Kerry: The most consistent team of the decade

In all the debate about the team of the decade, there should be no doubt about who is the most consistent county of the last 10 years.

Today Kerry contest their 10th consecutive All Ireland semi-final, during which time Tyrone have contested only four.

And as today features the penultimate match of the decade, it's a good time to take stock at what has been a remarkable 10 years for football with the introduction of the qualifier system.

There is a very good case for the retention of the current championship structure when you consider that since 2000…

» Seven different counties have contested the All Ireland final » Thirteen have contested an All Ireland semi-final » Thirteen counties have won a provincial title » Eighteen have contested an All Ireland quarter-final » Twenty-six have contested a provincial final » Only three counties – Carlow, Waterford and Kilkenny – have not reached the last 12 of the All Ireland series this decade.

And when you consider that two of those three counties are enjoying their greatest decade in hurling in over 50 years, there's a lot to be said for the provincial and qualifier system in both codes.

As the table to the right shows, in terms of consistency in championship football, Kerry easily lead the way. Tyrone are second, Armagh are third, while Cork jumped ahead of Dublin last week by virtue of beating Mickey Harte's team. Some counties are slightly flattered by the table, most notably Roscommon, while others are cruelly misrepresented – namely Monaghan – but in all the table shows the depth and democratic nature of football this decade.

Check to see where your county is.

Kilkenny: May the fours be with you

FOUR Kilkenny men are on the brink of joining four county comrades of yesteryear in seventh heaven.

Should the Cats beat Tipperary next Sunday, Michael Kavanagh, Noel Hickey (if he sees action), Henry Shefflin and Eddie Brennan will play in their seventh SHC All Ireland finals. Which, of course, would leave the quartet one short of the all-time record held by Ring and Doyle. Opens up a vision of an unprecedented five-in-a-row and the major medal milestone reached for the first time too by a black and amber hurler.

Where the money went

The pundits didn't fancy Cork to beat Tyrone in the first of the All Ireland semi-finals last Sunday. The punters, by and large, did. What ensued was one of the biggest gambles of the 2009 GAA season and one that left Paddy Power licking very painful wounds ("our worst result of the championship," according to their man Eoin George) and Sportsspread.com narrowly avoiding a similar hammering.

Perhaps it was the scale of Cork's quarter-final victory over Donegal, perhaps it was the difficulty with which Tyrone had disposed of Kildare at the same stage, but either way all the money was for Conor Counihan's side. Power's had pegged them at 13-8 after the Donegal game, cut them to 11-8 as the semi-final drew closer and on hearing of Sean Cavanagh's indisposition cut them again to 6-5. "Looking back, we should have made them favourites," George admits. "The writing was on the wall after 10 minutes." To make it worse for Paddy Power (bless 'em!), Daniel Goulding was well supported at 9-1 for first goal, ditto Graham Canty at 16-1 for man of the match.

Over at Betfair, Cork were the medium of what Eoin Ryan terms "one of the biggest gambles of the championship", backed from 2-1 into 11-8. They're now available at 9-10 for Sam, though Kerry will shade favouritism if they beat Meath this afternoon. "No disrespect to Meath, but a Cork/Kerry final would definitely be a bigger draw," Ryan asserts. Further evidence of how the punters deserted Tyrone came at Sportsspread.com where there were sellers aplenty of their supremacy at 1.5 points. But clients who bought Cork multi-points (first-half points multiplied by second-half points) at 68 were left cursing their luck following the dismissal of Alan O'Connor; Counihan's side necessarily adopted a defensive strategy in the second half, with the result that the market made up at 48 (12 x 4).

I Predict A Riot

Gaelic games ace tipster Ewan MacKenna (Really? – Ed) goes head-to-head against two 'Sunday Tribune' writers who haven't a clue about our national games in a summer-long competition. One point for a correct outcome, two points for the correct result.

The GAA man - Ewan MacKenna

Kerry v Meath: Kerry by five

Last week's score 0

Total score 29

Confidence can take a battering doing this, not to mention reputation as a man with a Spanish name clings to your coattails in the Gaelic games tipping league. (Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd write.) Tyrone don't show up. Mayo don't show up. Donegal don't show up. And suddenly you look like a fool. But it's nothing compared to the confidence battering you can take on television. Such is the power of the lights in studio, I've been left thinking that I'm nearly as bald as Neil Dunphy over there. Frightening thought. In fact if Kerry don't show up and Meath win, it'll have been a humiliating summer on paper and in hair.

