This Sunday is not the first time Dublin have faced Tyrone in an All-Ireland football final.
The two counties have a storied history, most of which stems from the titanic battles in 2005 and 2008. However, the rivalry really harks back to 1995 when Tyrone felt they were robbed of a first-ever Sam Maguire cup.
With the two counties set to lock horns once again, let’s have a look back through the archives of that clash 23 years ago.
At the time, Ulster was riding the crest of wave during the early part of the 90’s. Down’s victories in ’91 and ’94 was sandwiched between maiden wins for Donegal and Derry in 1992 & 1993 respectively.
Tyrone entered the 1995, hoping to continue Ulster’s dominant run, alas it was not meant to be as Dublin bounced back from defeat to Down a year earlier to capture their first All-Ireland in 12 years.
The 1995 All-Ireland final has been described by many as an ‘eyesore’, it was not the prettiest of games, but it had all the controversies to make it a memorable final that is still talked about all these years later.
Tyrone entered the game as underdogs looking to claim their first ever All-Ireland title, whilst Dublin had been knocking on the door for a number of years having lost final two of the previous three finals, both to Ulster sides.
Dublin won the match by a single point (1-10 v 0-12), controversy reigned though after Dublin’s goalscorer Charlie Redmond was sent-off by match referee Paddy Russell on the 46th minute. Redmond however stayed on the field for a further two minutes as play continued, only for the linesman to inform Russell that Redmond had not yet left the field of play.
The controversy did not stop there though…
As the final minutes of the game ticked down Tyrone piled on the pressure against a 14-man Dublin desperately searching for an equaliser.
It was then that Seán McLaughlin thought he had grabbed the elusive equalising point only for it to be ruled out by Russell for a foul by Tyrone’s key player, Peter Canavan.
‘Peter the Great’ was judged to have touched the ball on the ground when passing it to McLaughlin, a call which was proved to be incorrect as any player who is knocked to the ground and loses possession can fist or palm the ball away, which is what Canavan did.
RULE 1: THE PLAY
1.2 When the ball is on the ground, it may be played by any part of the body except the hand(s). It may be lifted off the ground with the feet.
Exceptions
(i) The goalkeeper may play the ball on the ground with his hand(s) inside his own small rectangle.
(ii) Any player who falls or is knocked to the ground while in possession of the ball may fist or palm the ball away on the ground, and may score by so doing.
(iii) The ball may not be lifted off the ground with the knees.
So, it turned out on the day Tyrone were denied a first All-Ireland victory by an incorrect refereeing decision that still to this day we see on the regular.
It is as well they went on to win three in the Noughties, or we would still be hearing about this!
Dublin on the other hand captured a first title in 12 years after three years of agonising defeats.
For the boys in blue success could not be maintained as fierce rivals Meath went on to collect the Sam Maguire cup in 1996.
Dublin would have to wait until Stephen Cluxton’s famous free-kick in 2011 to win another All-Ireland.
The 1995 All-Ireland final is remember more now for the controversies rather than the football played.
Let’s hope on Sunday the narrative will be different.
Dublin: J O’Leary (capt); P Moran, C Walsh, K Galvin; P Curran, K Barr, M Deegan; P Bealin, B Stynes; J Gavin, D Farrell, P Clarke; M Galvin, J Sherlock, C Redmond. Subs: P Gilroy for K Galvin; R Boyle for M Galvin; V Murphy for Farrell.
Tyrone: F McConnell; P Devlin, C Lawn, F Devlin; R McGarrihy, S McCallan, S McLaughlin; F Logan, J Gormley; C Corr (capt), Pascal Canavan, C Loughran; C McBride, Peter Canavan, S Lawn. Subs: M McGleenan for C Loughran; B Gormley for S Lawn; P Donnelly for S McCallan.
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