Two last gasp miracle points, a Munster final stunner, a back-heeled flick and the winner in the All-Ireland final. Here are our top five scores of the year in Gaelic football.
5. Kieran Donaghy v Dublin
Immediately prior to Cluxton’s winning point in the All-Ireland final, Kerry were on the ropes. Having been in control of proceedings for the majority of the second half, Kevin McManamon’s goal rocked them and they looked as if they didn’t have it in them to come back.
Donaghy, who had a quiet year but a brilliant final, stepped up to the plate and delivered quite a magnificent point, made all the more dramatic given that it seemed to hang in the clouds for an age before finally dropping over the bar.
Given what followed in the aftermath, Donaghy’s point has been largely forgotten about since and it’s a pity because it was some score under the circumstances.
4. Darran O’Sullivan v Cork
This is the first of O’Sullivan’s entries in the top five scores of the year and if the goal against Limerick (more below) was all about audacity and cunning, his goal in the Munster final against Cork owed everything to sheer pace and power.
At full tilt, O’Sullivan is probably the fastest GAA man in the country and there was no way anyone was going to stop him once he got the run on Paudie Kissane. And when he needed a finish, boy did he get it.
3. Stephen Cluxton v Kerry
Although it was no bad strike, Cluxton’s effort in the dying embers of a tantalising All-Ireland final is so highly acclaimed because of the context and the level of sheer tension that surrounded Croke Park as he ran up to take the kick.
It was a kick Cluxton had been putting over in his sleep all year, but the type he would still be having nightmares about if he missed. As we all know now, he nailed it. Now if we could just get him to talk about the bloody thing…
2. Darran O’Sullivan v Limerick
He might have trained with QPR in his day, but you can’t imagine Darran O’Sullivan trying this in Kerry training too often for fear of a good kick up the hole from the likes of Tomás Ó Sé or Tom O’Sullivan afterwards.
With the whole country watching in the grandest arena in the country, however, O’Sullivan produced perhaps the most audacious piece of skill seen on a GAA pitch since Martin Daly’s back-heeled point for Clare way back in the 90s.
And, to think, it all stemmed from a terrible handpass from Bryan Sheehan. Or was he in on the whole scheme all along?
1. Kevin Cassidy v Kildare
It’s a pity that when people think of Kevin Cassidy’s contribution to Donegal in 2011, his acrimonious exit will overshadow everything he did throughout the year. And what a year it was for the Gweedore man.
A deserving All-Star for being one of the standouts in a 13-man Donegal defence, Cassidy also kicked some memorable scores, none more so than this effort against Kildare in the last minute of extra-time in what was a pulsating affair at headquarters.
Although Cassidy rightly gets the plaudits for the sweetest of strikes off the outside of his left boot from 50 yards out (the fact that he could even manage to generate such power after 90 absorbing minutes is an achievement in itself), Michael Murphy deserves massive credit for the way he kept the move alive in the build-up.
