Northern football no longer in the shade

THE uniqueness of the pairing in next Sunday's Bank of Ireland football championship final in Croke Park serves to highlight the strength of the game in Ulster. Yet, it's so long ago since teams from the North were simply not competitive enough.

It was indicated by the fact that, after Down won their third title in 1968, no other team from the province won the Sam Maguire Cup until they themselves reclaimed it in 1991. In between, only Armagh (in 1977) and Tyrone (1986) made it to the final. But, Down's triumph was followed by the historic breakthroughs of Donegal and Derry in consecutive years before the Mourne county captured a fifth title. One year later Tyrone were back again only to lose by a point in controversial circumstances to Dublin while Armagh's long wait ended 12 months ago.

Ulster Council secretary Danny Murphy says he felt reasonably confident in the mid-eighties that a change was coming. "Monaghan in '85 weren't that far away. They took Kerry to a draw in the semi-final. Maybe Tyrone should have won an All-Ireland the following year, but from there on it was just a case of who was going to make the breakthrough. I was glad that as county chairman at the time it was Down.