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The Documentary- "Players Of The Faithful County"

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There was a really great RTE sports documentry last night about the legendary 1983 football final between Offaly and Kerry. This is remembered for Séamus Darby's late goal which won it for Offaly. It also featured the great Matt Connor, one of the Conner brothers from Offaly. This is a great watch. And it shows what a great game Gaelic football is in my opinion. It also shows what can be achieved if a small county has self belief. A lesson here for Tyrone, Kerry and Galway this year? Slán

galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2519 - 29/12/2018 12:09:03    2155236

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Replying To galwayford:  "There was a really great RTE sports documentry last night about the legendary 1983 football final between Offaly and Kerry. This is remembered for Séamus Darby's late goal which won it for Offaly. It also featured the great Matt Connor, one of the Conner brothers from Offaly. This is a great watch. And it shows what a great game Gaelic football is in my opinion. It also shows what can be achieved if a small county has self belief. A lesson here for Tyrone, Kerry and Galway this year? Slán"
Hi it should read the 1982 final. Not the 1983 one. The 1983 final was the "game of shame" between Dublin and Galway. Anyway, what a really great program.

galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2519 - 29/12/2018 13:30:48    2155244

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Replying To galwayford:  "There was a really great RTE sports documentry last night about the legendary 1983 football final between Offaly and Kerry. This is remembered for Séamus Darby's late goal which won it for Offaly. It also featured the great Matt Connor, one of the Conner brothers from Offaly. This is a great watch. And it shows what a great game Gaelic football is in my opinion. It also shows what can be achieved if a small county has self belief. A lesson here for Tyrone, Kerry and Galway this year? Slán"
Really enjoyed it here too. Matt Connor was a great footballer, and an even better man the way he dealt with his accident, no self pity.

30 committed men needed and a lot of the larger, counties especially need to stop making excuses. Kerry were every bit as formidable in 1982 as Dublin 2019. Wexford and Kerry, twice, in football have failed to do the 5 in a row, Kilkenny in hurling 2010 and Cork 1945. Dublin will be the 6th team to attempt it in Senior Men's GAA. Seem the best equipped to do so. Then again so did KK in 2010 and Kerry before them in 82.

BliainanÁir (Laois) - Posts: 598 - 29/12/2018 16:02:26    2155252

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Possibly the greatest All Ireland win ever. I was lucky enough to see Matt Connor play, and indeed that fabulous Kerry team.

Maroonatic (Galway) - Posts: 1060 - 29/12/2018 18:21:51    2155260

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Probably the biggest upset in GAA inter county history. Kerry were full sure of the win and had the T shirts ready to go.
Mikey Sheehy's penalty miss was big factor along with another super sub intervention to put the nail in the coffin.
Matt Connor was a huge loss to Offaly and the game in general. What a talent.
It'll be extremely difficult to do the 5 in a row.
All you can do is put yourself in with a chance and see where that takes you.

Dubh_linn (Dublin) - Posts: 2312 - 29/12/2018 19:13:51    2155262

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I might be biased, but I really enjoyed last night's documentary. It was great to see those heroes of 1982 again, and relive that brilliant game. It took me back to an era, when Kerry stood on the brink of history, 5 in a row, and they were denied that achievement in dramatic fashion, by a never say die spirit shown by the Offaly team. One thing that I recall is Eugene McGee, basing his game plan on denying Kerry goals. It worked on the day, helped by Seamus Darby's late goal, and a second half penalty save by Martin Furlong.
Kerry had put 4 goals past Offaly in 1980, 1 goal in 1981, and none in the following year.
That was a very good Kerry team, great players like Mikey Sheehy, the late John Egan, (very underrated, in a team of greats), add in Jack O'Shea, and Eoin Liston, so Offaly's win was a great achievement.
Offaly had lived in Dublin's shadow, before the 1980 final win.
Then it was Kerry, nothing easy.
Offaly owed a lot of thanks to the late John Dowling Co. Secretary, and Fr. Sean Heaney, Co. Chairman in those years.
Remarkably, Offaly would only win one more Leinster title in 1997, as we fell off the radar. I think the decline of traditional industries like BNM, ESB, were a factor, but not the whole story. Offaly drew players from clubs like Ferbane, Rhode, Walsh Island, all in areas with a lot of employment in those industries.

