Classic finals: 1982: Offaly 1-15, Kerry 0-17

TWICE previously, five in-a-row proved elusive in the All-Ireland football championship; for Wexford in the 1918 decider and Kerry in the 1933 semi-final.

And so it was in this memorable contest, except that it was within Kerry’s grasp until Seamus Darby’s sensational late goal.

The counties were meeting for the second successive year in the final and then-Offaly manager Eugene McGee recalled in his book ‘Classic Football Matches’ that the more the media honed in on Kerry, ‘the better it suited’ them. And, to deflect attention even further, he moved training from Tullamore to a small club pitch five miles away!