AI Football Final 2010: An Corcaigh vs An Dún

[nrico2006]

Well done to Cork and thanks to Down for a good season.

Walsh was huge for Cork yesterday..... kept Cork going when wheels nearly came off in the first half. A fully fit Ambrose might have been enough to give Down a bit more in the sector but ultimately the difference between the teams was Gouldings accuracy with frees and in particular the 3 45s. Clarke missed one from a similar position in first half and played a few short which might have been in Ambrose's range. Also thought Gordons ( dubious) booking meant he had to stand off O'Connor a bit more ....small things matter in a one point game.   

Poland was again excellent and along with McKernan has shown himself to be very comfortable at this level.  It might be stating the bleedin obvious when you lose an all ireland by a point but Down arent that short  ....if we could get Ambrose back and the full forward position sorted during the national league ( John Clarke has been a great servant to Down but is a bit short of pace/ strength/ height  to worry defences at county level) then maybe  we can hang around for a few years...it is a long way back though. Gaainfo ranks us in 5th now but I do think things have levelled out ....Cork only beat the 18th ranked county after extra time and Down struggled against the 25th ranked one this year.   

   
Rank      County   Points
1       Cork   1822.45
2       Kerry   1768.88
3       Dublin   1733.71
4       Tyrone   1665.81
5       Down   1632.26
6       Mayo   1611.08
7       Meath   1585.08
8       Armagh   1564.94
9       Kildare   1546.13
10       Monaghan   1531.33
11       Galway   1517.11
12       Derry   1511.39
13       Donegal   1478.22
14       Wexford   1380.53
15       Louth   1374.62
16       Sligo   1367.57
17       Laois   1339.96
18       Limerick   1317.00
19       Antrim   1301.58
20       Tipperary   1266.01
21       Cavan   1259.42
22       Roscommon   1245.09
23       Westmeath   1234.28
24       Fermanagh   1227.81
25       Offaly   1220.40
26       Wicklow   1151.50
27       Longford   1128.21
28       Waterford   1052.46
29       Leitrim   1035.73
30       Clare   996.53
31       Carlow   929.46
32       London   644.23
33       New York   611.87
34       Kilkenny   409.35

Never knew there were rankings, but from looking at them they mean very little.  Why are Kerry in 2nd or Dublin 4th?  Mayo and Kildare would need swapped and 12 to 15 are not there on merit either. 

[Billys Boots]

Congrats to Cork - they were the best team in the country this year, but only just.

[Declan]

Well done to Cork - just about deserved it yesterday on their second half performance. Canty enjoyed that alright!

[omagh_gael]

Was thinking to myself last night, why didn't Down change their kick out strategy? Cork absolutely cleaned them out in the middle. I know the short kickouts are risky but even bring Dan Gordon out to half-back line and try and isolate him the odd time to win possession. It seemed to me that Mc Veigh just pumped the long ball into the middle and hoped for the best. McCartan said himself last night they had to just let Cork win the ball then try and take it off them when they hit the ground.

[Dubh driocht]

Great day
Mediocre but exciting game
Super supporters and great GAA organisation apart from no pitch access
Disappointing result
Best team in All Ireland are All Ireland Champions
Great year for Down

[MCMLX]

Well done Cork, best team won in the end. We can have no real complaints. Enjoy your celebrations tonight and in the coming weeks. Yet again it is a pity that the people werent allowed on to the field to celebrate with their team. The GAA are doing their upmost to alienate the people they need most.

[thewobbler]

Kicking it longer and straighter has been Down's favoured - if rarely successful - approach to getting over midfield problems, for as long as I can remember. In fairness, Down did get punished on one of the few occasions McVeigh went short (to Maginn), and that drop seemed to signal the end of short ones.

I don't think  alone in wondering why Big Dan want moved upfield for the final quarter, but it would have taken something savage for him to reverse the momentum.

[passedit]

Well done to Cork and thanks to Down for a good season.

Walsh was huge for Cork yesterday..... kept Cork going when wheels nearly came off in the first half. A fully fit Ambrose might have been enough to give Down a bit more in the sector but ultimately the difference between the teams was Gouldings accuracy with frees and in particular the 3 45s. Clarke missed one from a similar position in first half and played a few short which might have been in Ambrose's range. Also thought Gordons ( dubious) booking meant he had to stand off O'Connor a bit more ....small things matter in a one point game.   

Poland was again excellent and along with McKernan has shown himself to be very comfortable at this level.  It might be stating the bleedin obvious when you lose an all ireland by a point but Down arent that short  ....if we could get Ambrose back and the full forward position sorted during the national league ( John Clarke has been a great servant to Down but is a bit short of pace/ strength/ height  to worry defences at county level) then maybe  we can hang around for a few years...it is a long way back though. Gaainfo http://www.gaainfo.com/rankings/index.php ranks us in 5th now but I do think things have levelled out ....Cork only beat the 18th ranked county after extra time and Down struggled against the 25th ranked one this year.   

