1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

Event	1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Galway Kildare 1–14 (17) 1–10 (13)
Date	27 September 1998
Venue	Croke Park, Dublin
Man of the Match	Michael Donnellan
Referee	John Bannon (Longford)
Attendance	65,886
Weather	Dry
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The 1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Championship final was the 111th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.

In 2018, Martin Breheny listed this as the third greatest All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. ^[1]

Background

This was Kildare's first appearance in an All-Ireland football final since 1935. ^[2] They were assisted on their way there by a semi-final victory over Kerry, masterminded by Kerryman Mick O'Dwyer. ^[3] Going into the final Kildare were favourites to beat Galway. ^[4]

Kildare were marginal favourites to take the title after dethroning reigning champions Kerry in a tight and close game. As well as dethroning the reigning champions, Kildare had also defeated Meath and Dublin, the 1996 and 1995 champions respectively. ^[1] Galway were never in danger of losing against Derry in the semi-final and won a five-points victory in the end.

Match

Summary

Galway defeated Kildare by a scoreline of 1–14 to 1–10. ^[5] They took their first Sam Maguire Cup in 32 years - since the 1966 team completed a three-in-a-row for the county. ^{[6] [7]}

Like in their semi-final against Derry, Galway started well and had three unanswered points on the board by the 13th minute, one of which saw Michael Donnellan race towards the Kildare at great speed before taking his point. Kildare got their first score through Eddie McCormack In the 20th minute, Kildare took the lead, after Dermot Earley scored a goal. ^[8]

In response, Michael Donnellan galvanised his team with a moment of GAA magic. From his own defence, he proceeded to charge up the field at lightning pace, exchanging a pass with Kevin Walsh in midfield. The ball found its way to Seán Óg De Paor who finished the move with a well-taken point. It was a score that quelled a potential run of scores for the Lilywhites. At the interval, the score was 1–05 to 0–05 in favour of Kildare.

After the restart, Ja Fallon sniped a point off the arrears before Pádraic Joyce struck with a wonderful goal where he rounded goalkeeper Christy Byrne before finishing in front of an empty net. Galway had regained the lead and would never surrender it until the final whistle. By 50th minute, it was 1–11 to 1–06 to Galway. Kildare managed to cut the lead to three before injury time but Galway had the final score, courtesy of De Paor to give them their first title in 32 years. ^[9]

Details

27 September 1998

15:30 IST (UTC+1)

Galway	1–14 – 1–10	Kildare
Pádraic Joyce 1–2 (0–1f), Niall Finnegan 0–4 (0–2f), Jarlath Fallon 0–3 (0–1 sideline), Seán Óg de Paor 0–2, Michael Donnellan 0–2, Seán Ó Domhnaill 0–1	Report	Dermot Earley 1–1, Pádraig Brennan 0–3 (0–2f), Eddie McCormack 0–2, Karl O'Dwyer 0–2, Declan Kerrigan 0–1, Niall Buckley 0–1

Croke Park, Dublin

Attendance: 65,886

Referee: John Bannon (Longford)

Galway

Kildare

1 Martin McNamara 2 Tomás Meehan 3 Gary Fahey 4 Tomás Mannion 5 Ray Silke (c) 6 John Divilly 7 Seán Óg de Paor 8 Kevin Walsh 9 Seán Ó Domhnaill 10 Michael Donnellan 11 Jarlath Fallon 12 Shay Walsh  66' 13 Derek Savage 14 Pádraic Joyce 15 Niall Finnegan Substitutes: 16 Pat Comer 17 Brian Silke 18 Richie Fahey 19 Kevin Fallon 20 Damien Mitchell 21 Paul Clancy  66' 22 Declan Meehan 23 Tommy Joyce 24 Fergal Gavin Manager: John O'Mahony

1 Christy Byrne 2 Brian Lacey 17 Seamus Dowling 4 Ken Doyle 5 John Finn 6 Glenn Ryan (c) 7 Anthony Rainbow 8 Niall Buckley 9 Willie McCreery 10 Eddie McCormack 11 Declan Kerrigan 12 Dermot Earley 13 Martin Lynch  58' 14 Karl O'Dwyer 15 Pádraig Graven  45' Substitutes: 16 Paul Flood 3 Ronan Quinn 18 Davy Dalton 19 Bryan Murphy  58' 20 Pádraig Brennan  45' 21 Martin Ryan 22 Paul McCormack 23 Derek Maher 24 Noel Donlon Manager: Mick O'Dwyer

Post-match

Kildare lost against Offaly in the first round of the following year's Leinster championship and then were relegated from the National League Division 1, ^[10] but won the Leinster Title again in 2000 before losing again to Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Galway lost the following years Connacht final to Mayo. They reclaimed the Connacht & All-Ireland Title again in 2001, after losing to Kerry in the 2000 final after a replay. Michael Donnellan's run from defence culminating in a Seán Óg De Paor point was voted #1 in the 2005 TV programme Top 20 GAA Moments .

References

1. Breheny, Martin. "Martin Breheny's Greatest All-Ireland Finals". Irish Independent . 1 September 2018, p. 7.
2. Foley, Cliona (31 August 1998). "Kildare celebrate famous victory". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Unimaginable hysteria greeted Kildare's victory which now pits them against Galway on September 27 in their first All-Ireland final since 1935.
3. McGee, Eugene (31 August 1998). "Kerry left to lament Karl move". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Mick O'Dwyer used his knowledge of his countymen to provide Kildare with a blueprint for Kerry's destruction.
4. Bradley, Dara (19 April 2013). "Underdogs Galway all set to test the mettle of fancied Lilywhites". Galway News. Archived from the original on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
5. Kenny, Tom (14 April 2011). "The men who first brought Sam to Galway". Galway Advertiser . Retrieved 14 April 2011. In 1998, we were champions again by beating Kildare 1 – 14 to 1 – 10.
6. High Ball magazine, issue #6, 1998.
7. "The inside story of 'A Year 'Til Sunday,' the great film that captured Galway's All-Ireland win in 1998". The 42. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
8. "Dermot Earley admits Kildare overtraining resulted in 'niggly injuries' ahead of 1998 All-Ireland final". Irish Examiner . 7 February 2021. An All-Star that year and a goalscorer in the first half of the final, Earley acknowledges the injuries which some players carried into the final may have been due to their tough preparation.
9. "Flashback - 1998 All-Ireland Football Final: Galway v Kildare". GAA.ie. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
10. "Sunday is the day when either Galway or Kildare will be found out at Croker". The Kerryman. 25 August 2000. Retrieved 24 June 2013.