The Replay. Play it Again Sam. And Liam.

The replay. Laois and Armagh. Tyrone and Cavan. Antrim and Meath. More memorably? Dublin and Meath. Kilkenny and Tipp. And Mayo. They seem to love them. Yes the buzzword this week? Replay. The GAA has always had a soft spot for the replay. There's been many a tough battle fought over two and sometimes more than two games. After a famine we had a feast of hurling final replays in recent years. Add in Mayo and Kerry in the football in 2014 and Dublin and Mayo in ‘15, there have been some epics. The perceived wisdom is that the team that learns most the first day usually wins the second. Without a replay would the great Cormac McAnallen ever have been converted to a full back? Or Walter Walsh sprung to start an All Ireland. There's been some real crackers.

All Ireland Hurling Final 2012

The gods of hurling smiled on supporters in 2012, 2013 and 2014, In ’12 having given Kilkenny a torrid time in the Leinster Final, Galway had every reason to be optimistic about their policy of disrupting Kilkenny in the air and letting their pacy forwards maraud in small numbers. The plan was successful to a degree, having worked in the Leinster Final, but not for long enough and it took a late and controversial free for Joe Canning to level the game. Henry Shefflin had pointed a 68th minute penalty to ease the Cats one ahead. In the replayed Final, Brian Cody brought all his experience to the fore by throwing in Walter Walsh for his debut. Walter repaid the faith shown with a man of the match performance and a tally of 1-3. Kilkenny cruised home by eleven points and Galway wondered where it had all gone awry.

Tyrone Ulster Final Replays

Replays have always seemed to form a part of a Tyrone All Ireland bid. In 2003 the sensational Ulster Final finished 1-17 to 4-8 with Tyrone twice coming back from Down’s goal fest to wrest a draw from the jaws of defeat. The outcome of the game was a series of tactical changes by Mickey Harte. Cormac McAnallen was switched to full back to give aerial stability. Tyrone won the replay 0-23 to 1-5. They increased their overall number of scores and halved Down’s. In 2005 it took two epic encounters to separate Tyrone and Armagh in Croke Park. The first day Stephen O’Neill was all but unmarkable but a goal from Stephen McDonnell and a point from Oisin McConville leveled affairs. Armagh won the replay which was a spiteful affair, but Tyrone gained ultimate revenge in their third match of the season by winning the All Ireland semi final.

All Ireland Hurling Final 2013

Following the early exit of Kilkenny the 2013 championship was blown wide open and was ripe for the emergence of a youthful Clare team led by Davy Fitz. Having overcome a Munster championship semi final exit, thanks to Mi Wadi and biscuits in Davy Fitz’s front room, Clare motored through the qualifiers in fine style taking out Laois, Wexford and Galway before defeating Munster champions Limerick in the semi final. They faced a resurgent Cork who despite having lost the Munster final, saw off Kilkenny and then Dublin. The final was a rollercoaster with Cork goals keeping them in the game and ultimately easing them into the lead. Cometh the hour cometh the man, the unlikely saviour of Clare was Domhnall O’Donovan who hit the point of his life off his left side from a mile out to level the game. The replay was a goal fest with Shane O’Donnell sprung into the starting fifteen and like Walter Walsh the year before, he repaid the faith shown in him by bagging a first half hat trick. 2013 was also the year of the ‘Nash’ with the Cork keeper striking one free home in the replay past 12 Clare players. The game was sealed with goals by Conor McGrath and Darach Honan in the last ten minutes. It was a real epic from start to finish.

Dublin and Meath

No rivalry encapsulates the GAA replay like Dublin and Meath in 1991. To put it in context some years Kerry were able to win an All Ireland having played four games, Galway won hurling All Irelands having played two or three matches. Yet after all the toil and trouble it was still only a Leinster preliminary round clash. To put the travails of the modern qualifier player in perspective, the games were played on the 2nd, 9th and 23rd of June and the 6th of July. They were watched by a combined total of 207,000 spectators. All four matches were refereed by the same ref – Tommy Howard. They were hard hitting affairs with no quarter asked or given, men hit on and off the ball got up and played on. In the first game, Meath fortuitously drew level with a ball that bounced over John O’Leary’s head. The first and second replays both ended in draws after extra time, with the third replay pencilled in for the original date of the Leinster final. Dublin went clear in the game only for Kevin Foley to grab a goal and help Meath seal the deal. It was one of the greatest ever rivalries and the winners deserved an All Ireland. However life isn’t like that. Meath lost out to Down in the All Ireland Final.

The Controversials

Occasionally things go wrong, like they did this week with Laois against Armagh and a few weeks ago in the Christy Ring final. Most memorably in 1998 when ref Jimmy Cooney ended the game two minutes early and admitted his error. Clare won the match by three points but the Offaly supporters and players staged a sit down protest on the pitch. Almost inevitably Offaly won the replay and went on to lift the All Ireland. Replays. Worth more than the entrance fee.