One man and his county

Before we leave the All Ireland championship, a few appropriate remarks from the leader column of the Irish Times on why Sunday was special:

It was the first final contested by two teams from the same province; and, in spite of some dire and groundless predictions, the supporters of Tyrone and Armagh behaved with exemplary neighbourliness and good humour, mingling companionably before and after the game and joining in a “Mexican wave” at half-time.

It was the day when Tyrone’s long and unrequited search for an All-Ireland title reached a joyful consummation. For many years, Tyrone was regarded as the pre-eminent footballing county never to have won the championship and that painful distinction has now been gladly shed.

It was also the day when Peter Canavan, widely regarded as the outstanding footballer of the past decade, finally seized the prize that his talent and determination have so richly deserved. In 1995 he scored 11 points in the final against Dublin, only to see his team lose by the narrowest margin. Now, after his very appearance in Sunday’s game was threatened by injury, he stands at the summit of footballing achievement as captain of the All-Ireland, Ulster and National League champions.

Mick Fealty

Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty