Christy O'Connor: Forward thrust for scoring defenders

If you want proof that it was a defenders' football championship in 2024, consider this: of the 56 goals scored from play in the All-Ireland series, 50 per cent were from a defender or midfielder

PRICELESS: Armagh defender (at least in name), Aaron McKay scores the only goal of last July's All-Ireland football final against Galway. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Ahead of the Armagh-Galway All-Ireland football final in July, the betting companies and top GAA Performance Analysts were all on the same predictive page. For obvious reasons.

The expected points total was around 30, which basically translated into a predicted final score of 0-15 to 0-15, or 1-12 to 0-14, at the end of normal time. None of them were far off – the final score was 1-11 to 0-13.