Both Dublin and Mayo absolutely deserve more than this.
The All-Ireland final replay on Saturday evening produced one of the most memorable sporting occasions in recent history.
It was football, it was the GAA, it was Ireland at its very, very best.
The two best in the land went toe to toe again and they gave it every f**king thing they could have – every bit of themselves was thrown so wholly into one game of football. They emptied themselves, physically and mentally in a battle that was deserving of Croke Park and its gladiatorial history.
It was a spectacle that would’ve made you proud to be a Gael.
https://twitter.com/EamonMcGee/status/782292562874888192
In those battles though, you have key warriors. In the best battles, you have the best warriors.
And here we were again, under lights in Dublin, the holy grail at stake and Lee Keegan and Diarmuid Connolly are trading blows like there’s no tomorrow.
Lee Keegan is edging it again. He’s all over the Dubliner like a rash and he’s only gone and smashed the net at the other end too. Connolly is starting to feel his way into the contest though when the Mayo man is forced after a goalkeeping error to take a black card for the team.
No-one wants to see that. No-one wants this contest to end.
However, with the tension that has been bubbling between both sets of supporters, with the excitement in the air and all the scrutiny of the last two weeks on this battle alone, someone in the Dublin press office got a little carried away.
Ah lads https://t.co/iJ96Qz3UCp
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 1, 2016
The tweet has since been deleted but it came in for a bit of criticism so the official account quickly issued an apology.
Apologies for tweet about Lee Keegan during game. It was an error in judgement & not in the spirit of the respect between these two teams
— Dublin GAA (@DubGAAOfficial) October 1, 2016
And they were quick to commiserate their great rivals too.
Commiserations to @MayoGAA. You are a fantastic team with great heart and passion. You are all a credit to your county pic.twitter.com/UH60il4Ld4
— Dublin GAA (@DubGAAOfficial) October 1, 2016
Now, back to celebrating.
The GAA Hour podcast is out every Monday and Thursday. Subscribe here on iTunes or listen on Soundcloud (if you want to).
WATCH: Liverpool BOTTLED the title race 🤬 | Who will win the Premier League?
