Again, I mean that to one & all on a personal level AND in the overall sense. Here's how I saw 2011:

The Lows:

- Once again racked by refereeing controversies all season, Meath's disallowed goal against Kildare, Dublin's free against Kildare, Limerick's point against Wexford, questionable red cards, hate to see games decided like this as it creates a lot of bitterness - kinda like winning a game of pool by your opponent potting the black in the wrong pocket, it's a win but not quite an earned one

- The reaction to Donegal this year has been way OTT, we all know their style is not pretty, but all McGuinness can be expected to do is apply the best tactics to suit the players he has at his disposal & from nothing that brought them a Division 2 title, a Provincial title & an All Ireland semi. That at least deserves respect as most teams would envy that haul in one season but all people did after they were knocked out was kick them, kick them & kick them while they were down. It was very unsporting

- On a personal note, losing the Leinster final particularly by a complete hames of an own goal was crushing, but hopefully we will be back

The Highs:

- 2 brand new AI champions, Tipp in the minors for the first time in 70-odd years & Dublin finally getting over the line after a 16 year wait, great to see the 2 trophies going to new homes - after a monopolistic 7 year dominance by Kerry & Tyrone, we've 2 new champs in 2 seasons, plus new champions in 3 provinces this year, football is really opening back up again

- Mayo's win against Cork was amazing, bit like Down v Kerry last year, no one saw it coming & results like that are the beauty of the championship

- Donegal effectively ending Tyrone dominance, Ulster football needed that for the good of the game up there

- London finally getting off the ground in the championship, a real novelty

- On a personal note, the huge scores racked up by our footballers, I know it was against so called 'lesser' opposition but it does show we are moving in the right direction & Ben Brosnan has proved to be a magnificent find for us

gigoer (Wexford) - Posts: 1998 - 19/09/2011 12:15:56    1037718

Lows :

The hammering of Tyrone was excellent for me as a Dublin fan , But as a fan of GAA aswell it was bad to see such an amazing team be so out-played.

Cork getting sliced to bits by Mayo

Highs :

As a Dublin fan you really dont need to ask

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13654 - 19/09/2011 12:26:30    1037731

The lows

The whole shambles in Fermanagh this year from players walking out to getting beat by London.
Poor refs
Watching Donegal at any time

The highs

Down and Armagh game in Ulster. Brilliant game of football.
Leitrim beating sligo
It was good to see the Dubs win yesterday.

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts: 4971 - 19/09/2011 12:30:22    1037739

The highs:Dublin yesterday,the rise of Dublin hurling,Lar Corbetts display in the Munster final,Derrys display against Armagh,Gooch against Mayo,Mayo against Cork,Darren O Sullivans goals against Cork and Limerick,Spillane and Brollys rows.

9801 (Galway) - Posts: 126 - 19/09/2011 12:57:17    1037772

the lows: refereeing decisions (again),Kilkenny winning the hurling (again), Galways poor displays in both codes(again),worrying about how many teams will adopt donegals system next year(quite a few probably),Kerrys run to the final (5 games,no contests)

9801 (Galway) - Posts: 126 - 19/09/2011 13:04:08    1037785

Lows,
Such a poor hurling championship all round.
Losing Donal o Grady as manager of the hurling team

Highs,
Great win over Wexford never forget the buzz after that.
U21s munster win over cork hurling match of the year for me.

declan30 (Limerick) - Posts: 652 - 19/09/2011 13:21:07    1037794

High: Beating Laois and Meath in their home grounds in successive weekends in the qualifiers

Low: THAT free and Bernard Brogan's interview explaining how it was okay as he was 'due a free' afterwards.

doublehop (Kildare) - Posts: 4172 - 19/09/2011 13:22:51    1037795

Lows
watching donegal trying to ruin the greatest field sport in the world thank god they were exposed as a nonsense
Highs seeing kerry exposed as a bottler outfit,tyrone and armagh showed them as frauds thank god the rattle gooch and star we won,t hear for awhile

mickeylinden (Monaghan) - Posts: 587 - 19/09/2011 13:40:58    1037810

Highs:
Winning Ulster and Cassidy's winner against Kildare will live long in the memory. Also the buzz in the Big Tree yesterday when Cluxton landed that point at the end. Unbelievable stuff.

