allianz league not being taken too seriously - I think it was pretty serious out there today."

"It was a great game of football and a great advertisement for the game if any were needed."

Roll on next week.

I think I remember this game, was there a hurling match before?  Think it was the first time I sat in the new stand in Healy Park.

[AZOffaly]

that schools game was the best game ever at that level

I think St. Jarlaths against Coláiste na Sceilge (2002?) is regarded as the best schools game ever.

Declan O'Sullivan versus Michael Meehan?

I was at that game. Absolutely unreal.

[Canalman]

Best I've been at and admittedly with a bias

1 Dublin v Derry 1993
2 Dublin v Armagh 2002
3 Dublin v Kerry 2011 ( the execution of the skills of the game to include defending and tackling  were top notch)

We had some humdingers also in Leinster finals with Laois and Kildare in the 00s.

Best hurling game was Cork v Clare in 2005 AISF........ brilliant brilliant game.

[belleaqua]

that schools game was the best game ever at that level

I think St. Jarlaths against Coláiste na Sceilge (2002?) is regarded as the best schools game ever.

Declan O'Sullivan versus Michael Meehan?

I was at that game. Absolutely unreal.

Can't find the match report but here is was Jack O'Connor's take on it as manager of Colaiste na Sceilge:

Former Kerry manager Jack O'Connor has suggested that the best colleges football game ever played was the All-Ireland senior semi-final between Colaiste na Sceilge, Caherciveen and St Jarlath's, Tuam in 2002.

O'Connor was coaching Colaiste na Sceilge in a contest with the famous Tuam nursery which ended level after extra-time before being decided in extra-time second time out. The sides were level 17 times in the first game, where only three of the 40 points came from frees.

A crowd of more than 7,000 turned up and enjoyed a splendid game, which turned into a shooting duel between Declan O'Sullivan and Michael Meehan, both of whom would go on to become stars for their respective counties.

It took extra-time to separate the sides in the replay, where St Jarlath's squeezed home by a single point. The first game has become such a part of folklore that even people who weren't in the Limerick Gaelic Grounds that day pretend that they were.

"For all of us involved and for all who genuinely saw it, this was the greatest game ever played. Ninety minutes of football, including extra-time. Forty scores. All points, 37 of them from play. Only once all day was there more than a point between us. The football was brilliant," recalls O'Connor.

[AZOffaly]

I was there anyway I think there was a hurling game on afterwards, maybe Limerick v Kilkenny in the league (hence the big crowd). I remember the two teams getting a standing ovation at the end of normal time, and extra time. The hurling was a damp squib afterwards, but that game was fantastic.

[GalwayBayBoy]

that schools game was the best game ever at that level

I think St. Jarlaths against Coláiste na Sceilge (2002?) is regarded as the best schools game ever.

Declan O'Sullivan versus Michael Meehan?

I was at that game. Absolutely unreal.

The sides were level 17 times in the first game, where only three of the 40 points came from frees.

Unreal stats in fairness.

[trileacman]

Kerry v Tyrone '05 wasn't a patch on the semi-final. For me that match is up there with the best of them. As sub-plots, matches, tactics, intensity, raw emotion go, it had everything.

[imtommygunn]

La Salle - Clarinsbridge semi final the other year in the club was one of if not the best I saw. So many twists and turns in it you just didn't know what was going to happen as per yesterday.