Modern Day Hacks

[kerrygold]

Compare the quality of the match report from 1968 by Paddy Downey to some of the agenda lead dripple we are subjected to from some of the modern day hacks reporting on gaelic games.

[kerrygold]

FROM THE ARCHIVE 1968 ALL-IRELAND SFC FINAL/Down 2-12 Kerry 1-13: Down boast the proud record of never having lost to Kerry in the Championship, with one of those victories clinching their third All-Ireland title win. Here is PADDY DOWNEY 's match report on that game from September 23rd, 1968

THREE APPEARANCES in All-Ireland finals and a 100 per cent record of success – that now is the proud boast of the footballers from Down, who completed the unique hat-trick with a two-point victory over Kerry at Croke Park yesterday.

Four players – Joe Lennon, Sean O’Neill, Dan McCartan and Paddy Doherty – were members of the team that took the Sam Maguire Cup across the border for the first time in 1960, when Kerry also were beaten finalists.

Yesterday, this veteran quartet were joined by a dashing band of youngsters who proved too sharp and too fast for the Munster representatives in all the vital stages of the game.

For the winners, whose partisans in the 71,294 attendance outnumbered their rivals by two to one, this was the glorious culmination of a grinding campaign of preparation which began late last autumn and reached the halfway stage with victory in the National League last May.

For Kerry, who won the last of their 20 All-Ireland titles in 1962, it was a day of bitter disappoint-ment, the collapse of a dream. That dream had been nurtured since the former All-Irelander Jackie Lyne took over the training of the team five months ago and its fulfilment was regarded as essential not only to restore the county’s prestige, but to ensure the well-being of football at the grassroots in that old strong-hold of the game.

Though all the traditional atmosphere and excitement of this great sporting occasion were present, this was not an outstanding final. At times it was even pedestrian because of close, tough tackling and the tendency of both sides, in aerial tussles between both 50 yard lines, to break down the ball to the men waiting on the fringes of the battle.

Down, faster and more alert than their opponents, were the more frequently successful in picking up the breaks from this gambit and they set up many of their scoring movements after gaining possession when the ball flashed down from the hands of men straining for superiority in the air.

While their margin of victory was only two points, Down were worthy winners. They were vastly the superior team in the first half when their speed, combination and brilliant movements threw Kerry into chaos and might well have reaped a bigger lead than eight points (2-7 to 0-5) at the interval.

In this period we saw a team equal to the great Down sides who won the county’s two previous All-Irelands at the beginning of the decade. Kerry floundered as the northerners swept through the field in move after superb move and only the super optimists among the supporters of the Munster champions could have held out any hopes for their team at half-time.

It was strange, then, that Down lost so much of their sharpness and slackened almost fatally after the change of ends. Kerry improved, certainly, when they turned over with the fresh wind in their backs, but the change of fortunes which brought the losers a goal and eight points and Down only five points in the second half was probably a recurrence of a fault which caused grave difficulties for the Ulster champions in most of their major matches this year.

A factor in their decline may have been the retiral of the captain and left-half back, Joe Lennon, who pulled leg muscles early in the game and decided to withdraw from the battle at the interval. But it could have been only a minor cause of the general slackening, for Lennon had found the Kerry right-half forward, Brendan Lynch, a formidable opponent, even before his injury.

The Lynch threat to Down remained throughout the hour. Larry Powell, who replaced Lennon, was unable to cope with it and that highly accomplished footballer John Murphy, who had been one of the key figures in a wonderful attack in the first half, also failed to contain the Kerry youngster after he swapped positions with Powell at the start of the last quarter.

The game was won and lost in the first half, or, more precisely, in the first eight minutes, at the end of which Down led 2-3 to 0-1. That was a marvellous start in an All-Ireland final and virtual disaster for the side who suffered it.

The spree began when O’Neill pointed within 13 seconds of the throw-in. Jim Milligan made it a pair in two minutes and then Mick O’Connell pointed a free for Kerry. These were the preliminaries. The crucial blow came in the sixth minute and in retrospect now it can be said that it was the decisive incident of the game.

Peter Rooney punted high and accurately from 45 yards. O’Neill had sprinted inside the Kerry back line as the ball soared overhead and as it rebounded downwards off the left post and hit the ground a foot or two in front of the goal- line, the full forward got the sole of his foot to it and the goalkeeper,Johnny Culloty, was caught completely helpless as the ball flashed in for a goal.

Two minutes later, after Doherty had pointed a free, Down struck lethally again. Culloty saved a point-blank shot from O’Neill and the ball bounced out to a back, who cleared across the square.

For a moment, danger seemed to be averted, but the left-half forward, Murphy, appeared from nowhere to take the ball on his chest and his powerful drive from an acute angle on the left whistled across the square and crashed to the side of the net. Again, Culloty had no chance after his wonderful save seconds before. As it turned out, that was the end for Kerry.

Down rampaged through the field. At midfield Colm McAlarney was achieving something that didn’t seem possible before the game – the mastery of O’Connell. His height and reach were foiling the Valentia player’s endeavours to catch cleanly and when the ball broke down it was McAlarney, as often as not, who was whirling around to pick up the break.

On the other wing of the half-way line, Milligan was supplementing his partner’s invaluable work in his duel with Mick Fleming who, while he made a few spectacular catches, seemed too slow for an opponent whose forceful running and general alertness combined with McAlarney’s storming display to give Down complete control in this vital area.

This was a crippling setback for Kerry. With Doherty falling back frequently to make a third man in the middle, the winners’ attack was enabled to move through in full spate. For the spectators, it was a glorious sight to see them in action; for the hesitant Kerry defence, it was a hideous experience.

Kerry made a faint spurt midway through the half, scoring four points in the process. In this operation the centre forward, Pat Griffin, was the prime source of trouble to the Down defence but the Ulster champions’ mentors then made a switch which cut off the source of the trouble for a while.

They moved Tom O’Hare from left full to centre-half back and as Kerry’s pipeline was cut off, the Down midfield and attack got moving again. In the six minutes before half-time, they put over four vital points – two from Doherty and two from 50s by O’Hare, who took over this task from Lennon after the left-half back’s injury.

When half-time arrived it seemed to be all over. But we had reckoned without Down’s tendency to slacken and the simultaneous improvement in Kerry’s play. This was a Kerry revival, but it was only a shadow of the famous rallies that were associated with the Kingdom’s victories in the past. The appearance of Tim Sheehan for Sean Burrows had helped to steady the defence, and O’Connell and, to a lesser extent, Fleming were now turning back the tide at midfield.

But the promise which had appeared for southern supporters in the outfield was not carried through and translated into the scores which Kerry needed so badly early in this period.

They kicked eight wides to Down’s three in the period and enjoying a larger share of the attack, missed chances that Down in similar situations near goal would have turned to good account.

Yet Down always had the facility to hit back, even minimally, when serious danger threatened. For instance, when Kerry had cut their arrears to four points with 12 minutes to go (0-11 to 2-9) they broke away and Rooney streaked through for a point. After O’Dwyer had balanced this with a point from a free, Doherty and Rooney were again on the mark with points that stretched the lead to six.

In the event, those scores were almost as valuable as the first-half goals, for Kerry were then moving more purposefully than at any time in the game.

As they saw the chance of victory slipping away they launched a powerful late rally. This was near enough to the legendary comeback and after DJ Crowley, who had moved to midfield, sent over a point, Lynch rammed a 21-yard free just under the bar for a goal.

There were only seconds left then, but had that goal come five minutes earlier Down might not now be in possession of the Sam Maguire Cup. It may be said that the score, coming when it did, flattered the losers.

My opinion is that Kerry deserved it, because of the amount of possession that they commanded in the second half. Yet, when all the Kingdom’s hard luck stories of this period are told (and they were many), there is still no doubt at all that Down were worthy of their triumph.

The foundations of the victory were laid at midfield, and for that achievement McAlarney may fairly be rated the hero of the winning team.

He subdued O’Connell for most of 40 minutes, and thus smashed the mainstay of Kerry’s hopes. O’Neill was again splendid in the attack, both at full and centre forward, to which position he moved in a swap with Doherty late in the game.

Doherty, Rooney and Murphy rose to the inspiration that O’Neill provided in attack and John Purdy was always menacing, though well marked by Kerry’s Seamus Murphy while he played in the corner.

