THE previous All-Ireland football final to end in a replay before last Sunday's produced one of the most controversial finals in modern times. In 1988, Cork and Meath played out a tightly contested draw and a niggly, foul-ridden replay.

The counties had met the previous year at the same stage and the match had passed off without incident with Meath, the far better side, winning comfortably. There then began an 18-month period during which the team staked a convincing claim to being unarguably the best side in the country.

In retrospect, most agree that they peaked in defeating Dublin in the `88 League final, also after a replay. They declined slowly enough to retain the All-Ireland that October - the replay having been fixed three weeks after the drawn match.

Cork were the better side in the first meeting but struggled to put scores on the board. They were caught at the end by a controversial free awarded to Meath's wing forward David Beggy whom others claimed might as easily have been penalised for over-carrying.

The build-up to the replay was marked by Meath' complaints that they had not been prepared for the extent of Cork's physical approach. The subtext was that they wouldn't be caught off-guard again.

Within minutes of the replay starting, Meath's centrefielder Gerry McEntee hit Cork corner back Niall Cahalane in full view of everyone. Referee Tommy Sugrue sent McEntee to the line. That Meath struggled on to win the All-Ireland owed something to Cork's ineptitude on the day but also to Meath's freely-admitted tactic of fouling opponents in possession in order to slow down the game.

Referee Tommy Sugrue seemed reluctant to send off any further Meath players so the tactic went unpunished

The aftermath featured a pamphleteering war between players. Liam Hayes and Colm O'Rourke justified Meath's approach in the Sunday Press and Sunday Tribune respectively while Dinny Allen attacked it in the Sunday Independent.

The immediate aftermath included the failure of some Cork players to attend the Monday lunch for the teams, at which then GAA president John Dowling criticised aspects of Meath's play.

As a postscript, some Meath players refused to walk up and accept their medals from Dowling at a presentation function in the county some weeks later.