There are great moments in All-Ireland finals that are quickly forgotten about, tossed over in a pub for a night or two, before being carried away with the smell of stale beer. But there are other moments, which are etched in the memory forever, moments that are perpetually timeless. Here Gordon Manning selects the best and worst moments of the last ten All-Ireland football finals. 1992 Donegal 0-18 v Dublin 0-14 Best: Mention the name Declan Bonner to anybody in Donegal and they will break into smile. They like Bonner in Donegal and have never forgotten his last of four points in the 1992 final. It was the nail in Dublin's coffin. At one stage in the second half Donegal led 0-15 to 0-9 but the Dubs fought back, and following a Paul Clarke '45' two minutes from full-time only three points separated the teams. A goal, one score, and Dublin would have earned a draw. However as the clock ticked down Bonner gained possession under the Hogan Stand and headed towards the Canal End goals. He stopped suddenly and switched to his left foot. His effort sailed over the bar and a sea of green and gold flags rose in appreciation. Bonner spun around to face the Donegal fans in the Hogan Stand, and with his clenched fist aloft, urged them on. He knew he had just scored the point that guaranteed Donegal would win their first ever All-Ireland title. Worst: Manus Boyle scored nine points in the final and was deservedly many analysts man of the match. However it all looked so different midway through the first half when he missed a goal chance as the net lay gaping. The miss occurred less than ten minutes after Charlie Redmond blasted his penalty kick high and wide of the Donegal goals. Had Boyle converted the chance it would have rocked the Metropolitans. Tony Boyle collected a long fisted pass in by Anthony Molloy and ran towards the goals from the Cusack Stand side of the pitch. He lost Gerry Hargan and could have gone for goal himself. Instead he passed over to Manus Boyle, who was totally unmarked just outside the square. It looked like he couldn't miss. However as the goals lay open his shot rattled the crossbar and went over for a point. He shook his head in disbelief, but need not have worried, because his performance from there on was impeccable. 1993 Derry 1-14 v Cork 2-08 Best: Although Anthony Tohill scored a magnificent point midway through the first half, the best moment of this game goes to the losers. Tohill's point has rarely been bettered in Croke Park since, but Don Davis' pinpoint pass ten minutes into the second half was simply dazzling. John O'Driscoll collected the ball and headed for goals. The quality of the inward ball split the Derry defence wide open and O'Driscoll coolly slotted the ball into the back of the net to give Cork a 2-8 to 1-10 lead. Worst: The sending off of Tony Davis in the 1993 All-Ireland final was a travesty. The Cork man received his marching orders shortly before half time for an incident along the Hogan Stand sideline. The referee believed Davis' tackle was malicious and sent him off. He was both unlucky and hard done by. Afterwards the dismissal was rescinded but it was too little, too late for Tony Davis. Niall Cahalane was lucky he didn't join Davis on the sideline for throwing a punch during the game. In the end Cork ran out losers and Davis never played in another All-Ireland final. 1994 Down 1-12 v Dublin 0-13 Best: 'Goals win games', and James McCartan's strike midway through the first half was to prove the old adage correct. Gary Mason dived to fist a loose ball right into the path of the unmarked Mickey Linden. The Down forward ran towards the goals. Dublin goalkeeper John O'Leary stood tall just outside his small parallelogram, prepared for Linden's shot. Suddenly the Mayobridge man hand flicked the ball out to his right where James McCartan was bearing down on goals. O'Leary was stranded and McCartan rolled the ball into the empty net. The goal gave Down a 1-5 to 0-3 advantage and was to prove the difference between the teams at the final whistle. Worst: The last twenty minutes were nothing short of agony for the Dublin fans and forwards. In that period of time they enjoyed a huge amount of possession and persistently attacked the Down rearguard. However during the spell they only managed four points. The Dublin forwards, with the exception of Charlie Redmond, appeared afraid to shoulder the responsibility and try for a score. Vinny Murphy, Dessie Farrell, Mick Galvin and Niall Guiden scored only three points between them on the day. Redmond missed a penalty with eight minutes remaining but he was the only man willing to take the kick. Had the Dublin forwards taken their chances prior, and indeed after the penalty, the Metropolitans would have won the All-Ireland. 