Thanks RTE, for the programme, and the players involved,it is something we will always treasure in these barren years, and we dare to hope again, for our day in the sun.
As Paul Rouse, said, all empires, military, political and sporting, come to an end eventually.
Sorry for going on on this topic, but it was our 300 Spartans moment. Best wishes to all for 2019.

thelongridge (Offaly) - Posts: 1741 - 29/12/2018 19:55:31    2155269

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But i thought RTE only cared about Rugby

PyatPree (Cork) - Posts: 376 - 29/12/2018 23:12:56    2155276

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Replying To thelongridge:  "I might be biased, but I really enjoyed last night's documentary. It was great to see those heroes of 1982 again, and relive that brilliant game. It took me back to an era, when Kerry stood on the brink of history, 5 in a row, and they were denied that achievement in dramatic fashion, by a never say die spirit shown by the Offaly team. One thing that I recall is Eugene McGee, basing his game plan on denying Kerry goals. It worked on the day, helped by Seamus Darby's late goal, and a second half penalty save by Martin Furlong.
Kerry had put 4 goals past Offaly in 1980, 1 goal in 1981, and none in the following year.
That was a very good Kerry team, great players like Mikey Sheehy, the late John Egan, (very underrated, in a team of greats), add in Jack O'Shea, and Eoin Liston, so Offaly's win was a great achievement.
Offaly had lived in Dublin's shadow, before the 1980 final win.
Then it was Kerry, nothing easy.
Offaly owed a lot of thanks to the late John Dowling Co. Secretary, and Fr. Sean Heaney, Co. Chairman in those years.
Remarkably, Offaly would only win one more Leinster title in 1997, as we fell off the radar. I think the decline of traditional industries like BNM, ESB, were a factor, but not the whole story. Offaly drew players from clubs like Ferbane, Rhode, Walsh Island, all in areas with a lot of employment in those industries.

Thanks RTE, for the programme, and the players involved,it is something we will always treasure in these barren years, and we dare to hope again, for our day in the sun.
As Paul Rouse, said, all empires, military, political and sporting, come to an end eventually.
Sorry for going on on this topic, but it was our 300 Spartans moment. Best wishes to all for 2019."
I haven't seen it yet but it sounds like a great watch. I was lucky enough to see that match as a young lad. I'll never forget it.

Trump2020 (Galway) - Posts: 2119 - 30/12/2018 09:42:22    2155282

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Replying To PyatPree:  "But i thought RTE only cared about Rugby"
well there has been a change recently. Some good docs coming out of RTE on GAA matters. "Jayo" is on tonight.

galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2519 - 30/12/2018 13:42:51    2155289

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even though im a westmeath man . that offaly team of the early 80s were my heroes . i used to go to club matches in offaly to see matt connor and gerry carroll play . matt to me was the greatest forward i ever saw and a humble man . as the song about him says , in victory or defeat matt connor just looked up and smiled

mickcunningham (Westmeath) - Posts: 1801 - 30/12/2018 14:58:30    2155295

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Good documentary, one question though, did anyone else find it strange that there was no Kerry involvement what a ever. No input by Kerry players on the day. I just think getting Mikey's thoughts on the penalty, or Charlie's thoughts on that ball that beat him or Tommy Doyle's on the final ball. Granted the programmer was the 'Faithful' but I found it unbalanced. '

Anyone else feel that way?

Horsebox77 (Kerry) - Posts: 5491 - 30/12/2018 19:50:27    2155309

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Replying To Horsebox77:  "Good documentary, one question though, did anyone else find it strange that there was no Kerry involvement what a ever. No input by Kerry players on the day. I just think getting Mikey's thoughts on the penalty, or Charlie's thoughts on that ball that beat him or Tommy Doyle's on the final ball. Granted the programmer was the 'Faithful' but I found it unbalanced. '

Anyone else feel that way?"
I mean this with the greatest of respect but I'd say cause there's been a million documentaries on Kerry Gaa and Kerry are always in finals so we hear from the ex players of that great era a lot they wanted to get it from an Offaly perspective, players who a lot of us have never heard of and never seen interviewed before. Brilliant documentary really enjoyed it , but don't worry horse will do the 5 in a row for you this summer hopefully that soften's the blow of '82. Surely everyone wants to see the 5 in a row being done in their lifetime.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 30/12/2018 22:44:21    2155320

