FROM THE ARCHIVE ALL-IRELAND FOOTBALL FINAL, SEPTEMBER 18TH, 1983: PADDY DOWNEYreported on 'one of the worst but also one of the most remarkable football finals ever played'  Dublin ... 1-10 Galway ... 1-8

A SEASON of championship Gaelic football, which had gladdened the hearts of the game's followers, ended on a level very close to disgrace at Croke Park yesterday. The All-Ireland final between Dublin and Galway contained almost everything except the standards of football and sportsmanship which is expected from the leading players in the country, especially on the most important, and most publicised, day in the GAA's calendar.

But before the sad features of the day are recorded, let it be said very emphatically that this final contained the most extraordinary spectacle ever witnessed in any team sport. That was the absolute courage and bravery, the indomitable spirit, of Dublin's display in the second half when, playing with only 12 men against 14 and a gale-force wind, they held on to win the Sam Maguire Cup and the county's 21st All-Ireland title.

The heroic proportions of that display and the magnificent individual performances of several members of the victorious team will live in the memories of the 71,988 paying spectators present and the wider audience which watched the match on television. Without them, the 1983 final could be instantly consigned to oblivion.

As in the hurling final two weeks earlier, a gale force wind and one wicked shower ruined all prospects of open and skilful football.

The first half contained most of the ugly features of the occasion.

With tension running high and the wind causing the players to bunch and scramble, that period of play was a crunching battle with late tackles and other mean fouls predominant.

The referee, John Gough, found himself in a horrid situation, and though he brought his authority to bear on some of the worst incidents of misconduct many of his decisions were mystifying and brought the ire of both sides down upon his head.

Four players were sent to the line, the largest exodus in a final in recent times: three were dismissed between Galway and Kerry in 1965, two of them Kerry players.

The Dublin midfielder, Brian Mullins, was the first to go after 27 minutes of the first half for allegedly striking Brian Talty.

Talty sustained another injury in a fight between players in the corridor to the dressing-rooms at the interval and was unable to play in the second half. His loss was a huge blow to Galway.

Ray Hazley (Dublin) and Tomás Tierney (Galway) were ordered off after being involved in a scuffle on the sideline under the Hogan stand five minutes before the interval, and Dublin's Kieran Duff followed the same path when his immediate opponent, Pat O'Neill, fell to the ground off the ball in the fifth minute of the second half.

Dublin appeared to be in desperate straits when Mullins departed the scene, and when Duff's dismissal reduced the team to 12 men we were sure the favourites could not survive against superior numbers and the wind which blustered in over the Canal wall.

But it was then that they were seen at their best. They battled on like giants in the face of gigantic odds and must have won the admiration of even the most partisan Galway supporters for the splendour of their spirit. In a sporting context, this was a reincarnation of Custer's last stand - but with a happy ending.

But why could Galway not use the enormous advantage of two extra players and the aid of the wind to tear Dublin apart in the last half hour? Scores of answers will be offered in explanation over the coming days and weeks, but none may identify exactly the real reasons for their failure.

It will be said that pre-match assessments of their worth were correct; that they did not have the qualities needed to win this final.

It may have been over-anxiety, or too much haste in their efforts to exploit a massive measure of good fortune. It may have been bad tactics.

Lack of composure was clearly evident when they let the ball run over the sideline several times and when they failed to take points from favourable scoring positions.

Their failure was an amalgam of many elements and it will be the subject of bitter postmortems in the west for a long time to come.

But whatever reason, or combination of reasons, produced the ineptitude of Galway's second-half performance, Dublin's resolute stand in the face of adversity must be acknowledged as the principal factor in one of the worst but also one of the most remarkable football finals ever played.

Dublin won the toss and played with the wind, and for the first 12 minutes Galway's performance lifted the hearts of their supporters. They contained the opposition with close marking and strong running during that period, and it seemed that they had only to maintain that position until the interval to turn the tide totally in the second half.

But they were struck a mighty blow in the 12th minute. The Connacht champions were awarded a free out on their 14-yard line, and the goalkeeper, Pádraig Coyne, took the kick. The ball was fielded by Barney Rock some 35 yards away and the Dublin winger, seeing Coyne still on the spot from which he had taken the kick and the goal unguarded behind him, kicked swiftly and with deadly accuracy and the ball dropped under the crossbar and into the empty net.

Coyne turned and ran back as he saw the ball floating goalwards, but he had hesitated too long and the green flag was waving almost before he reached the line.

While that series of events had been happening, Dublin left full forward Joe McNally was lying on the ground, having taken a knock in a previous scuffle. Astonishingly, the referee, who saw McNally on the ground, directed Coyne to take the free, and he was ordering the Dublin manager, Kevin Heffernan, to leave the field when the goal was scored.

