There’s nothing in Gaelic games quite like an underdog ambush.
Every so often, a team that’s been written off, ignored or completely dismissed turns up and tears up the script. The favourites arrive with the medals, the hype and the headlines. The outsiders arrive with a plan, a bit of anger, and a quiet belief that today might just be their day.
From All-Ireland finals to provincial shocks and qualifier ambushes, these are the days people talk about for years. The pitch invasion. The roar at full-time. The look on the faces of the beaten giants.
Here, we’ve picked 10 times the underdogs beat the giants across all 4 codes of the GAA. Games where history, logic and odds all pointed one way… until the ball was thrown in.
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1. Offaly 1-15 Kerry 0-17 – All-Ireland SFC Final 1982
Kerry were one step from immortality. The five in a row was in touching distance. Offaly, though, refused to read the script.
They led by one at half-time but Kerry gradually took control. With five minutes left, the Kingdom were four points up and looked home. Matt Connor kept Offaly alive with two crucial scores, but time was slipping away.
Then came the moment. A long ball dropped towards the square. Seamus Darby stole in behind the defence, caught it, and drilled it low to the net. It is one of the most famous goals in GAA history.
Equally vital was Martin Furlong’s earlier penalty save from Mikey Sheehy, which had kept Offaly in contention. When the whistle finally sounded, Kerry’s dream was gone. Offaly had pulled off the ultimate ambush and denied the greatest team of all time their perfect ending.
2. Tyrone 3-11 Cork 0-13 – All-Ireland LGFA Quarter-Final 2010
Cork had won five All-Ireland senior titles in a row and looked untouchable. Tyrone were not expected to trouble them in Banagher. Instead, they tore up the script.
Cork dominated the first half and led 0-11 to 0-5 at the break. Their experience and accuracy seemed to be telling. But the second half turned into a Red Hand storm. Tyrone tightened up at the back and slowly chipped away at the lead.
Aisling O’Kane’s goal with just over ten minutes left lit the spark. Cork then lost their discipline, finishing with 13 players after two sin-bins. Tyrone sensed history. Sarah Connolly and Sarah Donnelly struck late goals as the champions fell apart.
By full-time, Tyrone had outscored Cork 3-6 to 0-2 in the second half. The reigning queens of Gaelic Football were out. The championship had been blown wide open.
3. Tipperary 0-12 Kilkenny 1-8 – All-Ireland Camogie Final 1999
Kilkenny came into the 1999 final as heavy favourites. Much of the build-up surrounded Ann Downey’s bid for a record 13th All-Ireland medal. Tipperary were seen as plucky outsiders, there to provide the challenge rather than the shock.
But once the ball was thrown in, Tipp never played like underdogs. They matched Kilkenny for work-rate and refused to be intimidated by the occasion. The game remained tight all the way through, with scores at a premium.
Ann Downey was sprung from the bench in an attempt to swing it back Kilkenny’s way, but Tipperary held firm. The key moment came late on when sub Caitriona Hennessy lofted over what proved to be the winning point.
In injury time, Kilkenny had one last chance from a free, but it drifted wide. Tipperary were All-Ireland champions for the first time. A new force in camogie had arrived.
4. Dublin 2-24 Limerick 0-28 – All-Ireland SHC Quarter-Final 2025
Almost nobody outside the Dublin camp saw this coming. Limerick, recently four-in-a-row winners, a team of generational talents and hot favourites for that years All-Ireland, were expected to swat Dublin aside at Croke Park. Instead, the Dubs produced the shock of the modern hurling era.
The game seemed to tilt Limerick’s way when Dublin captain Chris Crummey was sent off after just 15 minutes. Yet Dublin reacted brilliantly, hurling with ferocious work-rate and accuracy. They led by three at half-time, 0-15 to 0-12.
Limerick rallied after the break and edged in front, but then came the two defining blows. Sub John Hetherton blasted to the net, and moments later Cian O’Sullivan added a second goal. Suddenly Dublin were five up and belief surged through their ranks.
Limerick threw everything at them late on, but the 14 men held out. It was Dublin’s biggest hurling win in over a decade and a stunning underdog story.
5. Meath 1-11 Dublin 0-12 – All-Ireland LGFA Final 2021
This was Meath’s first year at senior level after winning the intermediate title in 2020. They faced a Dublin side chasing five All-Ireland titles in a row. Most expected a coronation, not an upset.
From the throw-in, though, Meath played like a team that truly believed. They controlled possession, defended with intelligence and attacked with pace. Emma Duggan’s clever lobbed goal in the first half gave them a platform, and their decision-making under pressure was superb.
