Christy O'Connor's talking points: Handing out the awards for Championship 2025
MOST MEMORABLE GAME: The Ulster final between Armagh and Donegal had an extra sprinkle of magic. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Armagh-Donegal Ulster final. The Cork-Kerry Munster semi-final which Kerry won after extra-time and the Derry-Galway round robin match which ended in a draw were superb matches but the Ulster final in May just had that extra sprinkling of magic. The 2024 final was the best Ulster decider since 2003 but this match surpassed those games. This was undoubtedly one of the greatest Ulster finals – possibly the greatest.
Louth’s Leinster title success and liberation from 68 years of hurt and disappointment. For years, the Leinster final was reduced to a mere formality through Dublin’s dominance but it was finally a huge occasion again with the presence of Meath and Louth and the golden opportunity that it presented. And Louth gloriously grabbed it.
The amount of one-sided games at the climax of the championship across the last three matches. Kerry only beat Tyrone by six points but it could easily have been a 16-point margin. Donegal’s 20-point victory over Meath was the biggest All-Ireland semi-final beatdown in 30 years. A 10-point defeat may have been harsh on Donegal but Kerry were in such control so early in the final that the game felt over long before it was. It was the biggest losing margin in a final for 18 years.
The Leinster championship. Meath blew it wide open when taking out Dublin while Kildare-Louth was another really good contest that went to the wire. Two years on from getting hammered by Dublin by 21 points in the Leinster final, who would have predicted back then that Louth would be champions within 24 months? Outside of Louth, nobody.
With Mayo involved, nothing is ever a shock, but few saw their defeat to Cavan in MacHale Park coming in May. Fewer still would have predicted it would be so comfortable. Cavan were eight points clear as the hooter loomed but Mayo put a gloss on the scoreboard with a goal from Aidan O’Shea and points from Ryan O’Donoghue and Fergal Boland. Although they defeated Tyrone in their next match, Mayo knew from the moment they lost to Cavan that it could cost them qualification from the group. And it ultimately did.
It may sound contradictory when Ciarán Moore’s late point won the game for Donegal, and kept Cavan in the championship, but it also knocked Mayo out. A draw would have meant the same outcome for Donegal - they’d have still finished second in the group - but it would have secured third spot for Mayo. Seconds earlier, a Fergal Boland equaliser looked to have saved them but Shaun Patton got off the kickout before the hooter sounded and Moore landed the winner. And flattened a whole county in the process.
Luke Loughlin’s 1-17 against Antrim in the Tailteann Cup was a sensational individual contribution lost in the morass of matches in May. Loughlin’s total was buttressed by five 2-pointers, but he still hit an incredible 0-13 from play. Loughlin’s form was red hot in the championship; he also registered an impressive 0-11 in the Leinster quarter-final against Kildare, 0-7 off his left, 0-4 off his right.
Ciarán Lennon’s sublime strike in the Leinster final. After cutting through the Meath defence in the 35th minute with pace and a decisive incision, Lennon embellished the move with the power and precision of his strike, burying the ball in the top corner of Billy Hogan’s net. One of the best goals seen in years, Louth’s narrow and glorious victory added to value of the strike. (Brian Howard’s superb goal against Cork also deserves special mention).
David Clifford’s second two-pointer midway through the first half last Sunday was actually a better score but the context and timing of Clifford’s orange flag in additional time of the first half – and the knife it plunged into Donegal hearts and hopes – made it possibly the standout score of the championship.
Colm Reape’s stop from a Shane O’Donnell piledriver in the round robin game in June. Reape may have got lucky but he made himself big, his body span was wide, while Reape’s left hand was stiff and strong. In the same match, Reape also made another monumental save, one that was born out of sheer desire and determination and he hunted up huge ground – after being caught out the field on a long kickout – to deflect the ball from Patrick McBrearty’s toe as the Donegal man was about to roll the ball into an empty net. Shane Murphy’s save from Chris Óg Jones in the Munster semi-final also deserves special mention.
David Clifford. Joe O’Connor had an outstanding season but Clifford is Clifford. Finished the year as the championship top scorer with 8-62, an average of 9.5 points per game. The top scorer in the country by 33 points. Enough said.
Finnbarr Roarty. Hard to believe that one of the outstanding defenders in the championship is still under 19 and won’t turn 20 until January. The All-Ireland final didn’t work out as well as the Donegal man would have hoped, but Roarty showed maturity and class beyond his years throughout the season.