At a later stage of the game, the referee also wanted play to continue when the Galway full back, Stephen Kinneavy, was lying injured on the ground - a free had been awarded and the ball was resting close to Kinneavy - but on this occasion he changed his mind and allowed the full back to receive attention.

John Gough is not the first referee to insist on play continuing while an injured player needed attention. It has happened often since the so-called "non-stop" rule came into force in the 1950s.

The McNally incident has again highlighted an incongruous situation in Gaelic games and it is to be hoped that immediate action will be taken to change what looks like an inhumane attitude on the part of referees.

Rock's goal - which was similar in some respects to Mike Sheehy's goal for Kerry in the 1978 All-Ireland - was a major turning point. Galway's morale was undermined and the chance of winning their first title since 1966 slowly but surely slipped from their grasp thereafter.

Their full forward, Gay McManus, who was put through by a pass from Val Daly, missed a chance of a goal early in the second quarter, and Rock was back in defence to block down a powerful shot from Daly at pointblank range a few minutes later.

Dublin led by 1-5 to 0-2 at the interval, and when Rock (free) and McNally put over points within six minutes of the restart Dublin had won another vital round of the psychological battle.

McNally should have put the ball under the bar instead of over it, however. Given a pass by Tommy Drumm, he raced inside all of the Galway backs and was facing only goalkeeper Coyne, who had advanced 20 yards in a desperate effort to foil the corner forward. McNally had both time and room to by-pass the goalkeeper but, instead, lobbed the ball over Coyne's head only to see it lifted above the bar by the gusting wind.

A goal at that stage would have saved Dublin and their supporters an enormous weight of anxiety when their lead was reduced to a precarious margin late in the game - but thanks to their splendid rearguard action, they managed to survive without it.

When Galway scored 1-3 in their best phase of football to reduce Dublin's lead to three points (1-8 to 1-5) between the 45th and 51st minutes, their supporters jumped with joy. For here, at last, they thought, was the start of the rally which would overrun depleted Dublin and secure victory. But that effort was not sustained and it was Dublin who commanded the exchanges in the final 15 minutes.

The Galway goal was scored by Stephen Joyce in the 50th minute when a lovely cross from the right by Brian O'Donnell at the Railway end dribbled across the square and the left full forward swooped in to stroke the ball delicately into the net.

Subsequently, Coyne foiled Rock and McNally of a goal when he dived on the ball in the square.

At the other end of the field, Barry Brennan and substitute John Tobin missed chances of scores for Galway, but Michael Brennan - another substitute - Séamus McHugh and Barry Brennan (free) kicked three points to cut Dublin's margin to two in the hectic closing minutes of play.

When Galway frantically sought a winning goal in the last couple of minutes, Rock, who had covered the whole field in his herculean performance, prevented a score when he punched away the ball as it threatened to drop under the crossbar, and PJ Buckley stopped a pile-driver from Tobin.

Rock and the right half back, Pat Canavan - who played a magnificent game all through, but particularly in the second half - vie for the title "man of the match", in this writer's opinion. It would be unfair to separate them, or indeed to omit from the group of Dublin's saviours the names of Anton O'Toole and Tommy Drumm.

Drumm had a great game at centre half back, and when the need was greatest O'Toole was often to be seen sweeping the ball out of defence.

Buckley - who free-kicked a point from nearly 70 yards before half-time - completed an excellent half-back line; O'Leary made crucial saves; Jim Ronayne performed many useful feats at midfield while McNally and Duff were very dangerous forwards.

Mick Holden and Gerry Hargan also played an important part in defence when pressure was greatest.

Galway had few to compare with Dublin's finest players. But praise must be accorded to Kinneavy and O'Neill in defence, Richie Lee at midfield and the lion-hearted O'Donnell at left half forward.

DUBLIN: J O'Leary; M Holden, G Hargan, R Hazley; P Canavan, T Drumm (capt), PJ Buckley (0-1, 1f); J Ronayne (0-1), B Mullins; B Rock (1-6, 6fs), T Conroy, K Duff (0-1, 1f); J Caffrey, A O'Toole, J McNally (0-1). Subs: J Kearns for Conroy (54 mins), D McGrath for Caffrey (66 mins).

GALWAY: P Coyne; J Hughes, S Kinneavy, M Coleman (0-1); P O'Neill, P Lee, S McHugh (0-1); B Talty, R Lee; U Brennan (0-3, 2fs, 1 sideline kick), V Daly, B O'Donnell; T Tierney, G McManus (0-1), S Joyce (1-1, 1f). Subs: M Brennan (0-1) for Talty (half time), V Joyce for P Lee (55 mins), J Bobin for Hughes (61 mins).