1995 Dublin 1-10 v Tyrone 0-12 Best: The sight of both John O'Leary and Paul Curran lifting the Sam Maguire simultaneously in the Hogan Stand sent the Dublin fans delirious. The following day newspapers printed the photograph of the two Dublin legends lifting the cup aloft. It was, and still is a powerful image in the capital. John O'Leary, who was captain, tipped Curran on the shoulder after the game and reminded him about a deal they had made earlier in the year. O'Leary promised that if they won the Sam, Curran would raise the cup with him on the day. The Dublin goalkeeper was true to his word and after 12 barren years Sam was raised by two Dublin greats. Worst: Charlie Redmond's sending off controversy has forever overshadowed his vital goal for Dublin in the final. Redmond appeared to be given his marching orders by referee Paddy Russell for an altercation with Tyrone's Fergal Logan in the second half. However he did not leave the field. Minutes later Russell noticed the Dublin forward was still on the pitch and ordered him off once more. Redmond remonstrated with the referee again, but to no avail. 1996 Meath 2-09 v Mayo 1-11 Best: Brendan Reilly will forever be remembered in Meath for his scintillating last minute match winning point in the 1996 final. Ten minutes earlier Tommy Dowd had scored the Royals second goal and put them in front for the first time in the game. A James Horan point minutes later drew the sides level again as the replay seemed destined for extra-time, until Reilly's point. The Dunboyne man collected a low ball played in along the New Stand sideline. Then he sold Kenneth Mortimer a superb dummy, leaving the Mayo corner back on the ground. Still at a near impossible scoring position, out wide on the 13-metre line, Reilly fired the ball over from a severely acute angle. The Meath fans behind the goals on The Hill erupted. It was Reilly's first point of the afternoon. Two minutes later Pat McEnaney blew the final whistle, Meath were All-Ireland champions. Worst: The infamous 'Mill at the Hill' five minutes into the replay sadly took much of the limelight after the final. The row involved over 20 players and resulted in two, Colm Coyle and Liam McHale, being sent off. Subsequently 15 players would face suspension. It all started after John McDermott fumbled a Maurice Sheridan free under the Meath crossbar. Darren Fay won possession but as he tried to make his way out with the ball, Mayo's Raymond Dempsey struck the Meath full back and almost instantaneously Anthony Finnerty joined in. It was to be the catalyst for some of the most disgraceful scenes ever witnessed in Croke Park. Players from both teams did their best Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee impersonations as the row escalated out of all control. Some lay strewn on the pitch as all hell broke lose around them. It was a case of 'one in all in' as the punches and kicks intensified. One of the few players not caught up in it that day was Meath corner forward Barry Callaghan. "I wasn't involved in the fight, indeed I didn't think it was going to last as long as it did. Dermot Flanagan was marking me and he didn't get involved either. We both kind of half ran down the field but when we got there it was pretty much over, which was probably just as well really." 1997 Kerry 0-13 v Mayo 1-07 Best: Maurice Fitzgerald's performance in the 1997 All-Ireland final was quite simply inspirational. He scored nine points in total from a multitude of angles on the pitch and guided Kerry to the title. A fantastic point from under the Hogan Stand as he ran towards the Hill goals was only one of many. Perhaps his most memorable score of the day was actually his last, from way out on the New 'Cusack' Stand sideline. It was an extraordinary point. However there is no one moment that fully justifies the St. Mary's clubman's performance in that final. The entire 70 minutes were, for Maurice Fitzgerald, simply a moment in time. Worst: The loss of corner-forward Billy O'Shea to injury early on in the first half was a disheartening blow for Kerry. It was also a disheartening blow for his colleague Maurice Fitzgerald, who had inadvertently inflicted the damage. O'Shea had started the game very brightly, running Mayo corner-back Dermot Flanagan ragged. However as he ran out towards the centre forward position to win possession a number of players ended in a pile-up on the ground. As the ball rolled out Fitzgerald pulled on it and unintentionally kicked O'Shea. The result of the collision fractured O'Shea's leg and he took no further part in the game. An interesting note about this final is that Mike Hassett, who had captained the team up until the Munster final, never received an All-Ireland medal. He picked up an injury and failed to take any part in the All-Ireland semi or final. Therefore he was not entitled to a medal. A row ensued where both Mike Hassett and brother Liam refused to play for the team the following year, until finally a resolution was found. 