Hard to disagree with any of that BC. While I'm disappointed Down lost I'm delighted for Canty and Murphy (definitely not frank) especially. The difference for me was that Cork used five midfielders with previous all ireland experience during the course of the game while Down had to send on a halfback when one of theirs had run his race. Down were absolutely fantastic in the first half considering they were being obliterated in Midfield but were never going to sustain that workrate for 70 mins. With the amount of primary possession Cork had their forwards were eventually going to come good. Indeed I thought they'd run away with it once they hit the front but great credit to Down for coming back at them and they could have sneaked a draw in the end.

We'll be back.

[Main Street]

I would have thought moving Dan Gordon out to MF was the obvious change to make in the 2nd half when Cork were winning most every ball.

[naka]

I would have thought moving Dan Gordon out to MF was the obvious change to make in the 2nd half when Cork were winning most every ball.

thought so myself, i think james acknowledged this also

[rrhf]

Dodgy Gordon booking, big hit from Walsh, 2 points before half time, 4 key down men didnt take the game by the scruff of the neck, Corks superb free kicks and some great angled points from play at key moments.  I enjoyed this all irelandfinal and am delighted for Cork and disappointed for the Down men.   It was the lowest quality of football played at this level since 1995/ 97 though and those gushing over it need to have a look at themselves.
I remember seeing pictures of my own clubmen on the sideline in 1960 and to be honest with the excitement in the last few minutes I felt I was there with them, but in  front of me there were bouncers eyeing up the crowd for trouble, trouble in their eyes, being the type of person who would celebrate winning an all ireland on the pitch.  That huge waste of tickets from the yellow coated blow ins in the hill and all round.  Thsi was overkill, soccor, insulting to the real GAA people, who have behaved impeccably for over 100 years.  Its GAA folks but not as we know it.  Its time for more "of one belief"!!

[Naomh Pol CLG]

Aye Benny McArdle to Full back and Gordon to midfield with King taking a seat would have been the obvious one...But to be honest, we were in the lead at half time and I can understand why James held off!

[Croí na hÉireann]

Surprised there's been no mention of Down breaking away from the parade in front of the Hill and going into a mad series of sprints. Shields didn't know what to do and they ambled away moments later and were left standing in the middle for what felt like an age. I thought it was a great piece of thinking by McCartan to try and unsettle Cork and he seemed very pleased with himself on the sideline when it cut to him. And then Cork turned that on its head and flew out of the traps and probably should have made a start like the Tyrone minors.

It was a good, tight match but not a great match. Cork's subs in the second half won it and it's just reward for the Canty's and Murphy's who've perceived year in, year out. Couldn't believe Down took off Comiskey and Pollard, Pollard and Hughes were best for Down imo. Surprised when they took off King as well but they had to do something in the middle I suppose.

I can't believe RTÉ didn't even nominate Aidan Walsh for the MOTM never mind award him it, I thought he was immense in midfield and produced a performance in the biggest game of the year that he never even hinted at previously. Shocked they didn't give it to O'Connor either. Also the 2 minutes of injury time was pitiful, I'd be raging with that if I was a Down man.

I watched the game on the old analogue while listening to Micheál Ó M on the radio, although he was a bit ahead of the action it didn't really detract meaningfully from the game, a pleasure to listen to and Tommy Carr didn't overly but in either, fair play to him. It feels like when the doors to Croker were opened, probably the right time to do it but the GAA lost some of its aura and magic, he will be sadly missed from the airwaves. Wouldn't be an enthusiastic supporter of the International Rules but I'll be in Croker with my radio for his last game, we'll never see the likes of him again.

Down were very magnanimous at the final whistle to go as a group to shake the hands of the Cork players and was a nice touch. I'd still prefer to see the fans let on to the pitch in an orderly manner, after the panels have had time to celebrate/congratulate each other, for the presentation of the cup. Not many Cork fans hung around in the stand for the lap of honour, looked a bit flat.

[Main Street]

I had the audio tuned into Mícheal but I had to turn him off in the 2nd half. The game was already rip roaring/exciting enough and Micheál, right in the thick of the excitement, was only accelerating the pulse rate more, to uneasy levels.

[Maiden1]

What is it with Cork teams and big men.  Do they just breed them bigger in that part of the world.  Even the hurling team with Michael Cussen and Osaki O'Halpin on it, they look like Giants compared to the other teams.

I think McCartan should have took Gordon out the field earlier, Cork where not really putting the ball in high and O'Connor seemed to have the better of Gordon when they put it in low.  An extra person who can win kickouts would have helped maybe.

The substitutions didn't really work yesterday, the new guys coming on seemed to struggle to stay on there feet, with the wet weather, it looked like they had the wrong studs on or something.