In what was one of the best Hurling Championships in years, it was fitting that it featured a handful of goals that would win goal of the season in any other year. This was a tough one to narrow down…
5. Joe Bergin (Offaly v Kilkenny)
The Faithful County gave an excellent account of themselves against the Cats in Tullamore and made Brian Cody’s men work very hard for their eventual five-point victory. Offaly scored four goals throughout the seventy minutes and this absolute rasper by Joe Bergin was the pick of the bunch.
4. David Burke (Galway v Dublin)
The Tribesmen had an afternoon to forget in the Leinster Final against Dublin, but they did score a couple of cracking goals, one from Joe Canning and a stunning long-range effort from David Burke, which was nearly as good as his sensational score against Kilkenny last year. Marty’s reaction says it all really.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8vKgesDNvo
3. Anthony Nash (Cork v Clare)
Just a 21-metre free, you might say, but much like Michael Meehan’s effort for the Galway footballers against Cork, this wasn’t just any free. Patrick Kelly summoned practically all of the Clare players back onto the line to face into the line of fire but there could have been a hundred men in the goal and they probably wouldn’t stop Nash’s bullet, which could be a thing of the past if the lawmakers have their way.
2. Pa Cronin (Cork v Clare)
Cronin had been kept pretty quiet – he was far from the only one – in the first All-Ireland final against Clare, but he made amends for his lack of impact in stunning fashion with a brilliantly-taken effort that levelled the scores with just over five minutes left. Unstoppable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCR-DgRYVco
1. Conor McGrath (Clare v Cork)
It could be argued that all of the efforts here were as good as McGrath’s effort in the All-Ireland Final replay, but we thought it fitting that a goal from a game that will go down as one of the best of all-time should top the list here. Not that McGrath’s goal wasn’t great in its own right, mind. Having picked the ball up on the ’45, the corner forward sped towards goal before deliberately arrowing the ball beyond Anthony Nash and into the top corner.
Shane O’Donnell was available inside but he had scored enough goals at that stage in fairness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZenKglbYc0
