Alec my aussie mate nudged me as I stood trying to take in what Hill 16 and the rest of Croke Park had just witnessed. "Fight!" he nodded in the direction of the Cusack Stand. I looked over and saw many players from both teams pushing and shoving each other at the entrance to the tunnel that leads to changing rooms under one of the enormous sides of GAA headquarters. I shrugged it off dismissing it as what's known as handbags and I started to wonder what extra time would bring. It turned out it was more than just testosterone flying all over the place but I didn't know exactly what had happened until after the game, a brilliant gaelic football game sadly overshadowed by a moment of madness. I was transported back to April 2013 at Anfield, a fantastic 2-2 draw between Liverpool and Chelsea that displayed all the sides of Luis Suarez. He gave away a penalty, he expertly set up Sturridge and then he scored a last minute equaliser but somewhere in the middle of the game he bit Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. That is all anybody remembers. Few if any of the supporters inside Anfield knew what had happened until after the final whistle.
On Sunday even though I'd heard something about eye gouging spoken of in the crowd and messages on group chat mentioned long bans, I wasn't sure what it was all about. The game was continuing and that was all I knew. What led up to this was as good an advert for gaelic football in many years. I'd completely lost interest in the game since the advent of the blanket defence that spurred Donegal to All Ireland champions in 2014. Some might argue that way of playing went even further back to Armagh in 2002. Houllier, Mourinho and Benitez were all successful in European and domestic competitions playing a defence first style of football from the early 2000s on. In recent years, there was a schools game that ended with the score 2-1 (0-2 to 0-1)featuring my old school the Abbey CBS in Newry who were so fearful of the oppositions scoring ability they brought all 15 men deep within the 45 line. I had a similar experience once in a championship semi final against the almighty Crossmaglen Rangers. All our players were inside our own 45 but this wasn't tactics, we were penned in there and battered to the tune of 80 nil (can't remember what it was in goals and points but the keeper scored a hat trick). This was Under 16s but many of those Cross players would go on to win All Irelands with club and county.
There are similarities between the two most famous teams to wear amber and black in Ireland. Kilkenny famously only have a county hurling team so they don't lose any talent to football and while there is a soccer team in Cross none of the gaelic players play for them. What I saw and heard on Sunday made me think soccer is having more and more of an influence on and off the pitch. We missed the throw-in for the start of the game at 1.45pm, I'd underestimated the traffic that began around Castlebellingham as 40,000 travelled south to see Armagh try and reach the semi finals for the first time since 2005. Indeed my last time here was the 2003 final defeat to Tyrone who also beat Armagh in 2005 on their way to a second title. As we took our position above the cross bar of the Hill end goal, the clock said 1.46pm, Galway had the ball and were knocking it from side to side about 45 yards out for long enough that we could get a cup of tea from the flask and a couple of ham sandwiches from the tin foil. It doesn't get more cliched than that! Galway probed and were thwarted for almost 3 minutes before turning the ball over for a foul. 30 seconds later Armagh were having their first attempt at a score but it went wide from Aidan Nugent. Galway opened the scoring on the next attack when Damien Comer knocked it over. Six and a half minutes were on the clock before Armagh equalised when a long ball was played in towards Nugent who laid it off to Rian O'Neill from Crossmaglen who put it over the bar from the right hand side. This sparked Armagh to life and their secret weapon midfielder turned goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty took the ball upfield all the way to the Galway 45 yard line for the first time. The attack stalled down the right but switched to the left where Stefan Campbell left his man for dead and carried the ball parallel with the end line before he tapped it over. Rory Grugan made it 3-1 soon after when he cut in from the right to curl one over with his left foot. Galway try to respond but it goes wide and another long ball sent in to the Armagh forward line, Nugent jumped to take the bouncing ball into his chest, he spun to his left and sent it over with his right. Galway remained ponderous when they had the ball and finally after 13 minutes without a score Tierney kicked a long point and a couple of minutes later Finnerty came in from the right to boot it over with his left. Armagh responded with a long ball into full forward O'Neill who caught it and tried to make room for a point, almost lost it but