Leinster Senior Football Championship

Leinster Senior Football Championship

The GAA Leinster Senior Football Championship is the premier "knockout" competition in the game of football played in the province of Leinster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Leinster Council and are played during the summer months. The competition involves the counties of...

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Connacht Senior Football Championship

Connacht Senior Football Championship

The Bank of Ireland Connacht Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition for the senior county teams of Connacht GAA. A series of games are played during the summer months and the final is played in July....

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Ulster Senior Football Championship

Ulster Senior Football Championship

For information on this years competition, see Ulster Senior Football Championship 2011-2010 Draw:-2009 Draw:-2008 Draw:-Top winners:* All-Ireland winning years in bold.-Roll of honour:Notes:* 1907 No final result in records...

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All-Ireland series

All-Ireland Final

1996 is generally remembered, rightly or wrongly, as the year that Mayo threw it away. Connacht had not seen a champion crowned at Croke Park since Galway in 1966 and after such a barren spell it looked as though Mayo would bridge the yawning gap. Mayo favoured the short passing game whereas Meath were a more direct side. The contrast promised an intriguing game.

To say Mayo dominated the first game would be a severe understatement. Time and time again the westerners approached the Meath goal, only to be stymied by a resolute Royal back line. At the break there points between the teams. The second half continued in the same fashion and such pressure began to tell. With eighteen minutes remaining, Ray Dempsey managed to capitalise on a mistake by the Meath defence and score the only goal of the game. At this point, Mayo held a six point lead over Meath and looked like securing their first All-Ireland title in 45 years.

However, as has happened so often in the past, Meath reacted to such adversity with their indomitable spirit. The final quarter saw Mayo only manage to score one point as Meath slowly reduced the gap. At the final whistle, Mayo fans did not know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. Few will forget the unlikely last Meath point as Colm Coyle hoisted a ball towards the Mayo goal, only to see it bounce on the edge of the parallelogram before looping over the crossbar. Meath had snatched a draw at the death and the final would go to a replay.

All-Ireland Final Replay

The replay will be recalled in most minds as the day that a huge brawl broke out after only 5 minutes had gone. It lasted a little over 30 seconds but remains one of the most talked about incidents in GAA history.

A Maurice Sheridan free-kick dropped short in front of the Meath goal and within seconds, a scramble for the ball had turned into a full scale brawl between the teams. A plethora of mean blows were struck in the melee. Just three players in the opposite end of the field; the Mayo goalkeeper John Madden, his full-back Kevin Cahill and Meath full-forward Brendan O'Reilly were not involved. Everyone else had been drawn to that corner of the field between Hill 16 and the Cusack Stand where most of the action took place.

When order was restored, referee Pat McEnaney consulted with his officials was in no doubt about the correct course of action. The net result was the dismissal of Mayo's hugely influential Liam McHale and Meath's saviour the first day Colm Coyle. While the Royal would miss their classy defender there is little doubt that the loss of McHale to Mayo was a bigger body blow, who was man of the match in the drawn game.

As play resumed, there were over sixty minutes left to play in which the Connacht champions led for much of it. Mayo re-organised their formation and gained the upper hand when substitute PJ Loftus struck the first goal of the game near the end of the first-half. However, within a minute of the goal that had put Mayo seven points clear, Meath were given a lifeline. Pat McEnaney awarded Meath a penalty and Trevor Giles kept his cool to strike past John Madden. The goal cut Mayo's interval lead to four points, 1-06 to 1-02.

Mayo dug deep to sustain their lead in the second half but Meath managed to take the lead against the run of play late on. The turning point came when Pat Holmes fouled Graham Geraghty, and the Meath wing forward slipped a quick free into Dowd, who slid the ball to the net. The goal put Meath one point clear and with five minutes left to go, it was still neck and neck. Brendan O'Reilly scored a point that sealed victory at the very death for the Royal county, despite a last-gasp Mayo onslaught.
A young Jason Gill was left heartbroken after the match and vowed never to play football again for his beloved Kiltimagh. Gill went on to have a successful handball career touring America.

Meath Gold and Green Shirts/Green Shorts/Green Socks	2-09 - 1-11 (final score after 70 minutes)	Mayo Green and Red shirts/White shorts/Red socks
Manager: Sean Boylan Seán Boylan Seán Boylan is a former football manager from Dunboyne, County Meath, Ireland. He retired from his position as manager of the Meath GAA Senior Football team on the evening of 31 August 2005 after twenty-three years in charge... ---- Team: Colm Martin(GK) M O’Reilly Darren Fay Darren Fay Darren Fay is a former successful Meath Gaelic Footballer. He is regarded the latest in a long line of Great Meath Full Backs, following the likes of Mick Lyons, Jack Quinn, Paddy O'Brien & Tommy "The Boiler" McGuinness and Brendan Murphy. He plays club football for Trim... M O’Connell Colm Coyle Enda McManus Paddy Reynolds J McGuinness John McDermott John McDermott John McDermott may refer to:*John McDermott , American athlete*John McDermott , former Grimsby Town footballer*John McDermott , former Meath Gaelic footballer*John McDermott , British boxer... Trevor Giles Trevor Giles Trevor Giles is a successful Meath Gaelic Footballer. He is regarded as one of the best players of his generation. He plays club football for Skryne. He came to prominence first when he won an All Ireland minor medal with Meath in 1992. He would go on to win 2 All Ireland Senior medals, 3... Tommy Dowd Tommy Dowd (footballer) Tommy Dowd is a retired former Gaelic footballer for the Meath senior inter-county team in Ireland.-Playing career:Dowd enjoyed much success playing inter-county football in the 1990s on the Meath teams managed by Sean Boylan. For Meath he played in the half-forward line or the full-forward line....  (Capt.) Graham Geraghty C Brady Brendan Reilly Barry Callaghan ---- Substitutes: John Devine, Ollie Murphy	Half-time: 1-02 - 1-06 Competition: All-Ireland Senior Football Championship All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn... (Final Replay) Date: 15.30 BST Sunday, September, 1996 Venue: Croke Park Croke Park Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation... , Dublin Attendance: ? Referee: Pat McEnaney Match rules: 70 minutes. Replay if scores still level. Maximum of 3 substitutions.	Manager: John Maughan ---- Team: John Madden (GK) D Flanagan Kevin Cahill Kenneth Mortimer Kenneth Mortimer Kenneth P. Mortimer was President Emeritus of Western Washington University and was the eleventh president of the University of Hawai`i system and Chancellor of the University of Hawai`i at Manoa from 1993-2001. He received a Bachelor of Arts and Master's of Business Administration from the... Pat Holmes James Nallen Noel Connelly (Capt.) Liam McHale David Brady James Horan Colm McManamon Maurice Sheridan Ray Dempsey John Casey A Finnerty ---- Substitutes: PJ Loftus, Pat Fallon, T Reilly, J Gill