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Replying To clondalkindub:  "I mean this with the greatest of respect but I'd say cause there's been a million documentaries on Kerry Gaa and Kerry are always in finals so we hear from the ex players of that great era a lot they wanted to get it from an Offaly perspective, players who a lot of us have never heard of and never seen interviewed before. Brilliant documentary really enjoyed it , but don't worry horse will do the 5 in a row for you this summer hopefully that soften's the blow of '82. Surely everyone wants to see the 5 in a row being done in their lifetime."
I thought "Kings of September ' was a much better story of the the final. It probably dealt with Kerry as much as Offaly. I remember standing on the canal in the teaming of rain, even when Offaly went ahead Kerry should have at least equalized. The last few minutes everyone was losing their heads. Kerry were the princes of football back then the dubs won in 83 but it was back to Kerry dominance after that. They dealt with their loss with great dignity ( probably easier when you win so much )

theduke66 (Dublin) - Posts: 334 - 31/12/2018 00:56:16    2155324

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Replying To Horsebox77:  "Good documentary, one question though, did anyone else find it strange that there was no Kerry involvement what a ever. No input by Kerry players on the day. I just think getting Mikey's thoughts on the penalty, or Charlie's thoughts on that ball that beat him or Tommy Doyle's on the final ball. Granted the programmer was the 'Faithful' but I found it unbalanced. '

Anyone else feel that way?"
The programme was about the offaly men . We hear enough from Spillane all year

mickcunningham (Westmeath) - Posts: 1801 - 31/12/2018 08:36:24    2155328

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There's a new series, Summer of Hurling, on the revamped RTE Player. Shows the highlights of different games in what was an epic season of hurling.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7344 - 31/12/2018 09:07:27    2155329

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Replying To clondalkindub:  "I mean this with the greatest of respect but I'd say cause there's been a million documentaries on Kerry Gaa and Kerry are always in finals so we hear from the ex players of that great era a lot they wanted to get it from an Offaly perspective, players who a lot of us have never heard of and never seen interviewed before. Brilliant documentary really enjoyed it , but don't worry horse will do the 5 in a row for you this summer hopefully that soften's the blow of '82. Surely everyone wants to see the 5 in a row being done in their lifetime."
We saw the 5 in a row being achieved only 4 months ago by the Kerry minors, 30 wins in a row which has never been achieved by any other football team .

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 31/12/2018 10:31:20    2155330

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Brilliant documentary, had everything that was good in GAA about it, the effort, community spirit, hope belief, dreaming, talent and fulfilling that ambition. One of the lads made a great point an era dominated by Dublin second greatest side and probably Kerry's greatest and the only team that had and did overcome both. Offaly dont they get the credit they deserve. O' Connors story was so poignant yet inspiring given the measure of the man and how he dealt with it.

I tend to agree with Horsebox, it would have been interesting to hear the Kerry perspective on how the game unfolded and could have been done without taking anything away from the focus being on Offaly.

Hopefully the Dublin lads were watching there is a school day for us there as we approach the summer.

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 31/12/2018 11:29:30    2155332

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Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "We saw the 5 in a row being achieved only 4 months ago by the Kerry minors, 30 wins in a row which has never been achieved by any other football team ."
I question call it 5 in a row, they were two different levels u18 and u17, if thats the case were tyrone co-minor champions in 2017

PyatPree (Cork) - Posts: 376 - 31/12/2018 11:54:39    2155333

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Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "We saw the 5 in a row being achieved only 4 months ago by the Kerry minors, 30 wins in a row which has never been achieved by any other football team ."
We are talking about the real 5 in a row not an underage competition. Anyway you won't have long to wait , late August should do the trick.

fingalman (Dublin) - Posts: 233 - 31/12/2018 12:18:24    2155335

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Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "We saw the 5 in a row being achieved only 4 months ago by the Kerry minors, 30 wins in a row which has never been achieved by any other football team ."
4x U18 and 1x U17. Is that 5 in a row? An amazing achievement right enough, fair play to Kerry but real history is written by senior winners. Even more respect is due to Dublin if they can make 5 in a row in 2019.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7344 - 31/12/2018 13:14:01    2155338

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