An alphabetic attempt to sum up the sporting year of 2022
By Gerry Buckley
Those of us who love sport are still buzzing after what must rate as the best-ever World Cup final last Sunday. So much about the venue was wrong, as it has been to a lesser extent with previous locations, but for drama and excitement the month was memorable.
And now we have Christmas to look forward to. Santa Claus could not have delivered a better present for us adults!
Relative success for both Ireland (if not in men’s soccer) and Westmeath (in both football and hurling) mark down 2022 as one of the most memorable recent 12-month periods for this scribe, with the promise of more to come in 2023, please God. My annual alphabetic attempt at summarising sporting highs and lows – local, national and international – follows.
A is for Amber Barrett, whose superb play-off winning goal against Scotland in Hampden Park propelled the Irish women’s soccer team to another ‘A’, i.e. Australia, for next summer’s World Cup. Another ‘a’ permitting, i.e. airgead, this columnist intends to be there to support the Girls in Green in their historic tournament debut.
B is for black and amber. The colour of the ribbons which adorned both the Flanagan Cup and Westmeath Examiner Cup in 2022 after The Downs and Castletown-Geoghegan respectively came good as Lake County senior champions following years of underage success.
C is for Ange Capuozzo. The Italian full back whose last-gasp magic created a winning try in Cardiff in the Six Nations. The ongoing silliness in naming ‘man of the match’ recipients before a game is finished was never more graphically exposed. Josh Adams of Wales sportingly acknowledged this by handing the honour over to Capuozzo after the match.
D is for The Dome. This scribe was bowled over with a first live viewing of the marvellous new facility erected by Connacht GAA. I wasn’t the only visitor from Westmeath on St Patrick’s Day who wondered aloud when the Lake County would have even a mini-version of the superb facilities on offer.
E is for Ger Egan. A Tyrrellspass friend of mine will vouch that I often said, “I am chairman, secretary and PRO of the Ger Egan Fan Club.” Not a lot to add except to thank the versatile and totally committed footballer for his years of service to the maroon and white cause, and to wish him a happy retirement from the inter-county scene.
F is for Andy Farrell. The personable Irish rugby coach is poised to become the most popular Englishman in Ireland since Jack Charlton. A series win in New Zealand is still hard to take in. Worryingly, however, either the latter or hosts France seem certain to stand in Ireland's way if the (minimum) Holy Grail of a World Cup semi-final is to be reached next year.
G is for Germany 2024. With France and The Netherlands as top seeds in Ireland's qualification group, some of us who hope to return to Germany 36 years after our never-to-be-forgotten sojourn there for Euro ’88 (when only eight countries qualified) seem certain to be relying on the complicated play-off process (to make the 24-team tournament).
H is for Hawk-Eye. Those of us who have struggled with aspects of IT since it crept in to virtually every aspect of our day-to-day existence have been amused that the allegedly-irrefutable results from the GAA’s ‘tá’ or ‘níl’ technology can sometimes yield an incorrect result. God bless our great voluntary umpires!
I is for Israel Olatunde. In bygone days, the use of ‘Olympic hopeful’ and ‘Irish sprinter’ in the same sentence was oxymoronic in the extreme. However, the Dundalk native with Nigerian parents is one of a number of top-class young athletes who may change that perception in the not-too-distant future.
J is for Jonathan Sexton. One of Ireland’s greatest ever out-halves is rapidly coming to the end of his glittering career. Replacements of his quality have been impossible to find, and rosaries will be said in advance of next year’s World Cup that the skipper can stay injury-free and lead Ireland to a best-ever placing.
K is for Katie Taylor. With the greatest respect to my lady friend of seven years, and my California-based mate from Mullingar of 48 years, my personal highlight from a US holiday in May was a chance face-to-face meeting in Las Vegas with the truly lovely Bray lady, less than a week after her Madison Square Garden heroics.
L is for Lar Wall. A virtual unknown in these parts this time last year, the Laois man has proven to be a very shrewd acquisition by the hierarchy in The Downs. Very pleasant and amenable in all his media dealings, he guided the very progressive club to a first Flanagan Cup win in 17 years and McCabe Cup final appearance in half a century.
