It’s an article of faith that goals tend to be the pivotal scores in All-Ireland finals but how do the green flag tallies stack up in the men’s and ladies’ deciders?
Well, for lovers of goalfests, the ladies’ final is the one to catch. The first of them took place 50 years ago and in those early years, there were bagfuls of goals, with the first 10 finals, including one replay, producing 40.
And yet, in the first 13 seasons from 1974 on, there were more goals in the men’s final on seven occasions (this was the golden era for majors in finals — in 1977, there were 14 in total across both!).
And then it all changed and the goals dried up on the men’s big day. Since 1987, there have been only seven years in which there were more goals in the men’s All-Ireland senior final than the ladies. This year, the women managed three against a solitary three-pointer in the men’s final.
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Lovely Leitrim
There were joyous scenes at Croker yesterday when Leitrim women won the Intermediate All-Ireland Championship final for only the second time in the county’s history (the first was in 2007).
Leitrim also won the Junior All-Ireland in 1988 and have now earned their passage to senior ranks, where they will hope to join an exclusive club of just four counties to have completed the clean sweep of ladies’ football Junior, Intermediate and Senior All-Ireland titles.
The Junior Championship was inaugurated in 1985, with yesterday’s senior runners-up Galway the first winner, while the first Intermediate Championship was held in 1997, with new senior champs Kerry taking the honours.
The four counties who have won all three are Roscommon, Waterford, Cork and, most notably, Meath, intermediate champions in 2020 and senior winners in the following two years.
Let the good times roll
The good times continue to roll for Armagh as Clann Éireann ladies won the O’Neills All-Ireland 7s title, held at the Naomh Mearnóg and St Sylvester’s clubs in Dublin on Saturday.
The Lurgan club, who had reached the final twice before, defeated Knockmore of Mayo in the semi-final and St Ergnat’s from Antrim in the final.
Two goals from Meabh McCambridge were among the highlights. Incidentally, McCambridge’s brother, Barry, picked up his first Celtic Cross last weekend and is currently odds-on favourite with the bookmakers for the coveted Footballer of the Year award.
Another Orchard club, St Mochua’s from Derrynoose, came up just short in the Intermediate final, losing to Ballymaguigan of Derry, with Kildare’s Milltown winning the Junior crown.
Fermanagh triumph
Similarly to the lower tiers of hurling, the All-Ireland Ladies JFC has come to be dominated by a few sides. Fermanagh’s win yesterday was their third since 2017 and they also lost a final in a replay in that period.
Louth have been in six finals since 2010 while Limerick have appeared in four since 2009. In the last eight seasons, there has only been one year in which none of that trio featured in the showpiece.
Word of Mouth
“I’ve lived for this day ... I’m only 21 but by God, I’ve dreamed of it since I was a f**king child and I am just so happy and honoured to be on that bus going down the road with the Mary Quinn Cup!” — Leitrim star Muireann Devaney speaking immediately after the final whistle.
By the Numbers: 7-39
What Fermanagh’s Eimear Smyth scored in the All-Ireland JFC this year.
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