Strangely for him, Mickey Cole had a comparatively quiet hour and switched positions with Purdy in the second half. Milligan gave fine assistance to McAlarney at midfield while O’Hare, when at left full, was the outstanding figure in the winners’ defence.

Although he continued to battle valiantly, Kerry’s Griffin was too good for him in the second-half. George Glynn went on at midfield in the last nine minutes and in that spell, he, too, played a prominent part in the triumph.

Ray McConville and Willie Doyle also played solidly in the rear-guard, but, on the whole, there were serious weaknesses in this department which Kerry did not fully exploit when the chances came their way.

Danny Kelly did not have a very busy day in goal, but he dealt capably with anything that came his way. Seamus Murphy was head and shoulders above everyone else in the Kerry back lines. He covered acres of ground in his lion-hearted work and had the rest of his colleagues been in the same class, Down’s score would surely have been cut by half.

Next to him I would place the left half, Donie O’Sullivan, who played solidly and consistently all through. Tim Sheehan also per-formed soundly when he replaced Burrows. Paul O’Donoghue tried all he knew to handle the mercurial O’Neill, and performed a few meritorious feats, but over all, the task was too much for him because of a fatal weakness in the half-back line.

Culloty was wonderful in the losers’ goal. Three of his many saves were as brilliant as any in his career and with Murphy he shared the top honours on the Kerry team.Griffin, Lynch and Mick O’Dwyer were the most dangerous members of the Kerry attack, while Crowley was also a threat when in possession.

Generally, however, their movements were haphazard and slow and they paid the penalty of frittering away the chances that were presented in the second half.

In the end, it was Down’s day and no amount of discussion of the might-have-beens by Kerry now can alter that.

DOWN: D Kelly; B Sloan, D McCartan, T O’Hare (0-2, two 50s); R.McConville, W Doyle, J Lennon; C McAlarney, J Milligan (O-1); M Cole, P Doherty (0-5, 3f), J Murphy (1-O); P Rooney (0-2), S. O’Neill (1-2), J Purdy. Subs: L Powell for Lennon, G Glynn for Powell

KERRY: J Culloty; S Murphy, P O’Donoghue, S Burrows; Denis OSullivan, M Morris, Donal OSullivan; M O’Connell (O-2, 1f), M Fleming; B Lynch (1-2, 1-1f), P Griffin (0-3), E O’Donoghue; T Prendergast, DJ Crowley (O-1), M O’Dwyer (O-5, 5f). Subs: T Sheehan for Burrows, P Moynihan for Prendergast.

Referee: M Loftus (Mayo).

[austinstacksabu]

A poet was Paddy, a true poet.

[sandycove]

Jul 28, 2010 8:53:50 GMT kerrygold said:

Compare the quality of the match report from 1968 by Paddy Downey to some of the agenda lead dripple we are subjected to from some of the modern day hacks reporting on gaelic games.

Just out of interest, who specifically is the "agenda lead dripple" comment referring to?

[mafi97]

Jul 28, 2010 8:53:50 GMT kerrygold said:

Compare the quality of the match report from 1968 by Paddy Downey to some of the agenda lead dripple we are subjected to from some of the modern day hacks reporting on gaelic games.

You are so right.
The journalists of the day tried to analyse and report on what they saw. To quote yourself, today's coterie produce "agenda led dripple".

Coming back to Paddy Downey's report.
It shows Tim Sheehan replacing Seanie Burrowes. Unless I'm starting to show signs of my age, I could swear that Seanie was replaced at half-time by Seamus MacGearailt. And to add to the memory, Seamus had not even been listed on the programme. Could somebody set me straight???

I'm glad that Downey highlighted Seamus Murphy's performance - which is another example of a journalist actually spotting what is happening and reporting on it. I've always maintained that if Kerry had won that day, Seamus' performance would have been as lauded as his brother's in 1959.

He also gave due recognition to Pat Griffin - who was in his stylish prime at the time.

1960 (and to a lesser degree 1961) was still a raw wound for me, and this game was to make up for all that.

In reality and in hindsight, that Kerry team were not ready for the task that day. Just some months earlier, nearly half of that team were not even practicing their trade in the Kerry jersey. When the selectors sat down to pick the team for the semi-final that year, they did not even have a recognised goalkeeper. Johhny Culloty only came back under intense pressure from the selectors. Poor Mick Morris was rushed back to fill the hole at centreback. As a friend of mine said, he had "factory legs" from working all Summer in Walls Icecream factory in London.