finds Jarly Óg Burns running through from left half back, the goal briefly looked on but the Silverbridge man took the point hoping the goals would come. This prompts one of several soccer songs from the crowd "Jarly, Jarly óg, Jarly óg, Jarly, Jarly óg nana na na na na na na na na" and astoundingly later on I hear Will Griggs on Fire (I couldn't work out which Armagh players name replaced Griggs), a song made famous by Northern Ireland fans at Euro 2016. Its a long way from Windsor Park to Croker. Galway replied with another point and Grugan kicked a free to make it a 2 point lead again for the orchard county and repeated the trick from his hands a few minutes later. The tribesmen need something from their star player Shane Walsh and after he was fouled he took the free himself and scored. Comer tried to get on the end of a long raking diagonal ball from Dylan McHugh, Rafferty came for it but missed and Comer had an empty goal to aim at but punched it wide. McHugh had more luck down the right and he won a free that Walsh sent over with his left foot. A long ball into Nugent at the other end brought another goal chance but he was surrounded by defenders in maroon who blocked his effort. Galway went up the other end and equalised through Tierney though Armagh should have retaken the lead before the break but Murnin missed badly. There was still time for some drama when Rafferty was caught upfield but the men from Connaught couldn't capitalise. Half time 0-7 to 0-7 but the men from the west are in charge now.
The second half started in similar fashion to the first. Galway take their time but this time there was an end product as Finnerty put them ahead for the first time since the opening minutes of the first half. Armagh were back level quickly when Nugent hand passed inside to Conor O'Neill breaking down the left and he fisted it over. Then disaster for Armagh Tierney broke through the lines and was in on goal, he hammered the ball right down the middle, Rafferty did brilliantly to tip it on to the bar, the ball ricocheted more than 21 metres out to McHugh who drew the entire Armagh defence before he found Tierney with only the keeper to beat, Rafferty came out to him but Tierney cleverly flicked the ball to Johnny Heaney who slapped it in to the empty goal. Shane Walsh put Galway 4 points ahead and Armagh started to look ragged though they remained within touching distance aa Nugent showed he could score with either foot as well as Walsh when he claimed a mark at right corner forward. The men in orange put pressure on Conor Gleeson's kick out and Stefan Campbell intercepted a fist pass before running through from midfield and sent the ball high and handsome over the bar with his right foot. Two point game. Another long build up saw Finnerty put Heaney's goal between them again before Rian O'Neill and Ben Crealy worked hard to keep the ball alive down the right, it eventually found its way out to Campbell who showed why he is one of the stars of this team with a beautiful left footed point from centre half forward. Nugent had a chance to get the lead down to two again after more good work from Duffy down the right but he couldn't get enough curl on his right foot effort. Finian O'Laoi came off the bench for Galway and was immediately in the action as he bounced off an Armagh forward and put the ball over the bar. In the very warm sunshine, Galway now took every opportunity to run down the clock as they ran the legs off their physios on and off the pitch to treat them. This probably means more injury time added at the end. Walsh tried to play a ball back into the centre of the field but it is intercepted and leads to a Rian O'Neill point from a free. Not the last time this exact sequence of play happened in this game. Grugan has a chance to reduce the lead to two again but misses a free kick from a central position. It didn't look like it was going to be Armagh's day but he made amends seconds later when he set up sub Conor Turbitt to punch it over for a point via the top of the cross bar after more good work from O'Neill to turn the ball over in the first place. This is one of 14 turnovers for Armagh and Galway have 9. Just as Armagh looked like they could find their way back into a winning position, centre half back Greg McCabe mistimed a shoulder on Tierney and smashed into him square on and received his marching orders from referee David Coldrick. Walsh made it a 3 point lead from a free before Comer scored when going for goal but Rafferty got a good hand on it to help it over the bar. At half time we got talking to a lad beside us in a Galway top, with a northern accent who turned out to be the Down keeper Rory Burns. There is no love lost between Armagh and Down but even though only one of these teams is involved today it's not unusual for fans from other counties to go to Croke park for these big games. All I could hear in the crowd at this point though was other northern accents cheering for Galway. Paul Conroy increased their noise when he made the score 18-13.
