IN A WAY, it was marvellous that the Ulster final was soaked and drenched by billowing rain (says the sportswriter sitting snug in the Gerry Arthurs Stand with his hot tea, dry coat and SuperValu bag of goodies).
Because in this day when possession is king, the game was decided in extra time by the kind of thing that happens on a sopping day: a kick out from Rory Beggan reached its target but hopped off Karl Gallagher’s chest like it was a breeze block. The alert Oisin Conaty grabbed hold and sent it on to Rory Grugan, who fed to Oisin O’Neill to net it.
It was that kind of day when the ball zipped and whizzed all around the place. In place of the controlled possession we’ve become so used to, a kick out would be walloped into the middle and the ball could then change hands two or three times before someone had the time and space to finally secure possession.
The game changes and the game stagnates, but nothing gets a crowd invested quite like players putting their bodies on the line in clawing desperation to grab a football.
It transported all in St Tiernach’s Park back through the decades to remind us that this is still the game that was once decorated by the likes of Mick Higgins and Colm McAlarney, by Anthony Molloy and Anthony Tohill.
This was living, and the Armagh fans on the pitch at the end showed what it meant.
Armagh's Darragh McMullen with Rory Beggan of Monaghan. Tom O'Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O'Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
Just how good the Ulster championship has been historically is a matter of taste. Going back decades, it has not always been to everyone’s liking. It suffered the same as any provincial championship with mismatches and downright poor games.
However, what it could throw up every year was some good violence, either blatant or covert, with an umpire’s back turned and a corner-forward laid sprawled out on the turf.
There is no definitive guide to this, but you could take a rough guess that the free count for, say, Derry-Monaghan in Celtic Park 2009 was higher than average.
And for every Tyrone-Armagh 2005 classic, there was always a Donegal-Antrim 2011 waiting to drag you into a murky depression.
The 2026 season had a healthy strike rate of instant classics, helped no end by the new rules, which will someday become just ‘the rules’.
Armagh-Tyrone raised the curtain on the opening weekend and promptly went to extra time. Tyrone had their chances to bring it to a penalty shootout but Eoin McElholm tried to rattle the net at the end rather than clip over an equaliser.
In the quarter-finals, Armagh absolutely hammered Fermanagh, but at least when they switched off there was much to drool over with Fermanagh’s Darragh McGurn landing a personal tally of 1-12.
Armagh's Tiernan Kelly with Andrew Woods of Monaghan. Tom O'Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O'Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
The following day produced one of the greatest shocks of the decade when Down came to Letterkenny and inflicted a first Ulster championship defeat on home soil on Jim McGuinness’s Donegal.
Advertisement
Monaghan were the best value of all, lighting up the Athletic Grounds with a show of complete defiance in beating Derry in extra time in the semi-final, courtesy of the dead-ball kicking of Jack McCarron and Rory Beggan.
Sunday’s final was a sickly and tense event.
We got to the ground just as the Monaghan bus parked and began unloading its precious cargo. As the crowd swarmed around the vehicle, one tall, singular figure grabbed his bag out of the hold, straightened himself up to his full height and marched to the gates.
Rory Beggan earned a huge cheer from his adoring public.
If Monaghan were to claim an unlikely provincial title, it was going to have to be in normal time. After a couple of haymakers from Jack McCarron and Stephen O’Hanlon, two-pointers that landed flush on the Armagh jaw, they had their chance.
On 66 minutes, Armagh’s Joe McElroy tripped Darragh McElearney. Free.
It was from 55 metres, but we have seen Rory Beggan kick them before. However, his kick cut across the goal and wide.
Rory Beggan afterwards. Tom O'Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O'Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
When it went to extra time, it was the fifth Ulster final in a row to do so. Crucially, it was Armagh’s fourth in a row. They were able to bring on eight different substitutes. They also recycled Jason Duffy, Darragh McMullen and Cian McConville – three players who put in shifts that would shame Welsh coal miners working by the metre.
That’s eleven different subs.
Monaghan had seven subs, but were taking off players who had seized up with cramp. By the time they were leaving the field, they were empty.
It didn’t feel as though Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan had the same weapons Kieran McGeeney was working with.
Oisin McGorman was making his very first championship start for Monaghan. Ryan McAnespie has been able to do virtually no training all year. Max Maguire got onto the Monaghan 26 for the first time and ended up making his county debut in extra time of the Ulster final.
Monaghan landed 0-3 from their bench through Jack McCarron. Armagh had 1-5. They also had the human cheat code of Oisin Conaty, surely in the leading pack for Footballer of the Year.
Oisin O'Neill celebrates. Tom O'Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O'Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
Both inside and outside the ground, the day carried an air of protest. Some highly prominent GAA figures gathered at the Sacred Heart Church just beside St Tiernach’s Park.
