Year of highs... but still no decent county grounds!
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Continuing my sporting review of 2016 from last week, while Dublin, Kerry, Galway and Tyrone were securing provincial titles, Tipperary and Clare surprised everybody by making it through the Qualifiers to the quarter-finals. Jose Mourinho was unveiled as new Man United manager, while former Limerick manager Sam Allardyce landed the English job. Dundalk began their European adventure with two draws against Icelandic side FH which secured them a second-round tie with Bate Borisov. Carl Frampton won the World Featherweight title lost by his manager Barry McGuigan 30 years earlier. This month was all about the Olympics in Rio and the O’Donovan brothers stole the show with their silver medal in the rowing and memorable interviews. Annalise Murphy made up for her fourthplace finish in London by capturing silver in sailing. There was major disappointment, however, for our boxers as they failed to deliver a single medal. Usain Bolt confirmed his status as the greatest sprinter of all time by winning the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay for the third consecutive games. Dundalk narrowly missed out on Champions League group stage qualification but went into the lucrative Europa League. Conor McGregor beat Nate Diaz in the UFC rematch.
Tipperary won their first All-Ireland hurling title since 2010, beating Kilkenny, with Seamus Callanan scoring 13 points. Local cyclist Eve McCrystal won Paralympic gold and silver as a pilot for Katie George Dunlevy in the tandem. Dundalk earned a memorable Europa League draw away in Holland and followed it up later in the month with a win in Tallaght over Maccabi Tel Aviv. Ireland opened their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-2 draw in Serbia. St Kevin’s caused an upset to win the Louth Junior final against Glen Emmets, while St Joseph’s captured the Intermediate title. Rory McIlroy pocketed a staggering $11.5 million as he secured the FedEx Cup title in the States and Sam Allardyce’s reign as England manager came to an end after just 67 days.
After almost three hours of gripping excitement Dublin finally overcame Mayo to win their third All-Ireland in four seasons. Mayo’s 65-year wait unfortunately continues. Munster coach Anthony Foley passed away at the age of 42 on the eve of a match in Paris. Dundalk secured their third league title in a row with some fantastic displays during the month, most notably at home to Cork. Sean O’Mahony’s won their first Louth senior title, beating St Mary’s with a late Conor Crawley goal, while Naomh Mairtin landed the Minor crown. Ireland captured maximum points in two World Cup Qualifiers against Georgia and Moldova.
Ireland finally beat the All Blacks after 111 years of trying with a magnificent display in Chicago. New Zealand, however, then came to Dublin and gained revenge, while a week later Ireland completed a southern hemisphere clean sweep with victory over Australia. Drogheda United confirmed their return to top-flight football for 2017 with a dramatic second-leg 3-0 victory against Wexford Youths at United Park, while Dundalk’s punishing fixture schedule finally caught up with them as they lost the FAI Cup Final to Cork in extra time. That man Conor McGregor was again in the news, this time in Madison Square Garden, as he became the first UFC fighter to win two titles at different weight divisions. Ireland went top of their World Cup qualifying group with a fantastic 1-0 win in Vienna.
Dundalk’s epic 2016 season finally came to a close with defeat away to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel. Although they missed out narrowly on qualification for the Europa League knockout stages, it was a wonderful and memorable season. While the lease was eventually sorted out in Oriel Park there was still no white smoke during 2016 as regards the situation with the Gaelic Grounds in Drogheda. Shamefully, our county ground was again voted the worst facility in the country during 2016. At this month’s convention it was confirmed that a deal was very close to being concluded, but there have been many false dawns in the past. Here’s hoping for 2017. THIS year we donate our winnings to the Tiny Hearts fund-raising group in Togher. •That’s my lot for 2016 and hope you enjoyed reading. Best wishes for the rest of the festive season and see you all for pre-season in January.