The provincial system may be wretched but it sure can howl
Declan Bogue
HOW DO YOU think they will remember the 2025 Ulster final?
The first one played under the new playing rules.
The one where Michael Murphy came out of retirement for one Last Dance and picked up his fourth provincial title.
The third Ulster final in a row that went to extra-time.
The third in a row that Armagh lost.
The one where Shaun Patton’s fingertips to an Oisín O’Neill short turned it from a two-point score to a single.
The one where the two teams produced a performance of rare excellence and shooting.
The one where both management teams had to think on their feet, recycling tired bodies, making multiple substitutions.
The one when the Ulster Council fixed the game for a 5.25pm throw-in, leaving all day for the youngsters to turn the old railway pitstop of Clones into a lurid, throbbing party town.
The one when Niall O’Donnell scored the winner, just as he scored equalisers last year that didn’t allow Armagh off the hook.
The one where Shaun Patton caught Ethan Rafferty’s kickout.
The one where Ethan Rafferty caught Shaun Patton’s kickouts.
The one where wily old campaigner Hugh McFadden found a ball bobbling towards him and swung a powerful right boot at it that Gabriel Batistuta would have admired as it bulged the net.
The one where Ciaran Moore was playing, was taken off, was put back on again and found himself free to crash in Donegal’s second goal.
The one where Ryan McHugh was detailed in a marking job on Rory Grugan, thereby negating the Armagh mainframe.
The one where Donegal hit two goals, while Armagh hit two posts, the second that rolled across the face of goal.
The one where 28,788 turned up on a burning evening.
The one where the Garda Síochána had to separate the players of both teams as they got involved in a punching match at the final whistle.
The one where Rian O’Neill fetched up in an Armagh tracksuit again, having been absent since the All-Ireland final last year.
We don’t know what you might take from it. And in less than seven days, the games begin for the 2025 All-Ireland football championship. Perhaps by then, the provincial championships might not matter as much. Or at all.
But after a fortnight that featured a juicy Connacht final, an epic Ulster and a Leinster final with more spice that your local Bajee Palace coming later today, perhaps it’s nice to take some value from your provincial titles.
Donegal celebrate these things like they are just bring an end to 100 years of famine. They whoop and they holler and their supporters are straw-hatted country-music loving workboot-wearing yahoos determined to wring every last ounce out of the day.
There was a time, back in 2010, that Tyrone strolled to an Ulster final win over Monaghan. That day, Brian Dooher lifted the cup and St Tiernach’s Park was practically empty, with just two Tyrone fans on the pitch.
You cannot imagine that happening now.
“They’re all very unique. They’re all very, very unique and they’re all as special, you know, as the next one, to be honest with you,” said Jim McGuinness afterwards.
“And you know, you’ve a packed house out there and the sun’s shining. And, you know, we all travelled to Ulster Finals as children. And that’s the moment. The house is full and the sun is shining.
“And somebody’s going to win and somebody, unfortunately, is not going to win. And we had a lot of days against Armagh, in many respects, where we were out the wrong side of it. A lot of days I played in Ulster Finals.
“So they’re very, very special. They’re very, very special. And we will enjoy tonight and enjoy that with our families and everything else. And refocus then as quickly as we can because another competition is going to start now.
“But we’re not talking much about that tonight. Just proud of them tonight. Proud of the way they went about it and kept going to the very end. And they’re entitled to celebrate.”
There are arguments made that the greatest game of Gaelic football in Ulster was played between Derry and Down in Celtic Park in 1994. In the days of a straight knockout, there was everything on the line that day and Derry lost their All-Ireland and Ulster crowns to Down, who went on to win both.
But watch that game back and have a think to yourself.
Every single ball was contested with a manic determination that took away from the football. At one stage the ball was drifting over a sideline when DJ Kane hoofed it as far as he could into the crowd. Because it was nearly more important to win the race to the ball, rather than protect it.
In 30 years of watching Ulster football, we cannot recall anything quite like it. The quality of score-taking, the control of the ball, how every kickout was an act of utter theatre.
“Well, for me, the Ulster Championship and the Munster Hurling Championship are just on a par. They bring so much. They ignite so much within people. It’s crazy,” said McGuinness.
“…I think the provincials are in a good place. I think there’s a lot of people, for whatever reason, talking them down or had been talking them down. But maybe that narrative will change on the back of this season because that was a serious competition in all provinces this year.
“And for us, we’re just thankful. We’re delighted. We’re thankful. And we’ll travel down the road now and enjoy the evening with our supporters.”
In the other corner, feeling very differently, is Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney.
He’s been here before. Last year, the year before. He knows how it goes.
“It’s always tough when you get beat, so what do you do? That’s part and parcel of sport, you just have to keep going,” he says.
Last year, the team chose to go to Lurgan for a day or two on the beer. They pulled even closer in to each other, and went on to win an All-Ireland.
In the group stages, where they will be in with Galway, Dublin and Derry, they will have a significant addition to the squad in Rian O’Neill.
Would you write them off?
It’s fair to say that these two teams hate each other. It’s fair to say too, that’s the element that makes this rivalry compelling.
The provincial system may not be perfect. But it sure can howl.
The 42
