All Ireland Football Final 2022
There is nothing quite like Croke Park on All Ireland final day. The sights and smells hang softly in the air. The expectations and hopes are palpable as people read through the match program anf talk about the form players, as well as the weaknesses. For the players, the hard yards put in throughout the winter and training 5 days a week is about to pay off for half of them, as only one team can be victorious, only one team can hoist the Sam Maguire aloft and bring it home to their home county. Would it be Kerry who by their standards have been going through a famine with a chasm of eight long years passing since their last Championship success? Or would Galway, who fought hard to get to first final in 21 years bring home the much sought after silverware? The one thing for sure was that this was poised to be a classic with two traditional footballing teams who tended to play attractive and expansive football. Could these players deliver on the biggest stage though?
Take a Bow lads
There are sometimes matches where the neutral would love if both teams could and this was a game like that, such was the prowess of the performances from Shane Walsh of Galway and David Clifford. They were the tallismen from each side, the go to player. Both play makers, point takers, match winners and free takers. The weight of expectation was heavy upon each of their backs, though to look at their heroic performances, you wouldn't have thought was. They served up a dish of magical football a match for the ages.
I was lucky enough to be perched in the Cusack stand, close enough to Hill 16 to dine on goods the players served up. It was sickening to be on the losing side after the final whistle went, but I felt lucky to have been there to watch these two heavy weights go to battle in person. What a match it was.
Here is the view from my seat:
The Match
Galway got off to a great start notching the first score of the game early on through the mercurial boot of Shane Walsh, who slotted over with ease. The Tribesmen settled quickly and led by three points early on, though they were aided by a serious wind that was blowing down into the Hill 16 end. The first half also saw Kerry mis firing and they hit an uncharacteristic seven wides in the first half, to Galway's one wide. Galway went in with a 0-8 to 0-7 lead, but with Kerry registering seven wides and Galway aided by the wind, we really needed to be heading into the half time break with a three or four point lead.
That could have been all the difference in the end. If and buts are no good though and you only get one chance at these big matches. Galway came up just short and it was that first half that caught us out. Had we managed to build a three or four point lead, who knows what might have happened. We just didn't make Kerry pay for their sloppiness on front of goal in the first half.
Still though, I'd have taken your hand off for a one point lead at half time before a ball was kicked, so I was not massively disappointed at half time. Being point up meant we were still very much still in the game. With shane walsh on fire and scoring points off his left and right boot, Galway could still bring Sam home. All was not lost or at least that's what I told myself, but worryingly our man of the match from the semi final against Derry was as quite as a field mouse. He'd have to shine in the second half if we to prevail.
The battle off the bench
Kerry were once the team without enough quality on their bench and came up short a few times against Dublin teams with stellar benches packed with quality. Their subs would come on and score and do maximum damage.
It seems Kerry learned from these experiences, as in this years final, it was the Kerry bench that delivered. When it really counted they found the points that won the game. Once Kerry found the lead in the 45th minute, they rarely looked back. Galway fought back gamely to tie things up at 0-16 points apiece, with five minutes to go, but unfortunately for Galway those scores from Kilian McDaid and Shane Walsh were Galway's last and Kerry managed four more through David
Clifford, Killian Spillane, Gavin White and Seán O'Shea and Kerry went onto win the match 0-20 to 0-16.
Our Galway team is still young and will hopefully come again in the next few years. It's just a pity that Damien Comer was so quite, he never really got going which was a shame for him and Galway. The day belonged to Kerry though and here were the scenes at the final whistle.
The Club Wall
This wall outside Croke Park includes the club name and badge of every GAA club in the country which is really cool and really special.
Thanks as always for stopping by everyone.
Peace Out