Still that was not much consolation as I left Croke Park that afternoon. One of the malfunctioning areas that day, was the full-forward line. I would have been in much heartened form, had I the ability to see the future, where two of that line were to play central roles in the following year's All-Ireland in completely different positions. Din Joe Crowley as a force of nature at midfield and Tom Prendergast to reinvent himself as the top wingback of his day.

Such are the ups and downs (no pun intended).

[himself]

I wish I had an argument, Kerrygold, but I don't. That is pure class from a master of his craft.

[sandycove]

Jul 28, 2010 12:20:44 GMT mafi97 said:

You are so right.
The journalists of the day tried to analyse and report on what they saw. To quote yourself, today's coterie produce "agenda led dripple".

I dunno lads. There's a lot of sweeping statements being made here.
Newspaper reportage today does tend to be more analytical, mainly because with TV coverage most people already know who won and what happened during the game.
But I think its all the better for it.
There are some fine writers too who don't deserve to be tarred with the "agenda led dripple" comment.
I follow all the papers, and while standards vary, there are some fine journalists out there.
The likes of Martin Breheny in the Independent, Tom Humphries in the Times, Damien Lawlor in the Sunday Independent and Cian Murphy in the Sunday Star are a few who come to mind.
Micheal Clifford in the Daily Mail (a Kerry man) is also one of the better match reporters around.
I'm wondering is the slagging off of the current generation in this thread more down to nostalgia for times gone by than any reasonable analysis of what's in the papers now?

[Laoch na hImeartha]

Jul 28, 2010 13:34:15 GMT sandycove said:

Jul 28, 2010 12:20:44 GMT mafi97 said:

You are so right.
The journalists of the day tried to analyse and report on what they saw. To quote yourself, today's coterie produce "agenda led dripple".

I dunno lads. There's a lot of sweeping statements being made here.
Newspaper reportage today does tend to be more analytical, mainly because with TV coverage most people already know who won and what happened during the game.
But I think its all the better for it.
There are some fine writers too who don't deserve to be tarred with the "agenda led dripple" comment.
I follow all the papers, and while standards vary, there are some fine journalists out there.
The likes of Martin Breheny in the Independent, Tom Humphries in the Times, Damien Lawlor in the Sunday Independent and Cian Murphy in the Sunday Star are a few who come to mind.
Micheal Clifford in the Daily Mail (a Kerry man) is also one of the better match reporters around.
I'm wondering is the slagging off of the current generation in this thread more down to nostalgia for times gone by than any reasonable analysis of what's in the papers now?

I personally think that Tom Humphries is the best journalist I have ever read, even ahead of the Great Con Houlihan.

BTW, and excuse my ignorance, but what does 'dripple' mean? the only meaning I could find when I googled it was in the Urban Dictionary- "when you fart when you have diarrhoea and a little wet turd slips out". I suppose that could be a good term for Liam Hayes' journalism...............

[animal]

Sandycove,

I thought Michael Clifford wrote in the Tribune and on current affairs. Is he branching out?

Your observation is quite sound in fairness though you should have added a line discouraging anyone from buying the rag that is The Daily Mail.

[buck02]

Jul 28, 2010 13:47:19 GMT animal said:

Sandycove,

I thought Michael Clifford wrote in the Tribune and on current affairs. Is he branching out?

Your observation is quite sound in fairness though you should have added a line discouraging anyone from buying the rag that is The Daily Mail.

I was reading the Kerryman over lunch and theres an article in it saying that none other than Conor O Donnell, from Dingle and who played with Kerry during Ogie Morans time in charge, is now the editor of the Daily Mail.

On GAA reporting in general, I find that with so much print, TV and internet competition out there, some journalists and columnists have decided to go down the Eamon Dunphy style of journalism (Spillane, Brolly, Hayes and Conlon to name but a few).

To be honest I prefer the read the views of past players like Johnno, Eamon Fitz, Cinneide when I want to get a further grasp of Kerry football. I and many more here have seen more of the team in club and county action that we shouldnt need to look for analysis from people who maybe watch them 5 or 6 times a year.

