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Post by homerj on Jan 23, 2017 10:08:13 GMT
another great man walks off into the sunset
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Jan 23, 2017 10:18:58 GMT
His feats of heroism are legion.
A particular favourite is him breaking his leg playing for Rathmore and slotting into FF and scoring 1-1 or 1-2.
A subject of man-crushes from all around the county.
A serious player whose displays in 2014 in Limerick and the final had a massive influence on that AI.
Thanks for the good days.
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Post by kerrybhoy06 on Jan 23, 2017 10:23:09 GMT
A great servant and warrior-the last one of a great and tenacious backline to go. Stayed on for the last bit to help bring the younger lads through and gave his all.
Was the winning of the All Ireland in 2014 for us- more so than JOD or Donaghy imo.
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Post by inforthebreaks on Jan 23, 2017 10:29:52 GMT
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mandad
Senior Member
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Post by mandad on Jan 23, 2017 10:43:25 GMT
Aidan was a man of enormous heart and an extraordinary determination who could be relied upon to shore up many of the issues that plagued our defenses in recent times. Possibly the least likely footballer to pull out of a 50/50 in the history the GAA. He possessed the fortitude to endure pain, without limits it seemed sometimes, and turn it into anger and strength. When the ball hit the ground in his vicinity, the chest expanded and the eyeballs whitened. When he won possession, he gripped the ball like he was rescuing it from a fire. Whatever he knows of his weaknesses Aidan is wholly ignorant of his strength. No man can deny to him the merit of being as staunch a Kerry man as ever wore the green and gold. Brave to rashness and unselfish in his devotion to the Green and Gold.
In Kerry we hold our retired players in the highest esteem. The four or five Celtic crosses that Aidan has in the socks drawer will ease some of the sadness of leaving. The baton is now being passed to a new generation of talented and skillful young men, who I have no doubt will continue the proud tradition of Kerry football. We have much to look forward to.
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Post by glengael on Jan 23, 2017 10:47:12 GMT
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote (or said) that there was no second act in American lives. Well you couldn't have applied that dictum to Aidan O'Mahony. He was great the 1st time round and I greatly admired the way he re-emerged after the nadir of 2008.
Really made a difference in 2014, especially in the Final.
Well done and thanks for all the great days.
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Post by theumpire on Jan 23, 2017 12:51:59 GMT
Aidan was a man of enormous heart and an extraordinary determination who could be relied upon to shore up many of the issues that plagued our defenses in recent times. Possibly the least likely footballer to pull out of a 50/50 in the history the GAA. He possessed the fortitude to endure pain, without limits it seemed sometimes, and turn it into anger and strength. When the ball hit the ground in his vicinity, the chest expanded and the eyeballs whitened. When he won possession, he gripped the ball like he was rescuing it from a fire. Whatever he knows of his weaknesses Aidan is wholly ignorant of his strength. No man can deny to him the merit of being as staunch a Kerry man as ever wore the green and gold. Brave to rashness and unselfish in his devotion to the Green and Gold. In Kerry we hold our retired players in the highest esteem. The four or five Celtic crosses that Aidan has in the socks drawer will ease some of the sadness of leaving. The baton is now being passed to a new generation of talented and skillful young men, who I have no doubt will continue the proud tradition of Kerry football. We have much to look forward to. Indeed.
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Post by hurlingman on Jan 23, 2017 13:14:53 GMT
The Kerry team of my youth is almost no more. Only the Gooch is left now from 04
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2017 13:36:20 GMT
Great servant to Kerry. He did the right thing . Age catches up with every player in the end. He had a great career and we wish him well. It's up to the the younger players now to keep it going.
