Niall Gartland takes a look at the players from Ulster who have won Man of the Match awards in All-Ireland finals since the turn of the millennium
2024: Oisin Conaty (Armagh)
OISIN Conaty, we salute you. The Armagh flying machine was only 21 years old when he was named Man of the Match for a stunning performance in their All-Ireland final win over Galway in 2024. That day he slotted three points from play, a crucial contribution in a fairly low-scoring encounter. Unsurprisingly, he was named as the Young Footballer of the Year that season as well. He’s still pretty good.
2021: Darren McCurry (Tyrone)
MCCURRY has had his highs and lows with Tyrone and departed the set-up for a spell altogether due to work commitments, but he produced possibly his best ever performances during Tyrone’s All-Ireland winning season of 2021. He was in excellent form during the final, giving Padraig O’Hora his fill of it, nailing a lovely point from an acute angle in the first-half before palming in a decisive goal deep in the second half. The Edendork clubman deservedly won an All-Star on the back of his excellent displays up front for the county that year.
2012: Michael Murphy (Donegal)
MICHAEL Murphy scored one of the all-time great All-Ireland final goals when he unleashed an unstoppable shot to the net in the early stages of Donegal’s victory over Mayo that day. He celebrated his 23rd birthday a month before the final and was already captain and his vital contributions on All-Ireland final day were pivotal in a result that owed as much to the collective power of Jim McGuinness’ side.
2008: Sean Cavanagh (Tyrone)
SEAN Cavanagh proved nigh on unstoppable as Tyrone rubberstamped their dominance over Kerry in the 2008 showdown. Five points from play says it all, but it wasn’t just that – a number of his scores were real clinkers, firing over from all angles and powering past seasoned Kerry defenders. Cavanagh revelled in a full-forward role that year and was later named as Footballer of the Year.
2005: Owen Mulligan (Tyrone)
A WEE bit of a controversial this one – but that’s not to say that Owen Mulligan didn’t have a superb game in the 2005 All-Ireland final. His catch and lay-off for Peter Canavan’s goal is burnt in the retinas, while he also finished his day’s work with four points, including two from play. There was surprise in some quarters that Brian McGuigan wasn’t named Man of the Match for an incredible display of playmaking – and the Ardboe man also chipped in with three points from play. McGuigan didn’t win an All-Star either which also caused a lot of debate at the time.
2003: Kevin Hughes (Tyrone)
TYRONE reached the promised land for the first time in the county’s history with a tense All-Ireland victory over Armagh. The game itself ended 0-12 to 0-9 but it was always going to be a fraught affair, and the player who arguably influenced the match’s direction more than any other was Kevin Hughes, who got through a mountain of work in the middle sector in a tireless display from the Killeeshil man.
He missed out on the 2005 success but was back in 2008 as Tyrone landed a third All-Ireland title in six seasons.
2002: Oisin McConville (Armagh)
WE all know the story by no but it bears repeating – Oisin missed a penalty deep into the first-half of Armagh’s All-Ireland showdown with Kerry but made amends in style after the break, cracking the ball to the net reducing Kerry’s lead to a single point.
The rest as they say is history and McConville won the Man of the Match award for his 1-2 contribution.
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