[animal]

Conor O Donnell used to write for the Kerryman. He has an All Ireland medal with The Sem from 1992. Saw him play in a few league games in the 90s. Nacky forward.

[sandycove]

Jul 28, 2010 13:47:19 GMT animal said:

Sandycove,

I thought Michael Clifford wrote in the Tribune and on current affairs. Is he branching out?

Your observation is quite sound in fairness though you should have added a line discouraging anyone from buying the rag that is The Daily Mail.

There is a Mick Clifford in the Tribune, but I'm on about a different guy, Micheal Clifford in the Mail.
He was with the Evening Echo before that.

[austinstacksabu]

Sandycove, you sound like a man of the pen defending his brethern from the onslaught of the non ink heathens?

In modern times, the journalist responds to a match differently. His deadlines are tighter and therefore how he records a match is much different.

He'll jot down the salient points on his laptop as the game occurs - who lined out where, scores, frees, fights etc. He'll then take all of this on the screen in front of him and piece a story literally filling the gaps between the notes and creating his report that way in order to beat the deadline. So you get a sequential report, topped by a piece of synposis colour at the start.

On the other hand, Paddy Downey, Paddy Purcell, John D. Hickey and co used to take their notes short hand, using these as a guide to rewrite what they saw from scratch, and then go back to the Times or Press office and type it up, or most often, ring up the copy taker at the desk and call out their report of the game from Mulligans, or the nearest scribe friendly watering hole. They were also conscious that people were reading the report who had no idea who had won the game or had only listened to it on the radio - there was no TV, and if there was, not everybody saw it.

Therefore, what you get now is more factual, almost like the match tracker you'll find on most news websites nowadays. What you had then was much more descriptive - because it had to be, it had to paint a much richer picture.

[Mickmack]

In 1968 there were no video recorders, DVD recorders, internet, Sunday Game etc.

A journalists job was to write a factual report of the match as it happened.

Paddy Downey would be quite boring with that article in 2010 given all the gadgets we have at our disposal to view the game over and over.

Not saying that Paddy wouldnt have adjusted.

He didnt mentions Joe Lennons dirty kick at Brendan Lynch as Lynch left his for dead yet again. Joe Lennon had an article in the Sunday Press every Sunday back then telling us all how the game should be played........ when a county comes out of nowhere to win a few All Irelands they tend to feel that they invented the game......A bit like the dog who barks at the sun rising at dawn......after a while he thinks the sun rises because he barks.

[northkerrygeezer]

What do we think of the local hacks? Radio and the papers? Think Gary O'Sullivan is very good on the radio for example

[fivenarow]

Jul 28, 2010 21:16:31 GMT northkerrygeezer said:

What do we think of the local hacks? Radio and the papers? Think Gary O'Sullivan is very good on the radio for example

Gary is decent but yer man Ger "no doubt about it " O Connor would crack a nation. He was on with Ambrose one day & he must have said it at least 30 times during the match.Someone must have said it to him though as he seems to have calmed it down lately.

[falveyb2k]

All three main commentators, Gary, Weeshie and Ger are very good and unbelievably enthusiastic. They have a great gift in that they can make any game sound exciting, just like Micheal on radio 1.

[mafi97]

Jul 28, 2010 18:22:31 GMT Mickmack said:

In 1968 there were no video recorders, DVD recorders, internet, Sunday Game etc.

A journalists job was to write a factual report of the match as it happened.

Paddy Downey would be quite boring with that article in 2010 given all the gadgets we have at our disposal to view the game over and over.

Not saying that Paddy wouldnt have adjusted.

He didnt mentions Joe Lennons dirty kick at Brendan Lynch as Lynch left his for dead yet again. Joe Lennon had an article in the Sunday Press every Sunday back then telling us all how the game should be played........ when a county comes out of nowhere to win a few All Irelands they tend to feel that they invented the game......A bit like the dog who barks at the sun rising at dawn......after a while he thinks the sun rises because he barks.

You are dead right about Lennon, Mick.
A lot of people at the time did not buy the story about he pulling a muscle - in a first half where everything was going Down's way, he was being hammered by Brendan Lynch.