Among them was Dr Dave Hickey. In conversation, he revealed that he could not believe the colour and atmosphere of Clones on the biggest day in the town’s annual schedule. That’s quite something when you consider the multiple lives Hickey has lived as a three time All-Ireland winning footballer with the Dublin side who brought the rock ‘n’ roll to Gaelic football and kept Mick O’Dwyer’s Kerry honest.
Not to mention his time spent playing semi-professional rugby as a full-back with Stade Rochelais, his years as a medic and selector with the Dubs under Pat Gilroy and Jim Gavin, his pioneering work in transplants, his role in founding the Irish-Cuban Medical Association, and his political activism.
Related Reads
'I don't think anybody will write us off as badly in the future' – Westmeath's day of glory
Armagh finally land Ulster at the fourth time of asking
'It is a complete privilege for me' - Gabriel Bannigan, the unlikely Monaghan manager
Hickey had come from Dublin to join a protest organised by Fermanagh Gaels Against Genocide, opposing the continuing links that Allianz, sponsors of the All-Ireland championships and leagues, have with the GAA.
Alongside him holding placards were others who have written their own history on the nearby pitch.
Greg Blaney of Down, who frequently dissected the pitch with his socks pulled to his knees, a master of geometry when we all understood what a centre-half forward’s role was.
Brendan Devenney with his balance, speed, power and accuracy for Donegal.
Peter McGinnity with his rocket into top bins for Fermanagh in the 1982 final.
Seamus McCallan, Ronan McGarrity and Damian O’Hagan of Tyrone.
All there.
In some photographs, the current Tyrone manager Malachy O’Rourke stood alongside the former player and manager Eugene McKenna. When Tyrone’s Ulster-winning team of 2001 were introduced as the jubilee team at half time, Eoin Gormley and Martin Conway wore keffiyehs in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Conway raised a fist in the air when MC Jimmy Smyth gave his citation.
And during the game, caught on camera as the action progressed towards the O’Duffy Terrace, a massive banner bore the message ‘Allianz Amach’ (Allianz out). When the Ulster Council president Michael Geoghegan thanked Allianz among the other championship sponsors in his speech before handing over the Anglo-Celt trophy, there were boos among the crowd.
It’s not a stretch to say that the north is more politically charged than the rest of the country, and this year’s Ulster championship has had protests at games in Armagh, Enniskillen, Letterkenny and now Clones.
It would certainly suit the GAA if these types of protests would fizzle out.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
The Ulster final is an ever-evolving piece of theatre that enthrals generations
IN A WAY, it was marvellous that the Ulster final was soaked and drenched by billowing rain (says the sportswriter sitting snug in the Gerry Arthurs Stand with his hot tea, dry coat and SuperValu bag of goodies).
Because in this day when possession is king, the game was decided in extra time by the kind of thing that happens on a sopping day: a kick out from Rory Beggan reached its target but hopped off Karl Gallagher’s chest like it was a breeze block. The alert Oisin Conaty grabbed hold and sent it on to Rory Grugan, who fed to Oisin O’Neill to net it.
It was that kind of day when the ball zipped and whizzed all around the place. In place of the controlled possession we’ve become so used to, a kick out would be walloped into the middle and the ball could then change hands two or three times before someone had the time and space to finally secure possession.
The game changes and the game stagnates, but nothing gets a crowd invested quite like players putting their bodies on the line in clawing desperation to grab a football.
It transported all in St Tiernach’s Park back through the decades to remind us that this is still the game that was once decorated by the likes of Mick Higgins and Colm McAlarney, by Anthony Molloy and Anthony Tohill.
This was living, and the Armagh fans on the pitch at the end showed what it meant.
Just how good the Ulster championship has been historically is a matter of taste. Going back decades, it has not always been to everyone’s liking. It suffered the same as any provincial championship with mismatches and downright poor games.
However, what it could throw up every year was some good violence, either blatant or covert, with an umpire’s back turned and a corner-forward laid sprawled out on the turf.
There is no definitive guide to this, but you could take a rough guess that the free count for, say, Derry-Monaghan in Celtic Park 2009 was higher than average.
And for every Tyrone-Armagh 2005 classic, there was always a Donegal-Antrim 2011 waiting to drag you into a murky depression.
The 2026 season had a healthy strike rate of instant classics, helped no end by the new rules, which will someday become just ‘the rules’.
Armagh-Tyrone raised the curtain on the opening weekend and promptly went to extra time. Tyrone had their chances to bring it to a penalty shootout but Eoin McElholm tried to rattle the net at the end rather than clip over an equaliser.
