Six moments of brilliance in the 2015 football championship
October 14, 2015
Dublin captain Stephen Cluxton lifts the Sam Maguire cup
©INPHO
The Sam Maguire Cup will spend the winter in the capital following Dublin's deserved four point final victory over holders Kerry. Now that the dust has settled on the 2015 football championship, we look back at six standout moments in what was a brilliant year of football action.
It has taken months of effort and preparation, as players get their bodies and minds ready. Here are six moments that left a lasting impression from 2015:
1. Westmeath end Royal jinx
Westmeath made history in the Leinster SFC semi-final when they scored a first ever championship victory over their next door neighbours Meath and they broke their hoodoo in spectacular fashion.
Tom Cribbin's charges appeared to be dead and buried when they trailed the Royals by 10 points but, inspired by Kieran Martin and John Heslin, the Lake County outscored Meath by 2-8 to a 0-1 in the closing 20 minutes to seal a historic win.
2. Farney army conquers Ulster
A crowd of 31,997 crammed into Clones to witness Monaghan lower Donegal's colours in the Ulster SFC final. Having overcome Tyrone, Armagh and Derry, Rory Gallagher's Donegal ran out of steam as the Farney County got their hands on the Anglo Celt Cup for the second time in three years.
Patrick McBrearty had a chance to level it up for the defending champions right at the death but his long range effort drifted wide of the Monaghan posts.
3. Aidan O'Shea runs riot on Sligo
Sligo pulled off one of the biggest shocks in the championship when they sent a fancied Roscommon side packing from the Connacht SFC at the semi-final stage but the Yeats County were no match for Aidan O'Shea and Mayo in the Nestor Cup decider.
The physically imposing Breaffy clubman helped himself to 3-4 as the Noel Connelly/Pat Holmes managed outfit won a record equalling five provincial titles in-a-row.
4. Sean Quigley's eye for the goalposts
"I don't know what happened, he must have lost his footing or something" - Sean Quigley's tongue-in-cheek response to questions about that controversial goal against Dublin in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final.
Fermanagh won many admirers en route to the last eight of the Sam Maguire Cup race and their full-forward's overall haul of 2-36 saw him finish second top scorer in the gaelic football championship.
5. Michael Murphy's wonder point against Galway
Donegal surrendered their Anglo Celt crown and finished a second distant to Mayo in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final but captain Michael Murphy treated us to, arguably, the best point of the championship in the qualifier victory over Galway at Croke Park.
In the run-up to the game, rumour was rife that injury would rule the Glenswilly giant out of the fixture but he showed no ill-effects when outfielding Finian Hanley before pointing from distance on the turn.
6. Dubs put Mayo to the sword
Mayo had Dublin on the ropes when opening up a four point lead with 16 minutes of the semi-final replay left on the clock. Lee Keegan then galloped through the Dublin defence but appeared to be caught in two minds as his tame shot ended up in Stephen Cluxton's hands.
The metropolitans made the Connacht champions pay at the other end of the field with Bernard Brogan and Kevin McManaman netting goals. The two tough tests against Mayo stood to Jim Gavin's men in the Sam Maguire decider.