Now if you pulled a muscle back in the '60's that was the end of you for weeks on end. A week or so after the Final, Down were back in Croke Park to play the Australians (Ron Barassi et al). Joe was back trying to run the show as usual. Before the game got under way, Joe spent five minutes giving 2-3 Australian players a tutorial of how to solo with the ball. Their execution was a bit awkward but they picked it up. It transpired that one of these players was Joe's direct opponent. About five minutes in, Joe's man gathered the ball and started to solo - and soloed straight past Joe as if he didn't exist. Then he got another ball and repeated precisely what he had done earlier. Then he got a third ball and Joe suddenly "pulled" his muscle again. The repartee and badinage in my part of the Hogan Stand, alone was worth the admission price.

My main crib with Joe was that he was captain in '68. He used the opportunity of the winning captain's speech to big himself up. He announced that he was going to organise that the ball from the game would be autographed by all the Down players and raffled in aid of Biafra. He never once mentioned the vanquished team nor did he call for three cheers. Maybe it happened some other time, that the victor did not call three cheers for the losing team - but I can't recall such an event.

You are right about his Sunday Column. The week after the Final, he had a full length article about how Kerry were "ten years behind the times". Kerry fairly well debunked that particular theory over the following two years.

If, as a Kerry person, you dared to voice a criticism of Joe Lennon at the time, you were branded as a sore loser.

In the fullness of time, I came across a few of that Down team. Like the majority of successful players they were delightfully offhand about their achievements and easy with the usual banter.

I never felt that the bould Joe did them any favours.

[Mickmack]

I listened to Wheesie during the first half of the Munster Final.

Kerry were playing into a gale.

All through the first half Wheesie moaned that Kerry were "passing it this way and that way" etc. It should have been obvious to him that they were working the play to release the ball to the kicked for a score from the most advantageous position ......as they did with the point from Darren. At one stage he complained that the ball should have been kicked to Donaghy despite the fact that there were three men on him......and no other Kerry player withing 20 yards. Surreal altogether.

Ambrose brought sense to the table at half time.

No doubting Wheesies enthusiasm but you need a bit more than that.

Pity Ambrose doesnt act as co pilot with Wheesie.

[Mickmack]

Danny Kelly, the Down keeper was a brother of Gerry Kelly............. the Gerry Kelly who presented "Kelly" for about twenty years on UTV on Saturday nights........

[animal]

Jul 28, 2010 23:43:57 GMT Mickmack said:

I listened to Wheesie during the first half of the Munster Final.

Kerry were playing into a gale.

All through the first half Wheesie moaned that Kerry were "passing it this way and that way" etc. It should have been obvious to him that they were working the play to release the ball to the kicked for a score from the most advantageous position ......as they did with the point from Darren. At one stage he complained that the ball should have been kicked to Donaghy despite the fact that there were three men on him......and no other Kerry player withing 20 yards. Surreal altogether.

Ambrose brought sense to the table at half time.

No doubting Wheesies enthusiasm but you need a bit more than that.

Pity Ambrose doesnt act as co pilot with Wheesie.

Yeah I had the headphones on too and sometimes it's like you're watching a different game to Weeshie.

[Deleted]

Jul 28, 2010 23:43:57 GMT Mickmack said:

I listened to Wheesie during the first half of the Munster Final.

Kerry were playing into a gale.

All through the first half Wheesie moaned that Kerry were "passing it this way and that way" etc. It should have been obvious to him that they were working the play to release the ball to the kicked for a score from the most advantageous position ......as they did with the point from Darren. At one stage he complained that the ball should have been kicked to Donaghy despite the fact that there were three men on him......and no other Kerry player withing 20 yards. Surreal altogether.

Ambrose brought sense to the table at half time.

No doubting Wheesies enthusiasm but you need a bit more than that.

Pity Ambrose doesnt act as co pilot with Wheesie.

One of my pet hates these days is commentators and supporters saying all a team needs to do is kick it in long. It really shows a lack of knowledge for the game. Spillane is always saying it.
Any fool can kick ball into the forwards. All the good teams try and use the ball in order to give their forwards the best opportunity of scoring and whether they have to hold the ball up first and wait for space to appear or kick it in quick it should not matter.

[animal]

That's true but I think what Spillane is getting at is that it should be poosible to have a game plan where you can send it in early, long and accurate. It's the early ball in that's hard to defend. You're relying on your forwards finding space as much as the guy leaving the ball in. Not easy but effective.

