2011 GAA Football Championship Review

We take a look back at all four provincial championships and the knock-out stages of the All-Ireland series in our review of the 2011 GAA Football All-Ireland Championship.

Connacht GAA Football Championship

With four different winners over the past four seasons, there was no 'democratic deficit' in Connacht and after Leitrim's shock win over Sligo at Markievicz Park, the prospect of another name change on the Nestor Cup appeared less than remote.

Alas, Leitrim's bid ended at Carrick-on-Shannon where they fell to reigning champions Roscommon, who had earlier eased by New York at Gaelic Park. Mayo suffered an almighty fright at Ruislip against London and required extra-time before advancing past the gallant Exiles. But they put in a more impressive performance on home turf at McHale Park where they dominated the second period to defeat Galway by six points.

The final against Roscommon at Dr. Hyde Park was very much a tale of two halves. The home side had first use of the elements but an interval advantage of four points looked precarious. As was the case at Castlebar, the Mayo defence dominated the second half restricting the hosts to just two points, while at the other end Cillian O'Connor and Co kept the scoreboard ticking over. The last five Connacht finals had all been decided by the minimum margin but a late Enda Varley point bucked that trend.

Leinster GAA Football Championship

Meath's title retention ambitions didn't survive their first outing as Kildare eased by them at Croke Park while that same afternoon Dublin began their bid to regain the Delaney Cup with a comfortable victory over Laois.

On the other side of the draw Wexford looked the most likely finalists as they recorded comprehensive wins over Offaly and Westmeath while Carlow won their first match in the province for five years with a first-ever success against last year's beaten finalists, Louth. Unfortunately for Carlow, they failed to rediscover that form against Wexford in the semi-final while Dublin edged out Kildare by the narrowest of margins in the other penultimate clash.

Back in 2008 Wexford came to Croke Park with high hopes for their final joust with Dublin but were decisively defeated. However, this season it was a much different story and indeed for three-quarters of the way Wexford looked the more likely winners, before the concession of a fortuitous goal turned the tide Dublin's way. James McCarthy added a superb second and from then on Wexford were chasing the game. In the end Dublin won their sixth title in seven years by a four-point winning margin.

Munster GAA Football Championship

Somewhat surprisingly, there hadn't been a Kerry-Cork final since 2008 but with the counties on the opposite sides of the draw the prospect of the 'big two' meeting in the decider looked likely.

With Tipperary making huge strides at underage level there was hope that this form could be transferred to the Senior grade and although they gave Kerry a few anxious moments at Killarney, the hosts finished strongly. Neither Clare nor Waterford unduly troubled Sam Maguire Cup holders Cork while Kerry also had too much in hand for Limerick.

Enjoying the home advantage of Fitzgerald Stadium for the final, Kerry came out of the blocks fast and a superb first-half performance was crowned by Darran O'Sullivan's superb goal. Kerry were again on top on the restart and it looked as if Cork were in for a trimming, but the All-Ireland champions finally came alive late on in the third quarter and they reduced the arrears to the minimum.

The width of the post kept Kerry ahead as the game tumbled into the closing minutes but having been suitably warned the reigning Munster champions lofted over a couple of late points to retain the title with three points to spare.

Ulster GAA Football Championship

For 11 years Armagh and Tyrone had ruled the roost up North, but that period of dominance ended this season.

Initially, that run didn't look in serious jeopardy as Armagh impressed in defeating last year's beaten All-Ireland finalists Down first time out but having beaten Fermanagh by eight points, Derry then defeated Armagh by nine. Unsurprisingly, Tyrone were favoured to come through the other half of the draw, but after sneaking by Monaghan in a repeat of the previous year's final, late goals from Colm McFadden and Dermot Molloy of Donegal ensured that a new name would be inscribed on the Anglo-Celt Cup for the first time in more than a decade.

The final wasn't a classic with defences on both sides having the better of the argument, especially in the opening half as 10 points were split evenly. The turning point came shortly after the resumption when Michael Murphy was fouled by Derry 'keeper Danny Devlin and the Donegal captain dispatched the penalty for a lead they would not relinquish.

Derry were always chasing the game thereafter and the badly needed goal never materialised. Winning by a six-point margin, Donegal returned to the provincial roll of honour after a 19-year gap.

All-Ireland Series

It's likely to become one of those easy starter questions in GAA quizzes over the next decade: who scored the winning point in the 2011 GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final? Step forward Stephen Cluxton whose late free brought Sam Maguire back to the capital for the first time since 1995.

Perhaps part of the charm of that late score was the Dublin net-minder's reaction to it - ho-hum, job done might cover it. He sauntered up to take the kick as if he was enjoying an early morning warm-up on Sandymount Strand and from the moment it left his boot there was little doubt as to its destination.

It capped a great All-Ireland campaign for Dublin who had shown magnificent form in their quarter-final win over Tyrone and dogged fortitude to get the better of Donegal a round later.

Kerry had been the form horse coming into the final with impressive wins over Limerick and Mayo and looked on target to regain the title with a four-point advantage seven minutes from time until Kevin McManamon's goal kick-started Dublin's late fight-back. The scenes of the players celebrating on their lap of honour will linger in the memory for some time.

The All-Ireland series also shone a bright light on the provincial championships, which had come in for some criticism in terms of their relevance, especially 12 months ago when for the first time since the introduction of the Qualifiers in 2001, not one of the semi-finalists had taken provincial honours. It was the exact opposite this season as for the first time since 2000 all of the 'last four' had secured provincial honours with Mayo's win over All-Ireland champions Cork in the quarter-final probably the upset of the campaign.

The Qualifiers, despite being in existence for more than a decade, continue to throw up new pairings while it was also a banner season for London and Waterford who recorded their first victories in this sphere with wins over Fermanagh and London respectively.

Only Leitrim have yet to record a win in the Qualifiers, but the manner of their victory over Sligo suggests that debut success isn't far away. Thanks to the Kilkenny-Tipperary saga, football has been perceived to be in the shadow of hurling in recent years but this year's dénouement has whetted the appetite for 2012.