It’s hard to believe that Maurice Fitzgerald’s point to equalise the Kerry-Dublin All-Ireland quarter-final was a quarter of a century ago, because it still seems so fresh in the memory. Go on, watch it back right now, it’s worth it. It used to be the gold standard for sideline balls – but it might just have company, courtesy of Jack McCarron’s wonder point for Monaghan to force extra-time against Derry last Saturday evening.
From a technical standpoint, it’s a tough argument. Fitzgerald’s point was much farther out, a metre inside the ’45. He had the wind at his back, but as Ger Canning says on commentary, it’s coming over his left shoulder. To the extent that a footballer as natural as Maurice Fitz would have thought about anything on a conscious level in that moment, it made his decision on how to hit the ball quite easy.
The ball travels farther when hit with the outside of the boot. A kick like that required a fade (for a right-footer), which would mean setting it off into the breeze and then allowing the ball to come back towards the goal with the wind behind it. The kick that gave him the chance to take the shot in the first place, Dublin goalkeeper Davy Byrne’s kickout, died a death into the breeze, so it was a major factor. But you’re talking about a 60-metre kick on the angle, at least. It’s an absolutely ridiculous score.
And McCarron’s is every bit as ridiculous. If distance is what makes Maurice Fitz’s point special, then that distance necessarily gives him a wider angle to target. So Jack’s proximity to the goalline enhances the difficulty, rather than reduces it.
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Watching both scores back-to-back, what’s striking is how hard McCarron hits his in comparison to Maurice Fitz’s. Fitzgerald’s ball drifts over the bar on the breeze like a paper aeroplane. McCarron has to drill his. Given the tightness of the angle, he had to try and take the wind out of the equation as much as possible. Maurice Fitz had the wide expanses of the Thurles sideline to get his steps in, while McCarron was hard up against the perimeter wall in Armagh to try and get his correct run-up done.
This is a closed skill. If your team has trained in the last five days, you’ve probably had a few lads standing in McCarron’s position chancing their arm (then again, there are lads at training sessions 52 weeks a year chancing their arm at sideline balls from that position).
But this is not a closed environment. It’s anything but. Both scores were to equalise, not to win, so the level of in-game pressure was about equal. But Kerry’s season was over if Maurice hadn’t pulled that out of the bag. Monaghan would have been out of the Ulster championship had McCarron been off-target, but they would still be preparing for the first round of the All-Ireland series this week.
There are external pressures at play also. Maurice had Dublin manager Tommy Carr roaring in his ear as he lined up his shot, a hilarious detail that never fails to make me smile. McCarron had to deal with the fact that moments before he took his swing on Saturday evening, the pitch had been invaded by jubilant Derry preteens, which is not something you regularly factor into your pre-shot routine. McCarron also had to deal with the supportive but nevertheless rather incongruous sight of Rory Beggan off to his right, leaning up against the wall like an auld fella at the mart. All Beggan was missing was a smoking jacket and a packet of Silk Cut blue. It’s safe to say neither situation was ordinary.
Shorn of context, I think McCarron’s point might be the better kick. The amateur filmmakers behind McCarron on the sideline terrace, and those behind the goal he’s shooting into, gave us unbelievable angles on the score. But watching the RTÉ footage of Maurice’s point is canonical. Context is a factor – it has to be.
No one from Monaghan will ever forget where they were when they watched McCarron’s kick. And I didn’t think I’d ever forget the point that Conor Sweeney hit for Tipperary to get them to extra-time against Limerick in the Covid Munster semi-final of 2020 ... but I have to say it had slipped my mind until about halfway through this column.
Of course, I went back and watched that too. It’s about 10 metres farther out than McCarron’s, so near enough halfway between the angle facing McCarron and the one Maurice Fitz had to contest. He might have stolen a metre or two infield, but the shot kisses off the far post on the way over in a glorious, aesthetically pleasing fashion.
Conor Sweeney and Jack McCarron have been genuinely beautiful footballers to watch. And they delivered in massive games for their county. But this is where things get really unfair.
Maurice Fitzgerald is one of the most iconic footballers of all time, playing in the most iconic fixture in Gaelic football – Kerry against the Dubs. And it’s in Thurles, which adds a sense of novelty and uniqueness to the occasion. Then there’s Maurice’s legs. The sunshine. The TV angle directly behind the kick. The ball dropping over the black spot. The famous packed terrace behind the goal.
It’s an unbeatable combination ... but McCarron tried his best.