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Jan 23, 2017 14:15:00 GMT
Aidan was a man of enormous heart and an extraordinary determination who could be relied upon to shore up many of the issues that plagued our defenses in recent times. Possibly the least likely footballer to pull out of a 50/50 in the history the GAA. He possessed the fortitude to endure pain, without limits it seemed sometimes, and turn it into anger and strength. When the ball hit the ground in his vicinity, the chest expanded and the eyeballs whitened. When he won possession, he gripped the ball like he was rescuing it from a fire. Whatever he knows of his weaknesses Aidan is wholly ignorant of his strength. No man can deny to him the merit of being as staunch a Kerry man as ever wore the green and gold. Brave to rashness and unselfish in his devotion to the Green and Gold. In Kerry we hold our retired players in the highest esteem. The four or five Celtic crosses that Aidan has in the socks drawer will ease some of the sadness of leaving. The baton is now being passed to a new generation of talented and skillful young men, who I have no doubt will continue the proud tradition of Kerry football. We have much to look forward to. Indeed. We all make mistakes. I'd say O'Mahoney would probably say he isn't too proud of that incident himself.
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Post by backofthenet on Jan 23, 2017 14:24:15 GMT
Genuinely sad to see Aidan leave! I believe the truly great players are those that can re-invent themselves and Aidan did that 3 or 4 times throughout his career. Started off at corner back and ended his career having played in every single defensive position (including sweeper) for Kerry and even played in midfield in the second half against Clare in 2014. How many Kerry players can say they have done that? Above all else was his pride and passion to wear the green and gold! Hopefully he has passed on that sense of honor and achievement to the young players that he has shared Kerry dressing rooms with. He had some fantastic days for the Kingdom, the job he did on Michael Murphy in 2014 will live long in the memory however, his performance in 2006 against Mayo is the stand out! Not only the way he took his scores from centre back but, the fact he completely marked Stephen McDonnell out of the game highlights how special Aidan is!
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Post by homerj on Jan 23, 2017 16:04:43 GMT
The Kerry team of my youth is almost no more. Only the Gooch is left now from 04 thats a very sobering though indeed!
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Post by Mickmack on Jan 23, 2017 20:33:02 GMT
Aiden's final act in the 2014 replay v Mayo Limerick captured the essence of what playing for Kerry meant to him. He dived and won a breaking ball, got hurt and had to be carried off. As a call to arms to his comrades to finish to job, it was hard to beat.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Jan 23, 2017 21:21:46 GMT
A crafty grafter indeed, and above all a thunderin hoor as John B would have put it.
I suppose the body told him it was time to go, otherwise he would have given us another season.
Taking off his shoes to give to the young lad after '14 AI final was immense, a child amongst children, a giant of his time, thanks for the music Aidan.
He might now tell us what is in the water back around Rathmore? Ah don't, we're happy as things are, that conveyer belt is forever chucking out some jewels.
He will be rated in the upper 5%, maybe 1% for the finals where he made the difference between winning and losing, and that would be across the entire GAA playing population, as opposed to just Kerry, just Kerry!
Quote for the day - All Ireland's may be staged in Croke Park but they are won on the magnetic fields of places like An Ráth Mhór.
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Post by kerrygold on Jan 23, 2017 21:53:53 GMT
An absolute selfless gem in the Kerry jersey, I'll take him all day long ahead of the self serving Kennelly in relation to the needs of the Kerry team and Kerry football.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2017 22:32:57 GMT
Pathetic post
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Post by Kingdomson on Jan 23, 2017 22:54:37 GMT
An absolute warrior who wore the green and gold with honour and pride. Thank you Aidan.
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Post by veteran on Jan 23, 2017 22:59:33 GMT
There was more to Aiden than the hard man tag. He was a very good footballer and was one of the better kickers of a ball in the Kerry teams of his time. He was faster than he appeared and had an excellent sense of position. Aiden was also a man for the big occasion . He was remarkable against Ciaran McDonald in 2006., Ciaran being one of the finest I have seen. Did he get man of the match that day? Again in 2014 , he subdued another colossal player, Michael Murphy. That was probably the significant input by a Kerry player that day. No other Kerry defender would have had the physical resilience to disarm the Donegal star. I have read that Aiden played him unfairly but that was not apparent to me and I was at it.
Of course , there was a certain nastiness in his makeup but every county needs a degree of that in one or two of their defenders. It maybe something that we lack in our current options at the back as we face into 2017.
All in all, he gave a five star service to Kerry that endured for about dozen years.. We are seriously in your debt , Aiden. I sincerely thank for that service, I suspect you would regard it as your duty , and I wish you health and happiness for life.