In the quarter-finals, Armagh absolutely hammered Fermanagh, but at least when they switched off there was much to drool over with Fermanagh’s Darragh McGurn landing a personal tally of 1-12.
The following day produced one of the greatest shocks of the decade when Down came to Letterkenny and inflicted a first Ulster championship defeat on home soil on Jim McGuinness’s Donegal.
Monaghan were the best value of all, lighting up the Athletic Grounds with a show of complete defiance in beating Derry in extra time in the semi-final, courtesy of the dead-ball kicking of Jack McCarron and Rory Beggan.
Sunday’s final was a sickly and tense event.
We got to the ground just as the Monaghan bus parked and began unloading its precious cargo. As the crowd swarmed around the vehicle, one tall, singular figure grabbed his bag out of the hold, straightened himself up to his full height and marched to the gates.
Rory Beggan earned a huge cheer from his adoring public.
If Monaghan were to claim an unlikely provincial title, it was going to have to be in normal time. After a couple of haymakers from Jack McCarron and Stephen O’Hanlon, two-pointers that landed flush on the Armagh jaw, they had their chance.
On 66 minutes, Armagh’s Joe McElroy tripped Darragh McElearney. Free.
It was from 55 metres, but we have seen Rory Beggan kick them before. However, his kick cut across the goal and wide.
When it went to extra time, it was the fifth Ulster final in a row to do so. Crucially, it was Armagh’s fourth in a row. They were able to bring on eight different substitutes. They also recycled Jason Duffy, Darragh McMullen and Cian McConville – three players who put in shifts that would shame Welsh coal miners working by the metre.
That’s eleven different subs.
Monaghan had seven subs, but were taking off players who had seized up with cramp. By the time they were leaving the field, they were empty.
It didn’t feel as though Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan had the same weapons Kieran McGeeney was working with.
Oisin McGorman was making his very first championship start for Monaghan. Ryan McAnespie has been able to do virtually no training all year. Max Maguire got onto the Monaghan 26 for the first time and ended up making his county debut in extra time of the Ulster final.
Monaghan landed 0-3 from their bench through Jack McCarron. Armagh had 1-5. They also had the human cheat code of Oisin Conaty, surely in the leading pack for Footballer of the Year.
Both inside and outside the ground, the day carried an air of protest. Some highly prominent GAA figures gathered at the Sacred Heart Church just beside St Tiernach’s Park.
Among them was Dr Dave Hickey. In conversation, he revealed that he could not believe the colour and atmosphere of Clones on the biggest day in the town’s annual schedule. That’s quite something when you consider the multiple lives Hickey has lived as a three time All-Ireland winning footballer with the Dublin side who brought the rock ‘n’ roll to Gaelic football and kept Mick O’Dwyer’s Kerry honest.
Not to mention his time spent playing semi-professional rugby as a full-back with Stade Rochelais, his years as a medic and selector with the Dubs under Pat Gilroy and Jim Gavin, his pioneering work in transplants, his role in founding the Irish-Cuban Medical Association, and his political activism.
Hickey had come from Dublin to join a protest organised by Fermanagh Gaels Against Genocide, opposing the continuing links that Allianz, sponsors of the All-Ireland championships and leagues, have with the GAA.
Alongside him holding placards were others who have written their own history on the nearby pitch.
Greg Blaney of Down, who frequently dissected the pitch with his socks pulled to his knees, a master of geometry when we all understood what a centre-half forward’s role was.
Brendan Devenney with his balance, speed, power and accuracy for Donegal.
Peter McGinnity with his rocket into top bins for Fermanagh in the 1982 final.
Seamus McCallan, Ronan McGarrity and Damian O’Hagan of Tyrone.
All there.
In some photographs, the current Tyrone manager Malachy O’Rourke stood alongside the former player and manager Eugene McKenna. When Tyrone’s Ulster-winning team of 2001 were introduced as the jubilee team at half time, Eoin Gormley and Martin Conway wore keffiyehs in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Conway raised a fist in the air when MC Jimmy Smyth gave his citation.
And during the game, caught on camera as the action progressed towards the O’Duffy Terrace, a massive banner bore the message ‘Allianz Amach’ (Allianz out). When the Ulster Council president Michael Geoghegan thanked Allianz among the other championship sponsors in his speech before handing over the Anglo-Celt trophy, there were boos among the crowd.
It’s not a stretch to say that the north is more politically charged than the rest of the country, and this year’s Ulster championship has had protests at games in Armagh, Enniskillen, Letterkenny and now Clones.
It would certainly suit the GAA if these types of protests would fizzle out.
But all that…well, it’s not nothing.
****
Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Armagh GAA Gaelic Football Monaghan Protests Showpiece Event Ulster Final none