1998 Galway 1-14 v Kildare 1-10 Best: Padraic Joyce's jig around Kildare goalkeeper Christy Byrne, which resulted in a Galway goal, is a classic All-Ireland final moment. The incident occurred in the opening stages of the second half when Joyce caught a fisted pass. The full forward, who was 20 metres out, was unmarked and headed towards the Canal End goals. As he did Byrne dashed out to narrow the angle and Kildare defenders frantically ran back. But they were too late. As Joyce approached the Kildare goalkeeper, he stepped right, dropped his shoulder and hopped back to his left. It was a move Michael Flatley would have copyrighted. Byrne was a helpless bystander as Joyce left him on the ground. Having rounded Byrne, he had the simple task of slotting the ball to the net. It was an important score and helped spur Galway to victory. Worst: Mick O'Dwyer's face at the final whistle was full of pride, graciousness and pain. He had brought Kildare so close to their first All-Ireland title since 1928, but in the end they walked with only losers medals. He spoke emotionally afterwards and congratulated the Galway players and their boss. It had been a long summer, and apart from the Leinster title, a fruitless one for Kildare. He had guided Kerry to no fewer than eight All-Ireland titles but you feel that this is the one he wanted most of all. Like the winner he is, Mick took the defeat with all the grace and dignity we had come to expect from him. For even in defeat he believed his Kildare team would win the Sam Maguire at least once in the following years. Unfortunately they have not contested an All-Ireland final since. Mick O'Dwyer stepped down as Kildare boss in the summer of 2002. Sam Maguire had eluded him. 1999 Meath 1-11 v Cork 1-08 Best: Although ending up on the losing team in 1999, Cork forward Joe Kavanagh scored one of the best goals ever seen in a final. He gained possession, outside the 45-metre line, four minutes into the second half. He ran at the Royal rearguard selling numerous dummies along the way and beating four Meath backs, before passing to Podsie O'Mahony. Kavanagh continued to run forward and collected an instant return pass from O'Mahony. At that stage he was 13 metres out and thundering down on goal. Suddenly he let fly with a powerful shot to the top left of Cormac Sullivan's goal. The Meath keeper got a fingertip to it but failed to prevent the ball from hitting the back of the net. Kavanagh had started the move himself way out the field and finished it in style. It gave Cork a 1-6 to 1-5 advantage and although the Rebels couldn't capitalise on their lead, Kavanagh's goal was still the highlight of a rather dour final. Worst: Any player that misses a penalty in an All-Ireland final deserves praise, as well as sympathy. Trevor Giles was brave enough to step up and take the penalty and had Meath lost, the half-forward would have blamed himself for the defeat. The penalty was awarded in the first minute of the second half as Meath led 1-5 to 0-5. Giles hit it low and to Kevin O'Dwyer's left but the Cork goalkeeper got down well to save. However Meath ran out winners and Giles' miss was quickly forgotten. At the time though he must momentarily have hoped the ground would open up and swallow him. 2000 Kerry 0-17 v Galway 1-11 Best: It was a goal worthy of winning any game, but unfortunately for Galway and Declan Meehan, his first half strike failed to inspire the Tribesmen to victory. The move started way back on the Galway goal line six minutes into the first half. They worked play down the field dutifully until finally centre halfback Meehan won possession when a beautiful looped ball was passed inside. He duly fired the ball to the back of the net with a finish any forward in the country would have been proud of. It appeared Galway had scored a pivotal goal, however Kerry reacted and came surging back. In the end Meehan's goal, although fantastically worked, resulted in being little more than a memorable statistic. Worst: Kevin Walsh was forced off the field in the first half through injury. His loss had a huge bearing on the game as Galway conceded control at centre field. Joe Bergin came on for Walsh but found it hard to make an impact. Maurice Fitzgerald was brought on as a third midfielder for Kerry and Galway were effectively snuffed out of the game. Although Walsh was reintroduced in the second half he was still clearly struggling. His loss so early on in the match robbed GAA fans of what promised to be an engrossing midfield battle with Kerry's Darragh O'Se. 2001 Galway 0-17 v Meath 0-08 Best: Padraic Joyce's second half performance, in which he scored nine points, was quite outstanding. In the first half Joyce found it near impossible to rid himself of Darren Fay's shadow. But in the second period Fay could not get to grips with the Galway full-forward, who was scoring points for fun with both feet. Joyce scored ten in total, five from frees, and five from open play but his eighth score of the day was his best. After receiving a pass from Paul Clancy out under the New Stand over 21 metres out, Joyce looked up and kicked the ball over the bar and into Hill 16. There was 56 minutes gone in the game, Galway were 0-13 to 0-8 up, and Meath had no response. Worst: The loss of Ollie Murphy through injury, five minutes into the second half, was a massive burden for Sean Boylan's men. The Carnaross man had set the championship alight in 2001 with his performances against Westmeath in particular being outstanding. However as Murphy stooped down to pick the ball up between a number of Galway backs, one of the Tribesmen pulled on it and kicked him in the hand. His finger was broken, and after trying to bandage it up on the line, Meath were forced to replace him with Paddy Reynolds. At the time the sides were level at seven points apiece. Tweet

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