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fitz
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Red sky at night get off my land
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Post by fitz on Jan 24, 2017 0:24:07 GMT
Agree with all of the previous expressed sentiments. The second half of his career, post 08 nonsense and other issues, really from 2011 on, saw him improve by the year. Impeccable conditioning, attitude and application,and as Vet called, a very fine player. I remember now a matching clinching score v Galway in the Noah's Ark cup in 08.
Currently what I'll missed most now is his role as an enforcer. Physically no-one messed with him, well didn't get the better of it if they did. Reflecting on Jack's tribute Aidan was the first real tough nut introduced to address the issues with the team being muscled out of games from 01-03. He's carried that mantle chiefly for his entire intercounty career.
We will sorely miss this.
Best of luck in retirement and thanks for the winning pride you brought to your jersey.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Jan 24, 2017 4:39:08 GMT
There was more to Aiden than the hard man tag. He was a very good footballer and was one of the better kickers of a ball in the Kerry teams of his time. He was faster than he appeared and had an excellent sense of position. Aiden was also a man for the big occasion . He was remarkable against Ciaran McDonald in 2006., Ciaran being one of the finest I have seen. Did he get man of the match that day? Again in 2014 , he subdued another colossal player, Michael Murphy. That was probably the significant input by a Kerry player that day. No other Kerry defender would have had the physical resilience to disarm the Donegal star. I have read that Aiden played him unfairly but that was not apparent to me and I was at it. Of course , there was a certain nastiness in his makeup but every county needs a degree of that in one or two of their defenders. It maybe something that we lack in our current options at the back as we face into 2017. All in all, he gave a five star service to Kerry that endured for about dozen years.. We are seriously in your debt , Aiden. I sincerely thank for that service, I suspect you would regard it as your duty , and I wish you health and happiness for life. Positioning reminds of '14 final at the death when Aiden was a vital link in what led top a big score, why it is remembered is that given the ball movement you just couldn't have expected anyone to be there, and look who turned up, personified right time and place, and that is marking Murphy aside. I suppose and as per my previous comment, he qualifies as a great?
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Jan 24, 2017 8:40:52 GMT
Reports that Gooch and Donaghy are staying on.
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Post by kerrygold on Jan 24, 2017 9:42:21 GMT
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Post by inforthebreaks on Jan 24, 2017 9:59:54 GMT
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Post by hurlingman on Jan 24, 2017 13:36:36 GMT
The Kerry team of my youth is almost no more. Only the Gooch is left now from 04 thats a very sobering though indeed! Off the top f my head from 06/07 winning teams theres only 5 left? God im feeling old!!
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Post by benchwarmer on Jan 24, 2017 14:01:04 GMT
Hat tip to you good sir!!!!! Mile Buiochas!!!
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Post by Mickmack on Jan 24, 2017 21:44:04 GMT
the 2007 final
I think Aiden got MOTM
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falveyb2k
Fanatical Member
"The way this man played today, if there was a flood he'd walk on water. Jack O Shea"
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Post by falveyb2k on Jan 25, 2017 19:58:14 GMT
He got man of the match in the 06 final. It's overlooked because of the winning margin in the final but we started very nervously(it was the first Kerry vs Cork final) and it took an excellent first point from Aidan to settle us
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Jan 25, 2017 20:16:19 GMT
He got man of the match in the 06 final. It's overlooked because of the winning margin in the final but we started very nervously(it was the first Kerry vs Cork final) and it took an excellent first point from Aidan to settle us We played Mayo in the 2006 final.
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Post by glengael on Jan 26, 2017 18:02:18 GMT
The Kerry team of my youth is almost no more. Only the Gooch is left now from 04 Wait until you're as old as some of us on here!!
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falveyb2k
Fanatical Member
"The way this man played today, if there was a flood he'd walk on water. Jack O Shea"
Posts: 1,920
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Post by falveyb2k on Jan 26, 2017 19:54:08 GMT
He got man of the match in the 06 final. It's overlooked because of the winning margin in the final but we started very nervously(it was the first Kerry vs Cork final) and it took an excellent first point from Aidan to settle us We played Mayo in the 2006 final. Yes, he was marking McDonald, kicked two points and was man of the match. I forgot to mention the Cork game was the 07 final, he was brilliant that day and all year really at centre back.
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