[SteelFixer]

Jul 28, 2010 23:43:40 GMT mafi97 said:

Jul 28, 2010 18:22:31 GMT Mickmack said:

In 1968 there were no video recorders, DVD recorders, internet, Sunday Game etc.

A journalists job was to write a factual report of the match as it happened.

Paddy Downey would be quite boring with that article in 2010 given all the gadgets we have at our disposal to view the game over and over.

Not saying that Paddy wouldnt have adjusted.

He didnt mentions Joe Lennons dirty kick at Brendan Lynch as Lynch left his for dead yet again. Joe Lennon had an article in the Sunday Press every Sunday back then telling us all how the game should be played........ when a county comes out of nowhere to win a few All Irelands they tend to feel that they invented the game......A bit like the dog who barks at the sun rising at dawn......after a while he thinks the sun rises because he barks.

You are dead right about Lennon, Mick.
A lot of people at the time did not buy the story about he pulling a muscle - in a first half where everything was going Down's way, he was being hammered by Brendan Lynch.

Now if you pulled a muscle back in the '60's that was the end of you for weeks on end. A week or so after the Final, Down were back in Croke Park to play the Australians (Ron Barassi et al). Joe was back trying to run the show as usual. Before the game got under way, Joe spent five minutes giving 2-3 Australian players a tutorial of how to solo with the ball. Their execution was a bit awkward but they picked it up. It transpired that one of these players was Joe's direct opponent. About five minutes in, Joe's man gathered the ball and started to solo - and soloed straight past Joe as if he didn't exist. Then he got another ball and repeated precisely what he had done earlier. Then he got a third ball and Joe suddenly "pulled" his muscle again. The repartee and badinage in my part of the Hogan Stand, alone was worth the admission price.

My main crib with Joe was that he was captain in '68. He used the opportunity of the winning captain's speech to big himself up. He announced that he was going to organise that the ball from the game would be autographed by all the Down players and raffled in aid of Biafra. He never once mentioned the vanquished team nor did he call for three cheers. Maybe it happened some other time, that the victor did not call three cheers for the losing team - but I can't recall such an event.

You are right about his Sunday Column. The week after the Final, he had a full length article about how Kerry were "ten years behind the times". Kerry fairly well debunked that particular theory over the following two years.

If, as a Kerry person, you dared to voice a criticism of Joe Lennon at the time, you were branded as a sore loser.

In the fullness of time, I came across a few of that Down team. Like the majority of successful players they were delightfully offhand about their achievements and easy with the usual banter.

I never felt that the bould Joe did them any favours.

In the absence of anybody else to fight Joe Lennon's corner here - I feel compelled to take up the mantle, as I feel aspects of Mafi97 post above are both innacurate and disingenuous.

Firstly with regards his acceptance speech - Contrary to Mafi's account, he did acknowledge the losing Kerry team. In fact it was the very first thing he did after taking acceptance of the cup, and saying a few words as Gaeilge.

With regards the raffling of the ball for Biafra, I feel it is rather unfair to suggest Lennon was doing this to make himself look good. As far as I know Lennon had a brother out on the missions, and I suspect this is why he was so conscious of Biafra's plight. In those days awareness of such issues was nothing like what it is today. So an All-Ireland winning captain mentioning this in his speech was a big thing. That winter / spring the Sam McGuire toured Ulster and they made a suitcase of money fundraising for the cause.

I attach a clip of his 1968 final which I found on Youtube. Parts of the acceptance clip is included at the end. I think most people would agree this is a fairly humble and gracious speech.



Lennon did write a column one time saying Kerry football was way behind the time or words to that effect. I do not know when this was published, but I find it very hard to believe that he would have penned this this the week after the 1968 final. I do not think the man would have been that crass or arrogant.

I do not doubt that Mafi's suspicions, that Lennon was a bit of a drama queen are not well founded. He was certainly getting taken to the cleaners by a young Brendan Lynch in the first half of the '68 final. We can only speculate as to whether or not he feigned that injury - if he did its a poor reflection on him. In fairness to one of our veternans that day - Mick O' Connell - who struggled up against another youngster Colm McAlarney............Micko fought to the bitter end.