GAA's provincial football finals provided fans with modern miracle – let's hope it's a sign of what's to come

The Irish Sun

14-05-2025

IT'S a miracle — the GAA's provincial football Championships are back from the dead.
With four finals complete, three of them have delivered absolute stormers that will live long in the memory.
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Croke Park was a sea of red, green and gold on Sunday
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While Clones' St. Tiernach's Park was at its sold-out best on the Saturday
The Leinster SFC was on life support last year when Dublin coasted to their 14th Delaney Cup in a row.
Only 23,113 fans turned up to see them beat Louth 1-19 to 2-12 last May in a repeat of the final from the year before.
Well, at Croke Park, someone finally pressed the panic button — and they should've done it years ago.
Still, hail to the provincial chiefs for
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The Sky Blues were removed from the Croker comfort zone they enjoyed for far too long and the switch came up trumps.
It was up to the chasing pack to take them down. And Meath did just that in Portlaoise last month.
Grown men cried as 15 years of Royal pain were washed away by Robbie Brennan's gallant players led by Mathew Costello, Eoghan Frayne, Bryan Menton and James Conlon.
That 0-23 to 1-16 win blew the whole thing wide open. Louth did their bit in the other semi against Kildare.
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The dream Leinster final was upon us.
The annals of 2010 were dusted off, as if they needed to be. The Wee County's wounds from that awful day were not even close to healed.
Louth GAA homecoming in Drogheda after Leinster final win over Meath
Flashbacks of Joe Sheridan's thrown goal haunted them each night.
They could have all the therapy in the world — but only one thing would banish those demons.
And it all came together on
A whopping 65,786 turned up to take it all in. The competition that was on its knees was jumping through the roof.
The game matched the occasion, and a whopping day of drama delivered in spades — Craig Lennon's solo goal into Hill 16, Sam Mulroy's 1-7 haul and a Louth team that refused to leave Jones's Road without the trophy that had eluded them for so long.
Meath will have regrets. They came so close.
The Dubs will be back too — but the playing field has been levelled and the conveyor belt in the capital city has stalled enough to suggest that the Meaths, Louths and Kildares of this world can seize the day once again.
UP ULSTER
Ulster, meanwhile. has been in rude health for as long as we can remember.
But the northern province hit fever pitch in Clones all over again on Saturday, as
Extra-time, super goals, unbelievable scores and two fierce rivals in Donegal and Armagh went toe to toe.
Michael Murphy's fairytale comeback was matched with a dream performance.
The big man lorded the Clones skies all over again.
His team prevailed but the All-Ireland champions are far from finished in their bid for back-to-back crowns.
WEST'S AWAKE
Over in Connacht the week before,
The only province still clinging on for dear life is Munster.
Kerry's Kingdom dominate, and their 4-20 to 0-21 cruise against Clare served no purpose.
Sure, Cork gave them a hell of a fright in the semis, but the final was a formality as soon as Joe O'Connor lashed home that epic extra-time goal against the Rebels.
Mark Keane's goal sunk the Kingdom in 2020 but they still lost the final to Tipperary on a magical night at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
The pandemic had thrown normality out the window and Cork's last provincial title was in 2012.
How that problem child is dealt with remains to be seen. Can Cork truly revive the rivalry?
Still, at least the other three look healthy. We may enjoy this miracle while we can.
Only recently the provinces were heading for the scrapheap. Calls to remove their status in the calendar and links to the All-Ireland were growing.
But this turnaround has saved them for a few more years — and the new rules have played a massive part.
Whatever happens next is anyone's guess there will be plenty more twists in the tale. After years of despair, football is finally giving us so much joy again.