I didn't notice if anyone was making for the exits. This was a double header with Kerry and Mayo playing the last quarter final of the weekend to see who would join Derry and Dublin from Saturday and at this stage it only looked like it could be Galway heading for the semi finals from this game. I made the mistake of leaving that Liverpool and Chelsea game early in 2013 to make sure I got to the airport in time for my flight and in doing so missed the Suarez equaliser. I'd never see him play for Liverpool live again as he was banned for the rest of the season and the start of the next for the bite on Ivanovic and I wasn't renewing my season ticket for the following year. To make matters worse when I got to the airport my flight was delayed until midnight! If any Armagh fan tried to get a jump on the traffic by leaving early on Sunday they missed one of the greatest comebacks in gaelic football history. There were 8 minutes of injury time announced not long after the brilliant Ciaran Molloy topped off a very impressive performance by putting Galway 6 points ahead. Rafferty played a short kick out and the ball was worked up the field to the left half forward area, Campbell curled a high ball in that dropped just under the crossbar, Gleeson under pressure from Crealy could only punch the ball out 6 yards to Nugent who two handed it into the net. Lifeline but Comer scores to make it a 2 score game. Rafferty comes out of goal and takes it from the half way line before sending a long ball towards the square. Rian O'Neill rose like an AFL player but he didn't call for the mark, instead he punched it across goal, Gleeson made a mess of it again, shovelling the ball out into the path of the onrushing Turbitt who side footed it first time low through the legs of two Galway defenders on the line. Bedlam on the Hill and all the way round Croke Park. Rafferty was still up the field when Gleeson kicks off and it was a foot race between the Armagh keeper and Matthew Tierney now wearing the number 27 jersey. Rafferty just about won it and Armagh attacked again, there were two minutes of injury time left, Rian O'Neill got the ball in midfield and broke through a tackle but his shot was high and off target, it didn't go wide and the ball pinballed about the Galway backline before Aidan Forker, the Armagh centre full back fouled on the Galway end line. Galway took the free quickly and Walsh is away down the left before he tried to find a team mate in the middle of the pitch but he gave it away to Justin Kieran who carried the ball up field for what would surely be his teams final attack. Campbell got on the ball but slipped and whatever slim chance looked gone but he found Forker who passed it back to the number 11 and he eventually drew a foul about 50 metres out, 10 from the Cusack Stand side touchline. This was it. Score and it was extra time, miss and the dream was over. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Rian O'Neill sent over a kick that Johnny Sexton would have been proud of. Croke Park exploded with noise and orange flares like Anfield on a European night. The referee blew for full time, some of the young lads in front of me thought Armagh had won and celebrated as if they had done but) they hadn't. Armagh 2-14 (20) Galway 1-17 (20).
What happened next has been discussed at length since by everyone from the Tea Sock to the Stephen Nolan Show. Alec is a Geelong Cats fan and the last time he was at Croke Park was for an International Series between Ireland and Australia. Ill discipline has often blighted these games but this was his first gaelic match so the sight of the benches emptying and ploughing into each other was newer to him than it was to me and most of the crowd. It just remains now to see how the GAA deal with it all. Among the almost capacity crowd at Croke Park on Sunday were thousands of children - on the pitch playing at half time and in the stands supporting. Very few people would have seen what happened in the scrum at full time but everyone watching on tv around the world seen it instantly and many times since. I remember watching the Milk Cup international youth football tournament on tv and a young lad celebrated a goal by doing the infamous Robbie Fowler sniffing the line routine. This would have happened before he was born yet here he was mimicking something Fowler did to taunt Everton fans who said he was a drug dealer. Prime Minister David Cameron called on the FA to take a hard line after Suarez bit Ivanovic and that probably contributed to his 10 game ban. Tiernan Kelly can expect a similar punishment though GAA bans tend to be measured by time rather than games. Eye gouging and biting are rare incidents in gaelic football and soccer, 30 players pushing and shoving each other is not a brawl but it's not unusual in gaelic football either.
