2013 All Ireland Senior Football Championship review

Glory for Jim Gavin's Dublin.

I remember watching Jim Gavin strut into Parnell Park for his first press conference when he was being unveiled as Dublin senior football manager at the start of the season. He looked calm, determined, and confident. It was the same humble look Gavin had when he watched the Dublin captain Stephen Cluxton lift the Sam Maguire trophy at the end of the Championship. Gavin has instilled a quietly relentless winning ethos into this Dublin panel. And it paid dividends.

                                              

Dublin were crowned both League and Championship winners this season. Dublin overcame Tyrone by a single point at the end of April to secure the Division 1 League title. And it was the same winning margin when they beat Mayo by 2-12 to 1-14 at the end of September to ensure Sam Maguire was staying in the capital. The football final wasn’t the most exciting of games but it was an All Ireland final that saw the two best teams of the summer competing. It was also a final played by two teams who endorse an expansive, skilful style of play.

This season saw Joe Brolly condemn Sean Cavanagh’s manhood after a cynical performance which has plagued Tyrone under the leadership of Mickey Harte. The GAA has had to endure a lot of negative press over widening gaps in quality between teams and over negative styles of play creeping into the game. Let’s not forget the tactics of Jim McGuinness and his Donegal team. But perhaps a new strategy is needed after Mayo dismantled his Donegal outfit by 16 points in an All Ireland quarter final. Dublin brought a breath of fresh air to the football Championship through Jim Gavin’s game plan.

Gavin inherited a talented panel of players whose foundation had been put in place by Pat Gilroy. However, Gavin blended experience with youth perfectly. Gavin worked with many of the rising stars of Dublin GAA during his tenure as under 21 manager. Paul Mannion, Jack McCaffrey, and Ciaran Kilkenny looked like seasoned veterans for Dublin throughout their campaign. Mannion and McCaffrey were both nominated for Young Player of the Year with the Clontarf man, Jack McCaffrey, collecting the accolade.

Dublin’s solid central line of Stephen Cluxton, Rory O’Carroll, Cian O’Sullivan, Michael Darragh MacAuley, Paul Flynn, and Bernard Brogan all picked up All Star awards thanks to a successful season with the Dubs. Midfielder Michael Darragh MacAuley picked up the Player of the Year award due to a outstanding season.

It was heartbreak in the final for a second year for Mayo, having lost to Donegal in 2012. It’s now 63 years since Mayo have achieved All Ireland glory. Dublin’s dominance has the potential to develop into a mini-dynasty if nurtured in the correct manner by the meticulous Jim Gavin and his coaching staff.

Aside from Dublin bossing the All Ireland, the big story of the early part of the Championship went to London GAA. Paul Coggins, London manager, managed to transform a bunch of limited footballers into a competitive side who reached the Connacht final. Their semi-final victory against Leitrim was one of the highlights of the season, winning by a single point in a 2-11 to 1-13 victory. London’s campaign highlighted the seldom positives emigration has in the world of GAA

Lorcan Mulvey evades the Leitrim defence and is the first London player to be nominated for an All Star award.

My abiding memory of the Championship this year is undoubtedly the All Ireland semi-final between Dublin and Kerry. Legendary broadcaster, Michael O’Muircheartaigh, claimed it was the best game he has witnessed since 1948. Games between these two football hotbeds have been historical landmarks in the world of the GAA.

                                                           

It seemed fitting that in a year where we lost one of the most iconic figures in the GAA, Dublin’s own Kevin Heffernan, that a match of this magnitude between these two counties occurred. ‘Heffo’ was described as having an “incalculable impact on Gaelic games” by GAA president Liam O’Neill.

Kevin McManamon scores a late goal to secure All Ireland glory for Dublin.

It was two teams playing football the way it should be played. The 3-18 to 3-11 scoreline flattered the Dubs who blitzed Kerry with a late 2-02 orchestrated by super-sub Kevin McManamon, just like in 2011. Modern greats of football all played their roles. The O’Se brothers, Maher, and Cooper for Kerry and Cluxton, Brogan, and Connolly for Dublin.

It was as good as any Dublin vs Kerry match gets. Two traditional rivals battling it out in a gripping encounter. For all the history that this fixture possesses Dublin triumphed in a match which was retro, yet absolutely modern.

S.DAWSON 16/12/13