The Soccer Guy - Miguel Delaney

Kerry v Meath: Kerry by four

Last week's score 0

Total score 28

Feeling a little left out this week. Because, as you can see from the columns either side of me, I'm literally stuck in the middle of a verbal war. And, of all things, over hair. Two bald men fighting over a comb aye? Or at least a column.

Awfully laboured link ahoy, two bald men fighting over a comb is something you could never accuse of Kerry or Meath. Throughout this contest, the man to my left has accused me of copying. Why, you understandably ask? Well today I will undercut him by a point. It's a hairy one though. Unlike the men either side of me.

The Rock Dude - Neil Dunphy

Kerry v Meath: Meath by 3

Last week's score 1

Total score 23

Look across at that picture of MacKenna. See? He has hair. The only problem is that photo was taken a while back. Let me assure you good reader that the GAA man (well, boy really, he's only like 21 or something) actually has almost as little hair as me and I'm probably 15 years older than him. Wotever, it's nice to read our in-house expert is showing some humility in the predictions stakes. Having forecast a Cork victory last week I'm plumping for Meath this time out. Not that I want them to win or anything; I seem to remember having to endure some extremely dour matches between Cork and Meath around 10 years ago. Right or wrong, may I suggest a bottle of Rogaine? There's still time, Ewan...

Pop Quiz, Gerald Keane, Cork

Now we are not quite sure what a celebrity lawyer is or how you become one but The Irish Times once described this celebrity lawyer as having a celestial aura. He may have come second to Marty Whelan on the original series of Celebrity Bainisteoir but as you'll see below, that proves nothing when it actually comes to knowing something about the GAA.

1. How many All Ireland senior football titles have Cork won?
GK I'll go with 22
ST Close, it's six.

2. When was the last of those?
GK They drew with Kerry last year and lost the replay
ST No points for random GAA knowledge Gerald.
GK Fine then. Eight years ago.
ST Wrong. It was way back in 1990.

3. How many All Ireland senior hurling titles have Cork won?
GK 19
ST Wrong. They have 30

4. When was the last of those?
GK I'll say 2005.
ST Wow. Correct.

5. Who was Cork's last football All Star in 2006?
GK I met him once. Big fella. The centre-half. The bull or something they call him. Canty
ST Correct again.

6. How many Cork players were on the football Team of the Millennium?
GK Three
ST Wrong. None.

7. Three Cork hurlers were on the Team of the Millennium but can you name them?
GK Murphy? Coughlan? O'Brien?
ST Wrong. Jack Lynch, Christy Ring and Ray Cummins.
GK I would have known that, I thought you meant some lads from nine years ago.
ST Objection overruled. That felt good.

8. The only club to have won club All Ireland titles in both hurling and football are from Cork but which club is it?
GK Nemo.
ST Wrong, St Finbarr's.

9. Name one of the other two Cork sides to have won All Ireland club football titles?
GK Nemo Rangers
ST Correct, and the others were O'Donovan Rossa.

10. Name one of the other four Cork sides to have won All Ireland club hurling titles?
GK Douglas? Mallow? Nemo?
ST Wrong. Glen Rovers, Blackrock, Midleton and Newtownshandrum
GK Did I beat anyone?
ST Eamon Dunphy.
GK Well it was worth it then.

Total 3/10

League table

Richie Kavanagh (Carlow) 9
Moss Keane (Kerry) 8
Billy Walsh (Wexford) 8
Denis Leamy (Tipperary) 7
Charlie McGettigan (Leitrim) 7
Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Kilkenny) 6
Ted Walsh (Kildare) 6
Brian Peters (Meath) 6
Edwin Poots (Antrim) 5
Ciaran Fitzgerald (Wicklow) 4
Eamon Dunphy (Dublin) 3
Gerald Keane(Cork) 3
Richard Wallace (Limerick) 1
Francis Barrett (Galway) 1