Before Dublin took over the All-Ireland senior football championship in the 2010s, there was a painful experience in the 2009 quarter-finals which has gone down in GAA infamy.
Off the back of a battering at the hands of Tyrone in the last eight the previous year, Dublin entered 2009 with a youthful squad and hopes of achieving All-Ireland glory for the first time in 14 years.
They met the imperious Kerry in the quarter-finals and, when Colm Cooper nestled the ball in the Dublin net within a minute of throw-in, it was clear that the Dubs were in for a difficult day at Croke Park.
It is surreal to look back on the teams from that infamous game now. Dublin started with both Denis Bastick and Paddy Andrews in the full-back line, and Barry Cahill and Brian Cullen in the half-back line, as the Kerry forwards racked up a huge score to humble Dublin.
The Dubs would ultimately fall to a huge 1-24 to 1-7 defeat and, when the sides met again in the 2011 final, Bastick, Andrews, Cahill, and Cullen had all become accustomed to playing further up the field.
Andrews appeared on GAA GO for live coverage of Dublin's game against Sligo on Sunday afternoon alongside one of the men who lined out for Kerry that day, Marc Ó Sé. When the subject of the 2009 quarter-final was raised, Ó Sé couldn't resist a dig at his Dublin counterpart for his woeful defensive efforts in Croke Park that day.
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GAA: Paddy Andrews remembers painful experience of marking the Gooch in 2009
Photos from the 2009 All-Ireland quarter-final are bizarre to look at now. Fans became used to the sight of Paddy Andrews lining out at corner forward during the Dublin run of dominance in the 2010s, so seeing him wearing 4 and marking Colm Cooper doesn't quite compute.
3 August 2009; Colm Cooper, Kerry, in action against Paddy Andrews, Dublin. GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Quarter-Final, Dublin v Kerry, Croke Park, Dublin. Picture credit: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE
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As Andrews and Marc Ó Sé previewed Sunday's All-Ireland round robin fixture between Dublin and Sligo, Ó Sé mentioned how misfiring teams are often in need of just one big result to ignite their championship charge, making reference to the 2009 quarter-final in Croke Park.
The Kerry legend couldn't resist a cheeky dig at Andrews as he discussed the infamous victory over Dublin, before Andrews questioned the wisdom of his then-manager Pat Gilroy in deploying him at corner-back:
Ó Sé: You're looking at Dublin [in 2023], Paul Mannion is on the bench, probably not playing as well as he could be. There's a lot of players on that Dublin team that are in third gear. You go down through the years, I saw Tyrone in the noughties playing poor football - but they go through the back door and all of a sudden something clicks and they win an All-Ireland. In '09, we were playing horrible until we took on Dublin. Paddy had nightmares after that game, he was catching flies for the whole game trying to mark the Gooch! After that game, we took off and went on to win the All-Ireland. Sorry, Paddy...
Andrews: It's alright, it's alright. I'll get you back for that!We didn't lose to them for about ten years after that anyway! Never played in the backs again, thank God. Pat Gilroy's out there somewhere, he has a lot to answer for for that.
Once Andrews was redeployed among the forwards, he went on to enjoy huge success with Dublin, winning seven All-Ireland winners' medals before retiring in 2021.
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