The GAA world is a lot quieter at this time of year with that particular circus. In 2000 we solved the problem of a dull October by having the Australians visit and having our own football championship overrun and spill beyond September.

Kerry needed a replay and extra-time to dispose of Armagh in the semi-final and their first clash with Galway also finished level, so it was back to Croker in the first week of October.

This newspaper's football analyst Liam Hayes recently spoke of how he felt Seamus Moynihan didn't deserve to be acclaimed as one of the great footballers of his generation, and we haven't seen him since as he's still buried under a large pile of angry letters with Kerry postmarks. A videotape of this game though would be as eloquent an argument as could made in Moynihan's favour.

The title was eventually claimed on a scoreline of 0-17 to 1-10, but in truth the margin could have been far more comfortable, as Kerry's wayward shooting (10 wides in the second half alone) kept their nerves jangling until the final whistle.

Moynihan was captain of the side and, despite lining out in his less-favoured position of fullback, was his side's inspiration in the game, his shackling of Padraig Joyce removing Galway's most dangerous attacker from the game.

And when Declan Meehan scored the goal of the season after just seven minutes, it was Moynihan who led the immediate riposte from the Kingdom, throwing off the shackles of fullback to make a forward burst and set up a vital score. As he had being doing all season, Moynihan was able to find that little bit extra when the team needed it the most. Quite apart from lifting Sam, Moynihan had a brilliant year, collecting the man of the match award in the replay, an All Star, the Player of the Year award and Player of the Tournament from the International Rules series played that same month.

Meath men are difficult to please.