M is for Michael Murphy. Has one footballer or hurler ever dragged a county over the line at the top level of Gaelic games, both in the ultra-competitive Ulster SFC and the race for Sam Maguire, as often as the Donegal maestro who called time on his inter-county career in recent months? Unlikely.
N is for Niall Mitchell. While Killian Doyle ended a 36-year wait for an All Star nomination for a Westmeath hurler, Mitchell was another star in a totally satisfactory year for Joe Fortune’s troops, who can now look forward to Division 1 and Leinster SHC fare in 2023. The football exploits of ‘Mitch' with The Downs were equally noteworthy.
O is for Seanie O’Shea. The Kerry man’s astonishing long-range free got the Dublin monkey off the Kingdom backs and edged them to this year’s All-Ireland final where, deep down, they were never going to lose to Galway. It was a free shot for the centre half forward with the sides on level terms, but what a kick nonetheless.
P is for Paddy Flanagan. The man who donated the aforementioned Flanagan Cup to the county in 1963 passed away earlier this year. Yours truly and countless others were hugely indebted to a gentleman – and gentleman he was – who was an absolute mine of information on all Westmeath GAA matters.
Q is for Qatar. Yes, the staging of the World Cup there had countless negative angles, but all sports lovers enjoyed the festival of football which ended last Sunday with perhaps the greatest footballer ever to hit the planet captaining Argentina to glory. Let’s hope we see a little more of Lionel Messi’s magic for another short while.
R is for Harry Ruddle. The Ballygunner man’s sensational last-gasp goal won the Tommy Moore Cup for the Waterford club against Ballyhale Shamrocks in Croke Park last February, albeit – in true Kilkenny fashion – the Cats’ kingpins avenged that heartache last Sunday and seem sure to defeat Dunloy in the decider.
S is for Seamus Power. The unassuming Waterford man gets less coverage than Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, and even Senior Tour star Padraig Harrington, but his climb up the world rankings has been sensational. Incidentally, his trusted caddy Simon Keelan is the son of a Mullingar native, Cork-based businessman, Jim Keelan.
T is for Tailteann Cup. ‘An Iarmhí’ will forever be the first name etched on the spanking new tier two Gaelic football trophy, and deservedly so after a memorable campaign. However, all Westmeath people with even a modicum of ambition will hope their county never participates in it again and competes in the Sam Maguire Cup instead.
U is for Underage. The grades used by different counties continue to vary, some favouring even numbers (U12 etc.) and others odd (U13 etc). A consistency in this regard would be great, with secondary schools tied into this anomaly as the old chestnut of player burnout remains a big issue for talented youngsters.
V is for Josh van der Flier. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who initially thought that the Leinster flanker was an ‘import’, given his foreign-sounding name. However, the Wicklow man is very much one of our own and his deserved selection as World Player of the Year for 2022 crowned a magnificent 12 months.
W is for Shane Walsh. Kilmacud Crokes’ alleged membership increased from a meagre 5,000 to 5,001 with the arrival/signing/poaching (delete as appropriate) of one of the country’s best forwards from Galway. A fantastic footballer – but is this ‘transfer’ what Michael Cusack and the lads had in mind in Hayes’ Hotel all those years ago?
X is for X-factor. While Messi belatedly won the supreme medal in football, it is all but certain that another man from the handful of players fit to be brought up in the same sentence won’t - Luka Modric. Croatia’s World Cup record is remarkable for a small country, and this small – but gifted – midfielder with that rare X-factor has been the main reason for it.
Y is for Young. Sorry Cristiano, a 37-year-old striker is not young at the top level and you can moan away at Father Time to your heart’s content. Other ageing casualties of the World Cup included Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale.
Z is for Zaur Antia. Irish boxing’s head coach continues to deliver medals by the bucket-full at the highest level. The sport’s continuance in the Olympics is in some doubt, which would be a huge blow to Ireland's hopes of regular podium places every four years. The Georgian is hugely respected worldwide.