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1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final
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June 2020
June 2020
1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final 1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Galway 40px 1–14(17) Kildare 40px 1–10(13) 27 September 1998 Croke Park Dublin Michael Donnellan John Bannon (Longford) 65,886 Dry 1997 1999
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.Breheny, Martin. "Martin Breheny's Greatest All-Ireland Finals". Irish Independent. 1 September 2018, p. 7.
Background
This was Kildare's first appearance in an All-Ireland football final since 1935.Cliona Foley http://www.independent.ie/sport/kildare-celebrate-famous-victory-437492.html Kildare celebrate famous victory Irish Independent Independent News & Media 31 August 1998 Unimaginable hysteria greeted Kildare's victory which now pits them against Galway on September 27 in their first All-Ireland final since 1935. They were assisted on their way there by a semi-final victory over Kerry, masterminded by Kerryman Mick O'Dwyer.Eugene McGee http://www.independent.ie/sport/kerry-left-to-lament-karl-move-437498.html Kerry left to lament Karl move Irish Independent Independent News & Media 31 August 1998 Mick O'Dwyer used his knowledge of his countymen to provide Kildare with a blueprint for Kerry's destruction. Going into the final Kildare were favourites to beat Galway.Dara Bradley http://www.galwaynews.ie/31148-underdogs-galway-all-set-test-mettle-fancied-lilywhites Underdogs Galway all set to test the mettle of fancied Lilywhites Galway News 19 April 2013 19 April 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130424084756/http://www.galwaynews.ie/31148-underdogs-galway-all-set-test-mettle-fancied-lilywhites 24 April 2013 dead
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. Galway were never in danger of losing against Derry in the semi-final and won a five-points victory in the end.
Match
This year's final was played on 27 September.https://www.gaa.ie/api/pdfs/image/upload/t8bphnbixyanijooj1un.pdfbook The Complete Handbook of GAELIC GAMES 2021 DBA 154August 2026 InternetArchiveBot
Summary
Galway defeated Kildare by a scoreline of 1–14 to 1–10.Tom Kenny https://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/38701/the-men-who-first-brought-sam-to-galway The men who first brought Sam to Galway Galway Advertiser 14 April 2011 14 April 2011 In 1998, we were champions again by beating Kildare 1 – 14 to 1 – 10. They took their first Sam Maguire Cup in 32 years – since the 1966 team completed a three-in-a-row for the county.High Ball magazine, issue #6, 1998. http://www.the42.ie/a-year-til-sunday-interview-3329779-Apr2017/ The inside story of 'A Year 'Til Sunday,' the great film that captured Galway's All-Ireland win in 1998 9 April 2017 The 42 10 April 2017
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.https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-40222025.html 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.
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 1–5 to 0–5 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 the 50th minute, it was 1–11 to 1–6 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. https://www.gaa.ie/football/news/flashback-1998-all-ireland-football-final-galway-v-kildare/ Flashback - 1998 All-Ireland Football Final: Galway v Kildare 23 March 2020 GAA.ie 23 March 2020
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 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 65,886 John Bannon (Longford) http://www.independent.ie/sport/hungrier-galway-end-the-western-famine-26175747.html
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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 6613 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 6622 Declan Meehan 23 Tommy Joyce 24 Fergal Gavin Manager:John O'Mahony1 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 5814 Karl O'Dwyer 15 Pádraig Graven 45Substitutes:16 Paul Flood 3 Ronan Quinn 18 Davy Dalton 19 Bryan Murphy 5820 Pádraig Brennan 4521 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,http://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/sport/other-sports/sunday-is-the-day-when-either-galway-or-kildare-will-be-found-out-at-croker-27373901.html Sunday is the day when either Galway or Kildare will be found out at Croker The Kerryman 25 August 2000 24 June 2013 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
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, 1998
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Finals
Category:All-Ireland Senior Football Championship finals
Category:GAA finals at Croke Park
Category:Galway county football team matches
Category:Kildare county football team matches