Vikki Wall drove at Dublin relentlessly, inspiring her teammates and the huge Meath support. Emma Troy raided forward from corner-back, while Niamh O’Sullivan and Stacey Grimes chipped in with big scores.
Dublin kept coming but could never reel Meath in. When the hooter sounded, the Royals had their first senior title, and Croke Park erupted. A team who were intermediate champions just 12 months earlier had dethroned one of the greatest sides of all time.
6. Down 1-16 Kerry 1-10 – All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Final 2010
Kerry arrived at Croke Park as defending All-Ireland champions. Down arrived with history, but little recent form. On the day, the famous red and black jersey seemed to carry all its old magic.
Down blitzed Kerry at the start. Paul McComiskey’s work created an early goal for Mark Poland, and the Ulster men raced into a commanding lead. Their forwards moved with sharpness and belief, while Kerry looked strangely flat.
Colm Cooper and Bryan Sheehan tried to spark a comeback, but Down’s work-rate never dropped. Martin Clarke pulled the strings and Benny Coulter was superb on the inside line.
Even a late Kerry penalty couldn’t change the outcome. Down controlled the game from start to finish and extended their perfect championship record against the Kingdom. It was a throwback performance and one of the standout shocks of that summer.
7. Leitrim 0-12 Mayo 2-4 – Connacht Final 1994
For most neutrals, Leitrim in 1994 were a fairytale. For Leitrim themselves, they were a project years in the making. Under John O’Mahony, standards rose, belief grew and nothing was left to chance.
They had already beaten Galway and Roscommon on the way to the final, and arrived in Hyde Park convinced they could finish the job. Yet the worst possible start arrived when Mayo hit a soft goal inside the first minute. Lesser sides might have crumbled. Leitrim didn’t.
They held Mayo scoreless for the rest of the half and kicked six unanswered points. In the second half, they stretched the lead further with clever, composed football. Mayo did rally late on with a second goal, but Leitrim held out by a point.
The scenes at full-time were unforgettable. A county starved of success finally had its day, and the celebrations in Carrick-on-Shannon went on long into the night.
8. Clare 2-10 Kerry 0-12 – Munster Final 1992
Clare had been hammered by Tipperary just three years earlier. Kerry, meanwhile, were Kerry. Very few gave the Banner a real chance in the 1992 Munster final. John Maughan and his players thought differently.
Clare arrived prepared, fit and fiercely organised. They harried Kerry all over the pitch and, despite missing chances early on, never lost faith. A point up at half-time, they sensed something special was on.
The second half belonged to their goals. Colm Clancy hit the net just moments after Jack O’Shea had missed at the other end. Later, Martin Daly scrambled home a second. Kerry pushed hard, but Clare’s belief and work-rate saw them home.
When the final whistle went, the Gaelic Grounds erupted. Clare were Munster champions for only the second time in their history, and the open-top bus that night was the stuff of legend.
9. Westmeath 4-18 Wexford 2-22 – Leinster SHC 2023
With 32 minutes played, Wexford led by 17 points and looked home and hosed. Westmeath had barely landed a punch. What followed was one of the great hurling comebacks.
Two first-half goals had Wexford cruising, and they kept the scoreboard ticking with frees and classy points. At half-time, Westmeath were miles behind and seemed destined for a heavy beating.
The second half, though, flipped completely. Westmeath tightened up, introduced fresh legs and started to hurl with freedom. Niall O’Brien’s goals dragged them back into contention, and the gap kept shrinking.
Then came super-sub Niall Mitchell. In the dying minutes he struck not one, but two late goals to turn the game on its head. From nowhere, Westmeath led.
Wexford could not respond. The whistle went, and the midlanders had pulled off a result that shook Leinster hurling to its core.
10. Laois 0-9 Tyrone 0-6 – All-Ireland Qualifier 2006
Tyrone were reigning All-Ireland champions and loaded with stars. Laois, under Mick O’Dwyer, were inconsistent but dangerous. On a wet, windy day in Portlaoise, they produced a performance full of heart and discipline.
Laois used the first half well, despite playing into the conditions. Billy Sheehan, Ross Munnelly and others clipped important scores, and they turned around three points up. Tyrone expected to hammer them with the wind at their backs. It never happened.
Stephen O’Neill’s introduction lifted Tyrone, but Laois refused to panic. Their defence stood firm, their tackling was clean, and they managed the clock superbly. Sheehan and Chris Conway added vital scores to keep the Red Hands at arm’s length.
By the time the final whistle blew, Tyrone were out and O’Dwyer’s men were heroes. In brutal conditions against the champions, Laois had delivered one of the great qualifier shocks.
