2011 - Your Sporting Year

Here's my selection of sporting favourites for 2011, one per month across all sports -

January – Not much on in January, but for me the sporting moment of the month was Adrian Lewis’ 9 Dart Leg in the PDC World Championship Final. From there he totally blew away the favourite Gary Anderson to become the first person to win the PDC crown that hadn’t won the BDO version first.

February – Luke Donald winning the WGC Accenture World Match Play. Wonderful tournament won by a truly brilliant golfer who had the unprecedented record of having never trailed at any point during the week.

March – A toss-up between Crossmaglen Rangers 5th All Ireland Club title, Italian Rugby teams win over France in the 6 Nations or Irelands victory over England at the Cricket World Cup. Easy pickings, Irelands win gets it for me but that was down to Kevin O’Brien. It was great to be an Irishman in England at that time as we were beating them at all the sports they invented!!

April – Ballabriggs winning the Aintree Grand National. A great victory for Donald McCain and made more special that his dad Ginger got the opportunity to see his son train a winner before his passing in September past. Always nice to see an Irish horse and jockey winning too!

May – Leinsters 2nd half, Heineken Cup Final. Don’t think I need to say anything else except that it was simply breathtaking!

June – Rory McIllroy winning the US Open. After the collapse he suffered earlier in the year I think we were all hoping to see him do well in this, but to see him win in the style he did was great. My second favorite moment of the year!

July – Golf again is the flavour of the month for me. I was surprisingly emotional when Darren Clarke won the Open at Royal St. George in what is my favourite moment of the year. I think this was a moment that everyone in Ireland was extremely happy for Clarke when he finally claimed a major title. Special mention must go to the young Englishman that won the All Ireland Football Feile Skills Competition in Cork, to become the first ever non-Irish boy’s winner.

August – First of 2 installments for Dublin in their performance against Tyrone. This is not a reflection on Tyrone, who have been a brilliant side but Dublin’s performance was the best of the year for me and total football, the fact they played to that standard and still only beat Tyrone by 7 points is testament to Tyrone also.

September – Easy, Dublin winning the All Ireland Football Championship. Great to see them win the title as they were the best team of the year, I watched the winning point again on youtube this week and it again sent shivers down my spine! Brilliant point for a brilliant victory.

October – Brendan Dolans 9 Darter in the World Grand Prix, the first ever televised 9 darter for the double in, double out format.

November – Irelands qualification for the 2012 Euros. Great to finally get across the line again, especially after the France debacle, and a nice boost to the country also.

December – To be completed....
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What are your sporting memories of the year folks?

Good post - can't think what my highlight is .....

No mention of Rugby World Cup BE????? And Irelands victory over the Aussies.

Other things that happened that month were better for me to be honest! What's yours Boc?

bocerty wrote:No mention of Rugby World Cup BE????? And Irelands victory over the Aussies.

We also gave England a hiding in the Aviva! Leinster v Toulouse in the Heineken semi was also an awesome game and occasion.

Kilkenny stopping Tipps gallop was also a highlight as was Dublin winning the National Hurling League. Champions League Final - allied to many other performances - made Barca THE soccer team of 2011.

bald eagle wrote:Other things that happened that month were better for me to be honest! What's yours Boc?

Mine was the Donegal v Dublin All Ireland semi final, a real spectacle of football and one of those games that will live long in the memory.

Well put them down folks, do it on a similar format to how i done mine and try to stick to one a month, you'll find it trickier than you think!

Donaghmore/Ashbourne winning the intermediate camogie championship. That is all.

Donaghmore/Ashbourne winning the intermediate camogie championship. That is all.

Did ye win it twice?

Started the year fitest ive been in 5 or 6 seasons tore ham string, missed 9 weeks, tore it again missed another 12 weeks, spent later part of the season preparing for next season, a total let down!

Coaching wise, we won a couple of under 14 hurling blitzes, nothing significant though!

Worst year in the history of the GAA.

North Side Gael wrote:Started the year fitest ive been in 5 or 6 seasons tore ham string, missed 9 weeks, tore it again missed another 12 weeks, spent later part of the season preparing for next season, a total let down!

Coaching wise, we won a couple of under 14 hurling blitzes, nothing significant though!

Given your plans for the festive season (eating, riding and drinking) as per the Christmas thread, you'll have a bit to do before seeing a first choice jersey in 2012.....

Boxtyeater wrote:

North Side Gael wrote:Started the year fitest ive been in 5 or 6 seasons tore ham string, missed 9 weeks, tore it again missed another 12 weeks, spent later part of the season preparing for next season, a total let down!

Coaching wise, we won a couple of under 14 hurling blitzes, nothing significant though!

Given your plans for the festive season (eating, riding and drinking) as per the Christmas thread, you'll have a bit to do before seeing a first choice jersey in 2012.....

Brilliant Boxty, i had a good old belly laugh at that!

Boxtyeater wrote:

North Side Gael wrote:Started the year fitest ive been in 5 or 6 seasons tore ham string, missed 9 weeks, tore it again missed another 12 weeks, spent later part of the season preparing for next season, a total let down!

Coaching wise, we won a couple of under 14 hurling blitzes, nothing significant though!

Given your plans for the festive season (eating, riding and drinking) as per the Christmas thread, you'll have a bit to do before seeing a first choice jersey in 2012.....

What has to be done has to be done lad lol!

January - The highlight of the first month of the year was the enthralling O'Bryne Shield encounter between Meath and Dublin in Parnell Park. Meath looked dead and buried trailing by six points with three and a half minutes to go, but the famous Meath resolve, allied with some of Banty's spirit, came to the fore when we scored 1-3 in the dying stages to force extra-time. Up there with Dublin '91, Kildare '97, Louth '02, Westmeath '03.

