The Dublin-Tyrone rivalry: The stakes simply don't get any higher than in the final minute of an All-Ireland final. In a championship year when Tyrone feel harshly treated by referees, thoughts drift back to September 17th, 1995. Coincidentally, Dublin were the opponents that day, and Tyrone face them again this Saturday.
In those crucial, dying seconds of the 1995 final, Peter Canavan reduced arrears to the minimum with his 11th point of the day. The Errigal Chiaráin man then supplied Seán McLaughlin, who kicked what would have been the equalising score - except that referee Paddy Russell penalised Canavan for an illegal pick-up.
Free out. Dublin survive to end a 12-year drought without Sam Maguire, while Tyrone's wait for a first All-Ireland continues for another eight years.
To the credit of former joint-manager (with Art McRory) Eugene McKenna, he doesn't hold any grudges about that day; he feels football karma evened things out.
"Somewhere between the flick-up by Peter and Seán's point, the referee had blown the whistle," recalls McKenna. "He was fairly young at the time so it was a little bit of inexperience on the part of Paddy Russell. If you play Gaelic football long enough, the bad calls tend to balance out the good calls and that's what happened to us that year.
"At the after-match reception you could see Paddy was having a troublesome night. None of our lads said anything to him - we wouldn't do that - but you could see it in his demeanour. The good thing now is there is a method of redress. Even for referees, having their decisions questioned is a safety net for them."
A strange, and commendable comment, from a Tyrone man considering they have suffered under this new system with the suspension of Ryan McMenamin last week.
Dublin also had a few grumbles about the middle man's performance that day. It was generally accepted Charlie Redmond didn't deserve to be sent off for clashing with Tyrone midfielder Fergal Lohan. Actually, Charlie decided the referee's decision was not final and stayed on the field for another three minutes, during which Dessie Farrell landed the score of the game.
"It was a mix of the experience by Charlie and the indecisiveness of the referee," continued McKenna. "I presume he was sent off, just not with enough vigour, but there were no yellow or red cards back then so it was not as obvious. Well, it certainly wasn't to Charlie.
"Maybe Stephen O'Neill left the field too quickly when he was sent off against Armagh recently."
Still, he holds no grudge.
Back in 1995 Tyrone were a different proposition from today, relying heavily on Canavan scores; in the final he kicked 11, 10 frees, of their 12 points.
They also lost centre forward Adrian Cush to an ankle injury on the Tuesday before the match, meaning Keith Barr could drop back to cover the full-back line without worrying about long-range shooters. Also, as ever, Ulster took a lot out of their champions, which McKenna admits.
"We never really repeated the heights of the Ulster semi-final victory over Derry (an epic). We were a small side and looking at them in training the following week they looked physically exhausted.
"The final was not the performance we were looking for. No disrespect to the players, but they were of fairly average talent, more the hard-working type, except of course Peter, who was the icing on the cake."
Two players survive from each team for this weekend. Chris Lawn recently regained the fullback role he held back then and, last Saturday aside, he has been playing solid football. Dessie Farrell is also just back in the Dublin panel but unlikely to feature.
The two stars from that summer are also back. Canavan is no longer the crutch Tyrone so heavily relied upon, while 10 summers since the "Boom, Boom" chorus rattled from the Hill, Jason Sherlock remains a vital cog in the Dublin attack.
Despite some decisive goals en route to the final and giving Lawn the run-around on the day, Sherlock missed out on All-Star recognition in 1995 and it has eluded him ever since. This doesn't surprise McKenna though.
"We didn't see Sherlock as that big a threat. We didn't see him as a high-quality player at that stage and I have seen nothing to change my mind since. I heard he's playing well . . . but he was at his peak in '95 and '96 so 10 years on how much better can he be?
"Charlie Redmond was the main threat back then but Dublin were more of a hard-working team and in the end it was a scrambled goal (set up by Sherlock, finished by Redmond) that won it for them."
Fast-forward to Saturday and the first championship meeting between the counties since, and McKenna sees fortunes reversing.
"Tyrone are looking good. The usual hoo-hah that surrounds a Dublin team is there, but the fans and the Dublin media factor are no longer relevant once you cross the white line."
It's injury time in the All-Ireland football final of 1995. Dublin lead 1-10 to 0-12 as the seconds tick down. Peter Canavan struggles to control a John O'Leary clearance. The ball breaks, forcing Canavan to fist it into the path of Seán McLaughlin, who puts it over the bar.
Draw. Actually no, Dublin are awarded a free out as the well-positioned Tipperary referee, Paddy Russell, penalises Canavan for an illegal pick-up. The ball is fired downfield, and before it returns to earth the game is over.
"I was really disappointed that he blew the whistle for full-time when the ball was still in the air," said Tyrone PRO Brendan Harkin.
"When the ball was kicked out he should have let the players dictate how it was to play out. If a Dublin player had caught it so be it but if a Tyrone player fielded it there was another chance for a draw.
"Over the weekend, I saw Paddy Russell was still there (he refereed Saturday's Laois-Derry match) and he was very good," added Harkin.
However, in the immediate aftermath, joint Tyrone manager Art McRory described the refereeing as a "pantomime" and added, "There was a lack of strength shown by the referee. It was very different from Ulster refereeing."
Ah, Ulster refereeing, where continuity is king. Good to see little has changed in 10 years.
