GAA KARL O’KANE HANDS OUT HIS END THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES OF SEASON AWARDS

NOW that the dust has settled we look back at the 2022 season.

The rise of Galway, Derry and Armagh, the introduction of the Tailteann Cup and Kerry finally getting on top of Dublin meant it was an important and entertaining year for the game.

Here are the big plays, players, tactics and unsung heroes of a thrilling season.

TEAM OF THE YEAR

Galway: They made the greatest strides of any county out there, gaining promotion from Division 2 and getting on top of Mayo in Connacht for the first time since 2018.

Well set-up at the back, and with Shane Walsh and Damien Comer up front, they defeated Armagh and Derry to win their first straight knockout Championship games at Croke Park and make their first All-ireland final since 2001.

TOP PUNDIT

Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s live match day co-commentaries are what ‘proper fans’ want to hear with the Sunday Game game needing an injection of life into its punditry.

Devoid of hyperbole and some of the blind emotion we’ve grown used to over the years in co-commentary, but full of tactical insight, knowledge and passion for the game, he’s not afraid to call players out either. You can tell he walked the line.

TOTALLY COMMITTED DEFENDING AWARD

It could be the man marking jobs of Chrissy Mckaigue or Liam Silke. That’s too simple though.

We’ll go for Stephen

O’brien’s (right) two first half blocks on Johnny

Heaney and Paul

Conroy that potentially prevented 1-1 at a time when Kerry were wobbling. Silke and

Mckaigue would have appreciated the last ditch defending of the Kenmare man. O’brien was the unsung hero of this year’s All-ireland triumph.

WISH YOU WERE HERE AWARD

Con O’callaghan is an obvious one, missing the Kerry game but Mayo were hit just as hard.

They badly missed Tommy Conroy. Was his Sigerson/county schedule well enough managed when he sustained a ruptured cruciate knee ligament?

But they missed Ryan O’donoghue even more in their 1-18 to 0-13 All-ireland quarter-final defeat by Kerry. No doubt the Kingdom, even with David Clifford on one leg, caught a break here.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Rory Gallagher (left) transformed Derry from also rans to Ulster champions, for the first time since 1998, beating Tyrone, Monaghan and Donegal en route.

Then they routed Clare at Croke Park, hitting five goals to secure a first All-ireland semi-final place since 2004. Didn’t deliver against Galway but it was still a masterclass season from Gallagher in psychology, coaching a game plan and match day tactics.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

David Clifford of Kerry winning the free at the end of the Dublin game, marginal call as it was, turned out to be his most significant play of the year. Anyone who hits 1-3 (0-2mks, 0-1f) against Mayo, 0-6 (1f, 1 mark) against Dublin and 0-8 (2marks, 3fs) in a tight final, is a deserving winner.

Marquee inside forwards are not an easy breed to come by and you have to keep them fit. Having Clifford means Kerry can afford to set up a well manned defence that conceded just three goals all season. The high marks he

won in the final proved the point.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Tyrone are the obvious answer. As defences of an All-ireland go, their effort was pretty pathetic, even though they drew rising neigbours Derry and

Armagh.

A less obvious one is

Derry, for getting so far and not having a proper

cut at

Galway. To score

1-6, with the goal coming in stoppage time when the game was over, says it all about their attacking shortcomings on the day.

TOP TACTIC

Armagh’s use of goalkeeper

Ethan

Rafferty.

Rafferty’s two points from against Tyrone showed all his skills as a former intercounty forward.

Niall Morgan set up two points in last year’s All-ireland final and is the best goalie out there on the ball but Rafferty brought a fresh angle to goalkeeping at this level with his point taking.

MOMENT OF THE YEAR:

It has to be Sean O’shea’s 50 metre free into the breeze with the last kick of the game that turned the tables on Dublin after five consecutive Championship defeats. The shape, height and whip on the kick was extraordinary and in the end

O’shea’s boomer was the defining moment of the football season.

UNDER THE RADAR

The pace at which Kerry move the ball with the foot and through the hand.

Galway are highly rated in footballing terms but Kerry had a clear edge on them in the speed they got the ball from one end of the field to the other. This requires serious fitness, movement, skill and belief.

PERSEVERANCE AWARD

Cillian Mcdaid’s four points in the

All-ireland final from midfield, three in the second half, and a couple more wides, showed his athleticism and drive.

Most impressive of all, when Armagh hit an extra-time goal in the quarter-final, Mcdaid (above) had the legs and heart to respond at the other end with a Galway goal when most players would be spent.

This

Farewell to a campaign that had a little bit of everything from the highest highs to lowest lows

rarely happens in overtime,

THEY’RE DOING GREAT WORK UP/ DOWN/OVER THERE AWARD

This one has to go to Billy Lee (below) and Limerick, who got out of Division 3, and then won their way through to a Munster final.

Kerry were too good but they gave Cork a fair rattle in the

qualifiers

MYTH OF THE

YEAR

This one is simple enough. People pedalling the notion that Derry and Armagh are proper All-ireland contenders – up there with Dublin and Kerry – is wishful thinking for now at least.

Galway were comfortable against Armagh until the two late goals and the same Galway – who are not Kerry or Dublin – had Derry beaten with 15 minutes to go.

Derry and Armagh made great strides this year, but they have plenty more hard work to do.

BOLTER

Lee Gannon (Dublin): To establish yourself as a regular starter on the Dublin team takes some doing. Gannon (above) was excellent off the bench in the relegation defeat by Monaghan at Clones and carried that form into the summer.

Showed the type of utter conviction you need at this level throughout the year in going forward, getting shots off and scoring most of them.

I CAN’T BELIEVE HE JUST DID THAT AWARD

An outlier here. Derry’s Emmett Bradley took a short kick out in the

Ulster semi-final against Monaghan, ran the entire field and pointed in a dinger of a game. That’s rarely happened before.

Or Cormac Costello’s postage stamp finish against Kerry (right) for the goal, when most people were screaming at him to stick it over the bar.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

Hopefully this is not recency bias but the absolute class of everything Shane Walsh did in the All-ireland final shone through.

The pace, the step, the poise. To give a marker of the calibre of Tom O’sullivan such a torrid time said it all. The quality of Walsh’s points were incredible.

GAME OF THE YEAR

The Derry/monaghan Ulster semi-final was a real thriller, as Seamus Mcenaney’s men hunted a goal hungry Derry down.

But it has to be the Armagh/ Galway All-ireland quarter-final. It had everything.

Great scores, Rian O’neill’s astonishing free that sent the game to extra time. A row.

A goal in extra-time, responded to with a goal, and a penalty

shootout.