February - The month of Carlos Tevez. The warrior of Manchester: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

March - Easy choice. Paul Nicholls' batallion of Kauto Star and Denman leading the field for home in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Two great warriors showing the pretenders how it's done. We will never see their likes again. Honourable mention to Hurricane Fly's Champion Hurdle on Tuesday.

April - I suppose April 2011 will be remembered as the month Rory McIlroy crumbled in front of the world. Leading by four going into Sunday, it looked like he only had to show up, but I think he ended up showing himself up as an ordinary enough golfer. Sad memory but the stand out one nonetheless in the month of April

May - Take your pick: Borussia Dortmund win the Bundesliga, Man City clinch the FA Cup, or Ronaldo's header in extra-time of Copa Del Rey. I'll go with this: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

July - Another easy choice. July 30th witnessed the best game of Gaelic Football in about five years. It culminated in this: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The rest of the dying stages are excellently described here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] by Ger Treacy and Brendan Devenny in what's widely regarded as the commentary of the year.

August - Colm Cooper's breathtaking performance against Mayo. The game's greatest Gaelic Footballer.

September: I can't decide between Cluxton's free-kick or Eddie Brennan's defence splitting run through the centre of the Tipperary defence / Richie Hogan's finish. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

October: The month of October in this post should be used to remember Patrique. A brilliant contributor to this forum who unfortunetely on the 12th of October lost his battle with cancer. We lost many other sporting greats in 2011 too: Michaela Harte, Peter McDermott, Brendan O'Driscoll the young Kerry footballer, Socrates, Gary Speed, Joe Frazier, Seve Ballesteros, Sammy Wanjiru, cyclists in their prime: Xavier Tondo and Wouter Weylandt and Sadler's Wells.

November - We qualified for the Euros, we did something in cricket, and we bet Australia in the RWC but undoubtedly the greatest showing from an Irish team in 2011 was Anthony Tohill's Compromise Rules footballers taking the Cormac McAnallen Trophy back home from Australia. Some tremendous performances Down Under from some great footballers: Kevin Reilly, Keiran Donaghy Tadgh Kennelly and Stephen McDonnell to name a few.

December - The sporting moment of December 2011 when I read Paul Carberry's autobiography. What a jockey. Best book I've read in years.

January - Armagh defeated Down by a single point on a scoreline of 2-15 to 3-11 and a late goal to win in the McKenna Cup.
February - Ronan O'Gara retakes the all-time lead for career points in the Championship from Wilkinson.
March - Beat England in the 6 nations showdown 24-8. Crossmaglen win their 5th All Ireland.
April - Leinster beating Leicester in Heinneken Cup QF
May - Leinsters stunning comeback in the Heinneken Cup final. Manchester United being absolutely dominated by Barcelona.
June - Armagh reaching the senior hurling final by beating Down by a single point. Boston Bruins win Stanley Cup.
July - Armagh almost lost to Wicklow but were then defeated by Armagh in Aughim eventually losing to Tyrone a week later. Armagh Hurlers appearing in the Ulster Final losing by 8 to Antrim. Klitschko beats Haye.
August - Shamrock Rovers become the first soccer team to repesent Ireland in the UEFA champions league.
September - Ireland beat Australia in the RWC in pool stages which led to Ireland finishing 1st in their group. Dublin win All Ireland for first time in well over a decade.
October - NZ win the RWC. Manchester City 6 Manchester United 1
November - Ireland qualify for Euro 2012
December - Peterson beats Khan

Can't remember enough to do the months but off the top of my head:

- The brilliance of Thomas Voekler in this year's Tour De France when he held onto the yellow jersey for so long.

- Ireland not just beating, but destroying, England in the Six Nations. Always great to get the bragging rights over here even though the overall campaign was pretty disappointing.

- Wednesday pulling back a 2-2 draw, scoring twice in the last 7 minutes after being 2-0 down in the derby against United in October.

- David Prutton's screamer in front of the Kop vs. Rochdale on the first day of the season in the summer.

- The All-Ireland final, not so much a highlight but a vivid memory. It was clear that Tipp would lose within the first 30 seconds of the game.

- Ireland's performances against Australia and Italy in the Rugby World cup. Real passion and belief there, such a shame about the defeat to Wales.

- Raking in a personal best of 355 points at the Dalby Forest MBO event to win the Yorkshire league for a second time .

There's loads more but I'm distracted by Elf on Channel 4, such a cotton headed ninny muggins....

Cavan's U21 Campaign: It's been a long long time since Cavan had a campaign that really got going. A new experience for a lot of us. Daragh Tighe's frantic unbridled joy after the final whistle summed up how most of us felt about winning Ulster. The capitulation in the AI Final was a disappointment but the crowd we brought to Croker and their reaction to the defeat was heartening.

The Minor Campaign: Probably a better team all around than the U21's.. They continued removing the hoodoo Tyrone and Armagh have had over our Minor sides for years now. They won the Ulster Final with a deadly cool second half performance. Simple, patient football, doing the simple things right and maintaining a rock solid defence. Galway were taken for granted in the QF unfortunately. Lots more to come from Conor Finnegan, Conor Smith and Conor Moynagh.

Brendan Dolan: Great to see a gent like Brendan going on such a great run in the Grand Prix. The 9 darter was fantastic.

Katie Taylor continuing her dominance in boxing, grainne murphys continued improvement in swimming are 2 biggest individual performances i take from the year apart from the golfers.

Team sports- dublin and tipps football wins and leinsters 2nd half display v northampton in may