I missed the fact that one player from Armagh and one from Galway were held responsible and red carded for the row at the start of extra time. I thought they were all just waiting for the heavy rain to pass. We were expecting it all day and it finally hit, soaking everyone who remained on the roofless Hill. I wondered if Armagh would keep going hell for leather in extra time as they had at the end of normal time but maybe a player less on the pitch contributed to the cautious approach from both teams again. Walsh put Galway ahead, Kieran equalised. Campbell skipped through but missed then Finnerty pointed at the other end. Substitute Mark Shields drove forward with the ball but when it was worked back to him in space he missed to the left also. Walsh scored another free to make it 23-21. Rian O'Neill brought it back to 1 point between the teams with a free in injury time. Extra time is a relatively new concept in gaelic football but with an almost all year round calendar between McKenna Cup (in Ulster) National League, provincial and All Ireland and then club football from autumn to winter there is no time for replays any more.
At the start of the second half of extra time, Armagh's priority was trying to make sure the game didn't go any further than the next 10 or so minutes. Rian O'Neill dropped a high ball into the 14 metre box, it bounced high spinning forward towards the goal, yet again Gleeson made a meal of it under pressure and Grugan took advantage punching it in for a goal. The Armagh fans went crazy again but there was still a long way to go in a game that had swung wildly one way then the other. No sooner had I calmed myself down then Galway had the ball in the net. Just as Gleeson had struggled with the high ball, Rafferty hit a number of kick outs straight to Galway players. This time it led to Galway retaking the lead with a goal by McDaid running through and toe poking the ball into the Armagh net following good work by Mannion. Galway were in front again by a point but Armagh went straight up the other end to level it up when Eoin Woods half volleyed another O'Neill high ball launched on to the dance floor. Galway then kept the ball for several minutes before Finnerty kicked wide. Armagh knocked it around on half way before it opened up for Rafferty to charge 40 metres inside the Galway 21 metre line, the ball broke perfectly for Jemar Hall from Forkhill, he sent a couple of Galway players to the shops before kicking it over to give Armagh the lead with a minute to go. Could they see it out? No. Killian McDaid avoided Armagh tackles to kick over from the right. Armagh had one last chance. Rafferty carried the ball forward, he passed to O'Neill who picked out Niall Rowlands in space in the right half forward position but with time and under no pressure other than this was his chance to win the game for Armagh, he dragged it wide to the left and that was that. The dreaded PK's to see who would face Derry. Armagh 3-18 Galway 2-21.
The invention of the penalty kick is credited to the businessman and goalkeeper William McCrum in Milford, Co. Armagh in 1890 but this was for football or soccer not gaelic football. The penalty kick competition drama has punctuated football finals down the years from Rome 84 to Istanbul 05 and Moscow 08, from Turin and Genoa 90 to Wembley 21. This was the first penalty shootout to settle an All Ireland game but while this was a new phenomenon in gaelic games, there was no real surprise to anyone because it was the same 5 players from each team format we know from soccer. My only question was could you score a point? I assume Galway won the toss and opted not to kick into the predominantly orange Hill 16. Walsh scored for Galway, Campbell ballooned his wide for Armagh, Comer scored, Rian O'Neill capped a brilliant day for himself by sending Gleeson the wrong way, Rafferty got a hand to Finnertys but couldn't keep it out, Turbitt hit the post and it was down to Tierney to win it for the Tribes men. He watched the keeper move before putting it the other way. Gaelic football penalties used to be from the 14 metre line but it was moved in to 11 metres because it was deemed to be too far out. Gaelic hates to be seen to be doing anything similar to soccer so instead of a spot they have a line now a few metres inside the 14 line. Between the soccer songs, the defensive tactics and now the penalty shoot outs, gaelic football and soccer continue to have much in common whether the GAA like it or not.
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