The 2000 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 113th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 2000 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.

Kerry defeated Galway after a replay. There was controversy over the decision to hold the replay on a Saturday, instead of the usual Sunday. Since then games on days other than Sundays have become commonplace. Kerry ultimately triumphed over Galway by a scoreline of 0–17 to 1–10.

Match 1 Summary Kerry played Galway on Sunday (24 September 2000) in Croke Park, Dublin in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title. The two teams had previously played against one another in Croke Park in an All-Ireland Final in 1965 where Galway won, the 2000 final ended in a draw. Galway trailed for most of the game and it wasn't until three minutes from the end that they levelled the game after working tirelessly throughout to reduce the deficit. At one point Galway were behind Kerry by seven points in the first half of the game. The final score was 0–14 points each. It was the first time since the 1992 All-Ireland Final that both sides failed to score a goal.

Pádraic Joyce brought the sides level with four minutes remaining.

The referee played 40 seconds of additional time.

Details

1 Declan O'Keeffe 2 Mike Hassett 3 Seamus Moynihan (c) 4 Mike McCarthy 5 Tomás Ó Sé 6 Éamonn Fitzmaurice 7 Tom O'Sullivan 8 Darragh Ó Sé 9 Donal Daly 10 Aodán Mac Gearailt 11 Dara Ó Cinnéide 12 Noel Kennelly 13 Mike Frank Russell 14 Liam Hassett 15 Johnny Crowley Substitutes:16 Peter O'Leary 17 Maurice Fitzgerald 18 Denis O'Dwyer 19 Killian Burns 20 Tommy Griffin 21 Enda Galvin 22 Mossie Lyons 23 Kenneth Dillon 24 Stephen O'Sullivan Manager:Páidí Ó Sé1 Martin McNamara 2 Tomás Meehan 3 Gary Fahey 4 Ray Silke 5 Declan Meehan 6 John Divilly 7 Seán Óg de Paor 8 Seán Ó Domhnaill 9 Joe Bergin 10 Paul Clancy 11 Tommy Joyce 12 Michael Donnellan 13 Derek Savage 14 Pádraic Joyce (c) 15 Niall Finnegan Substitutes:16 Pádraig Lally 17 Richie Fahey 18 Jason Killeen 19 Kevin Walsh 20 Michael Colleran 21 Shay Walsh 22 John Donnellan 23 Kieran Comer 24 Lorcan Colleran Manager:John O'Mahony

Match 2 Summary The replay of the 2000 All-Ireland Senior Football Final took place in Croke Park on Saturday, 7 October at 4:00pm. It was the first time since 1996 that the decider went to a replay. It wasn't the disjointed game of the 24th, that was replayed on the hallowed turf of Croke Park amidst the chants and jeers of the 64,000 strong crowd, rather a close, man-marked, point-for-point contest, that the pundits had predicted preceding the first game. The first half was a paradox of brilliant football and wide shooting. Declan Meehan broke through Kerry's defense, in the 6th minute, to score one of the best goals of the championship. Galway's one point lead boded ominous for Kerry but they rallied and began to pick their points amidst a shower of wides. The most definitive injury of the half was that of Kevin Walsh who had to be replaced by Joe Bergin. Kerry began to exert dominance in the middle of the field especially after Maurice Fitzgerald replaced Noel Kennelly in the 27th minute and played as a third midfielder. As the team broke for half-time the score was 0–09 to 1–04 in favour of Kerry. A light drizzle fell in the second half. Fitzgerald settled into his position with the professional role familiar to all from the 97 season. Kevin Walsh was re-introduced for mid-fielder Sean O'Domhnaill to combat Fitzgearld's influence but he never played as dominant a part in the game as he had prior to his earlier injury and indeed the drawn game. The deteriorating pitch surface took its toll as players began to slip and slide along the Cusack sideline but with minutes left to play Kerry had opened their lead to 4 points and it stayed that way at the end.

Aodán Mac Gearailt fisted the insurance point over the bar in the 2000 replay.

Details

1 Declan O'Keeffe 2 Mike Hassett 3 Seamus Moynihan (c) 4 Mike McCarthy 5 Tomás Ó Sé 6 Éamonn Fitzmaurice 7 Tom O'Sullivan 8 Darragh Ó Sé 9 Donal Daly 10 Aodán Mac Gearailt 11 Dara Ó Cinnéide 12 Noel Kennelly 13 Mike Frank Russell 14 Liam Hassett 15 Johnny Crowley Substitutes:16 Peter O'Leary 17 Maurice Fitzgerald 18 Denis O'Dwyer 19 Killian Burns 20 Tommy Griffin 21 Enda Galvin 22 Mossie Lyons 23 Kenneth Dillon 24 Stephen O'Sullivan Manager:Páidí Ó Sé1 Martin McNamara 2 Tomás Meehan 3 Gary Fahey 4 Richie Fahey 5 Declan Meehan 6 John Divilly 7 Seán Óg de Paor 8 Kevin Walsh 9 Seán Ó Domhnaill 10 Tommy Joyce 11 Pádraic Joyce (c) 12 Michael Donnellan 13 Derek Savage 14 Paul Clancy 15 Niall Finnegan Substitutes:16 Pádraig Lally 17 Ray Silke 18 Jason Killeen 19 Joe Bergin 20 Michael Colleran 21 Shay Walsh 22 John Donnellan 23 Kieran Comer 24 Lorcan Colleran Manager:John O'Mahony

References