Lows: Losing to Dublin when we were so close to beating them.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9819 - 19/09/2011 14:22:53    1037854

High- The reaction of the Donegal fans at the final whistle of the ulster final in clones. People who say the provincial championships dont matter only need to look at the reaction of everyone in clones that day.

Low- Tyrones loss to Dublin. Sad to see.

Samsforthehills (Donegal) - Posts: 1075 - 19/09/2011 14:24:44    1037859

High: That final whistle in Clones, When Christy Toye scored the goal vs Kildare, and Cassidy's point !! Other than Donegal, Cluxton kicking that point, Darren O'Sullivans amazing goal.

Lows: Kerry getting to the final, being slandered by every single county even though we done so well this year, Tyrone getting hammered by Dublin, sad to see.

HowManyStepsRef (Donegal) - Posts: 303 - 19/09/2011 16:18:15    1038031

Samsforthehills, only reading your post now, didn't know you had written the same thing lol

HowManyStepsRef (Donegal) - Posts: 303 - 19/09/2011 16:22:40    1038035

Tyrone will be back, mark my words!

redhanddefender (Tyrone) - Posts: 913 - 19/09/2011 16:28:34    1038042

A distinct lack of highs for meath in 2011 coupled with some amazing
new lows including
Nearly being relegated to division 3
Managerial bust ups
Three defeats to kildare (how embarrassing)

atta (Meath) - Posts: 708 - 19/09/2011 16:49:26    1038069

Highs:
Donegal whole year.
The excitement in clones ulster final day. When that whistle went and every donegal man woman and child jumped for joy, the huge smile on our faces.. jumping the fence to get in to hug our heroes and watch murphy lift her.
Showing great determination and hunger against Kildare. And Cassidys point.. what can I say ? That will be in my memory forever. The excitement when it went over
Gettin to an all-ireland semi final
7 ulster all stars
3 sunday game team of the year winners
being back in ulster again....
pat spillane finally shutiing up yesterday

Lows:
Getting beat by dublin... especially whe the game was our and we let it slip.
The reaction to this county by the media and evetually the whole country (nearly). I'm not even goin to go into it but i really really ****** me off how the people reacted towards us.. results driven game and we're not out to impress anyone except the donegal people :)

up_donegal (Donegal) - Posts: 659 - 19/09/2011 16:49:44    1038071

Hard to pick lows after that yeAr:
Corl league final vital in long run,hard to take at time
Refereeing decisions
Minor loss yesterday
Highs:
The best day of my life yesterday,when the dubs went up to lift the sam maguire,I WAS THERE

dubs4eva (Dublin) - Posts: 484 - 19/09/2011 17:14:20    1038095

The low was Donegal no show in the semi final. Like others I fear for the future of county football as a spectacle.

and the high was the e-mail I got to inform me that I had two tickets for the final.

thistle_harps (UK) - Posts: 879 - 19/09/2011 17:19:54    1038102

high= beating meath twice in the championship very hard for any tam to do that especially in navan..beating laois by 15 points after that defeat to dublin...

Low= that 'free' at the end of dublin/kildare game..the squareball incidents all year particuarly against donegal of course..as johnny said on the sunday game ''the 5 best moments of the year number 2 wasnt myn'' :D

lilywhitemagic (Kildare) - Posts: 1693 - 19/09/2011 17:20:24    1038103

Low - Being taken to extra-time by London. No offence to London but that was so very nearly the worst day in Mayo football history.

High - Obviously, dethroning the reigning Champions Cork, days like that are what GAA fans live for.


Away from my own county:
High - It was nice to see Carlow getting a win.

Low - The Dublin v Donegal semi, sorry Donegal fans but that just wasn't football.

killer_88_ (Mayo) - Posts: 2040 - 19/09/2011 17:32:18    1038112

Lows : getting dismantled by Dublin worst feeling I ever felt after Croke Park . But like RHD said we will be back the underage system is too good not to be .
Certain referee performances

Highs : Performance vs Armagh
Nice to see Alan Brogan , Cullen and Cluxton win an AI and also for the Dublin fans . Proper banter before and after in Quinns

RenardRedHand (Tyrone) - Posts: 547 - 19/09/2011 18:20:34    1038167