GAELIC GAMES:A preview of Sunday's All-Ireland final

Paths of glory: Where it all went wrong and right on the road to the final

DOWN

Ulster quarter-final, May 30th, Ballybofey (after extra-time): Down 1-15 Donegal 2-10 – Marty Clarke’s three points from distance, 0-4 off Danny Hughes’ hard-working boots and Benny Coulter’s 1-4 displayed the scoring power at Down’s disposal. They took their time in killing off Donegal though.

Ulster semi-final, June 19th, Casement Park: Tyrone 0-14 Down 0-10 – Down raced into a 0-8 to 0-4 lead only for Brian Dooher to intercede with a two-point cameo that initiated a six-point swing. Tyrone used all their guile to squeeze the life out of the game. “If I had known where it went wrong I’d have corrected it,” said James McCartan.

Qualifiers round 2, July 10th Newry: Down 1-14 Longford 1-10 – No one is really paying attention as Marty Clarke posts 1-5 and Danny Hughes chips in with another impressive 0-3 from play.

Qualifiers round 3, July 17th, Tullamore: Down 1-12 Offaly 1-10 – McCartan’s decision to switch Dan Gordon to full back is paying off, while an Aidan Carr goal saves Down from a third consecutive season of losing to an average Leinster team.

Qualifier round 4, July 24th Breffni Park: Down 3-20 Sligo 0-10 – Sligo blew it against Roscommon. Down heaped further misery upon them with goals from Ambrose Rogers, John Clarke and Ronan Murtagh. Suddenly they are contenders.

All-Ireland quarter-finals, July 31st, Croke Park: Down 1-16 Kerry 1-10 – Kerry overrun. No Tomás Ó Sé or Paul Galvin drops Kerry from a great side to just good. Down don’t lose to Kerry anyway, especially after Mark Poland’s early goal and some typical blanket defending.

All-Ireland semi-final, August 29th, Croke Park: Down 1-16 Kildare 1-15 – Benny Coulter’s controversial goal sparked Down to life but it was the honestly of their play, as defined by Danny Hughes and Kevin McKernan; the composure of Marty Clarke in possession and Kalum King’s fingertips that held off Kildare.

CORK

Munster quarter-final, June 6th, Killarney: Cork 0-15 Kerry 0-15 – Cork were on the precipice of victory in Killarney for the first time in 15 years until Paul Galvin arrived on the field along with some young Kerry forwards to tie matters up.

Munster quarter-final replay, June 13th, Páirc Uí Chaoimh: Kerry 1-15 Cork 1-14 – Again Galvin came on to make an impact (only to ruin it by sticking a finger in Eoin Cadogan’s mouth) as Colm Cooper renewed the question of Cork’s ability to perform under pressure.

Qualifiers round two, July 10th, Páirc Uí Chaoimh: Cork 1-19 Cavan 0-4 – Aidan Walsh, Alan O’Connor, Paul Kerrigan, Donncha O’Connor and Colm O’Neill all picked up injuries but Cork easily start the process of recuperation.

Qualifier Round three, July 18th, Wexford Park: Cork 0-12 Wexford 0-5 – 12 points and 10 wides on a horrible day in Wexford.

Qualifier Round four, July 24th, Gaelic Grounds – after extra-time: Cork 0-16 Limerick 1-11 – Cork’s bench guides them home but grumblings about whether Counihan knows his best team grow. Cork were poor. Again.

All-Ireland quarter-finals, August 1st, Croke Park: Cork 1-16 Roscommon 0-10 – Cork’s athleticism and strength in depth eventually prevail but again do not look champions-in-waiting.

All-Ireland semi-finals, August 22nd, Croke Park: Cork 1-15 Dublin 1-14 – Dublin indiscipline was punished by Donncha O’Connor to sneak Cork into final.

All in the family

FOUR Down panel members have fathers who have won All-Ireland medals. Daniel McCartan’s father James won titles in 1960, ’61 and ’68. Kevin McKernan’s father Brendan was corner back in ’91, Ambrose Roger’s father, Ambrose Snr RIP, made a substitutes appearance in ’91, and Aidan Carr’s father Ross was right half forward in ’91 and 94.

Both of Sunday’s senior managers have two All-Ireland senior football medals each, Cork’s Conor Counihan winning his in 1989 and ’90, while James McCartan won in 1991 and ’94.

Down: all the days

FIVE members of the current Down team won the All-Ireland minor title in 1999, all playing a starting role: John Clarke (right corner back), Mark Doran (left corner back), Brendan Coulter (midfield), Ronan Murtagh (left half forward), Ronan Sexton (left corner forward).

Eight members of the Down panel were also members of the under-21 panel that fell to Galway in the “goal fest” final of 2005 in Mullingar. Ambrose Rogers (midfield), James Colgan (centre half back), Conor Laverty (right half forward), Jason Brown (left corner forward), Declan Alder (goalkeeper), Aidan Carr (centre half forward), Mark Poland (right corner forward) all played in the 6-5 to 4-6 defeat. Martin Clarke made a sub appearance that day.

Later in 2005 the Down minor team won the Tom Markham cup when they defeated Mayo 1-15 to 0-8. Of this year’s senior panel, the members of that minor panel are James Colgan (midfield), Conor Garvey (full back), Kevin Duffin (left half back), Peter Fitzpatrick (midfield), Martin Clarke (centre half forward), and Paul McComiskey (left corner forward), who all started, whilst Kevin McKernan, who struggled with injury that year, came on at full back. Kevin Anderson was also a squad member that year.

GAA goes global: Watching all over the world

SUNDAY’S match will be beamed to all corners of the globe. In Britain, Premier Sports will show both finals, operating on the Sky platform. This ensures the games will be available in almost 10 million homes.

Fans in continental Europe are offered delayed coverage of the finals on the Thursday after each final on Eurosport 2 or live through the Setanta internet service at http://setanta-i.com/.

In America, Premium Sports broadcasts to commercial venues and the MHZ Worldview channel extends availability to over 30 million homes.

Setanta in Australia make Gaelic games available to two million Foxtel customers.

In Asia, Setanta Asia and Eurosport 2 will be making both finals available. In addition, high quality internet streams are available anywhere in the world via the Setanta internet service at http://setanta-i.com/.

Dental advice: Players urged to wear gumshields

THE IRISH Dental Association (IDA) is using the All-Ireland football final as a reminder to all Gaelic footballers to wear gumshields or mouthguards in order to protect their teeth from injury.

According to the IDA, a high percentage of GAA players aren’t using gumshields, and they believe the situation needs to be addressed urgently at both adult and juvenile level. Figures from the IDA indicate one third of all adult dental injuries are sports-related, with Ireland having one of the highest rates of sports-related oral injuries in the EU.

Endodontist Dr Pat Cleary pointed out that in many sports such as rugby and hockey the wearing of gumshields is the norm. “It is time for the GAA to adopt a similar stance in its games,” he says, “particularly football. Hundreds of thousands of young people will be watching Cork and Down do battle on Sunday and if all the players were wearing gumshields it would send out a powerful message.”

What do you do if you are unlucky enough to have a tooth knocked out? “Hold the tooth by the crown, not the root,” Cleary explained. “If possible place it in milk, not disinfectant as this will damage the tooth. If you can pop it back into the cavity from which it came do so, making sure you get it the right way round. Otherwise keep the tooth in cold milk and seek treatment as soon as possible. A tooth will survive for up to four hours in milk. If you don’t have milk, keep it in your mouth. But if you have a properly fitted gumshield you probably won’t have to resort to these measures,” Cleary concluded.