Allianz Football League 2026 - Top 10 moments

Another dramatic Allianz Football League campaign concluded on Sunday with stories changing in the final seconds. Here are RTÉ Sport's top 10 moments from the pre-finals action.

MODEL'S FITTING FINALE

You play 490 minutes of football – stopped clock excluded - and it all comes down to a kick along the deck 13 seconds out from the final buzzer.

Wexford's dramatic win over Westmeath on Sunday, when Seán Ryan reacted quickest to a Jason Daly save to net and spark wild scenes, was probably the moment of league season and a reminder that the drama of the competition extends to all divisions and all counties.

Liam Spratt, the famed Wexford sports broadcaster, called it in a typically enthusiastic fashion and the commentary has been flying around social media ever since.

For manager John Hegarty, the green flag has massive consequences, some still to be decided.

What is known is they’ve achieved back-to-back promotions, they’re off to Croke Park for the second season in a row and they’ve won 16 of their last 18 regular season league games.

What is yet to be decided is whether they’ll be competing in the All-Ireland series or the Tailteann Cup later this year. They could, of course, reach the former by making the Leinster final, but to have the opportunity through the league is a job well done.

A job not so well done for RTÉ’s predictions pre-league where one unnamed scribe said Wexford would finish eighth. Boy, I really hope someone got fired for that blunder.

BUZZER-BEATING BICKERING

There were just 19 seconds between the half-time buzzer sounding in last year's All-Ireland final and David Clifford’s brilliant two-point effort dropping over the crossbar – but that play has had a major influence almost a year on.

The problem was that before those 19 seconds, Kerry had held possession for one minute and 45 seconds without a Donegal player even attempting to put them under any real pressure. The final play of the half and both sides said 'we’ll wait’.

That passage of play surely had an influence on decision-makers who decided to bring back what had been their original plan, with a few caveats – the hooter marking the end of each half.

That new change saw Kerry in the headlines again, as they snatched victory over Roscommon when Tomás Kennedy fisted over a winner on the hooter in Round 1.

It led to much debate on the matter, RTÉ GAA analyst and FRC member Éamonn Fitzmaurice arguing that it was the right call, but it felt like it would be a recurring issue.

Fortunately, it didn’t really turn out that way.

KOBE-MANIA RUNS WILD

Kobe-mania swept not only Mayo, but much of the country too as Kobe McDonald finally made his senior bow and grasped that opportunity with both hands.

The son of legendary player Ciarán, it was most anticipated senior debut since a certain David Clifford in 2018 a year after he hit Derry for 4-04 in the All-Ireland minor final.

The Fossa genius had repelled a potential AFL move to focus on his Kerry senior career, but McDonald had already agreed to join St Kilda by the time he featured for Andy Moran’s side, with the youngster set to head away this summer.

The 18-year-old's debut came off the bench up in Clones in Round 4 where he hit 1-04 in 20 minutes, the goal a real quality strike into the corner of the Monaghan net.

The game was all but won by the time he entered the fray then, but next time out he delivered another top cameo off the bench to help win a tight one-point game with Armagh.

Mayo were mauled by Kerry in Round 6 with McDonald frustrated by a couple of Shane Murphy saves, while he didn’t feature against Roscommon on Sunday having featured for the county's Under-20s midweek.

It’s unclear just how involved he’ll be in the championship, but any game-time will be welcomed warmly by the Mayo public – and lovers of the game.

SIX OF THE BEST FOR McNULTY

Barry McNulty was not an unknown quantity in Leitrim, or indeed Connacht, but his name came to national prominence following an incredible 35 minutes of football in west London.

When McNulty came on at half-time in Ruislip, Steven Poacher’s side were 10 points down.

What followed was an astonishing scoring feat as McNulty landed six two-pointers of the highest quality, five of those coming from play.

Five came off the left, one off the right, and even the free was a monster effort from way out.

And fittingly, those efforts were rewarded with another two-pointer – a team one this time as Leitrim prevailed 2-19 to 1-20.

CONATY'S CROKER CRACKER

After 40 minutes of last year’s infamous All-Ireland quarter-final, Sam Maguire holders Armagh led Kerry by five points and if the odds had been checked at that point, would probably have been favourites to lift the trophy once again.

If another market had been checked – player of the year – it's likely Oisín Conaty would have been the front-runner, and if he wasn’t, he should have been.

The Portadown youngster won an All-Star and Young Player of the Year in his breakout season in 2024, and claimed an All-Star last year too even though Armagh capitulated from that 40th-minute marker.

Given his Irish League soccer background, it was somewhat surprising to note that prior to Round 6, his only goal for the county was in a McKenna Cup clash with Cavan.

He doubled his tally at Croke Park a fortnight ago with a stunning individual effort, scything through the Dublin defence and rifling to the net as Armagh overturned a double-digit deficit to claim the win that ultimately sparked their Division 1 survival charge.

The goal was compared with Owen Mulligan’s masterly run and finish in their 2005 championship clash with Dublin.

Not quite on that level, but to even have it mentioned in the same breath shows how good it was.

WHEN 0-28 ISN'T ENOUGH

OK, this is more a trend rather than a moment but we’ll cheat a little as it is worth flagging up.

1-25, 0-28, 2-22, 2-20, 2-19 and 0-25 – what do these scores all have in common? They were losing totals in the league. Spare a thought for Kildare who hit 2-19 against Cork and 0-25 against Louth and still lost both.

Another six teams hit the 24-point mark and lost while plenty hit 23 points and came away empty-handed.

There are asterisks along the way, weather being the most obvious one, but it’s quite clear that under the current football rule enhancements, you need to be hitting ridiculous tallies.

LONGFORD SNEAK IN

Longford’s Division 4 campaign started with a one-point win over a Waterford side that ended the campaign with zero points and a scoring difference of –63 and a five-point home loss to London.

At that point – the league break – they didn’t seem like genuine promotion contenders but five points from their next three games got them back into the mix.

Then came the Round 6 hammering at the hands of Leitrim and Mike Solan’s side looked consigned to another year in the basement division.

They hosted a Wicklow side on the final day knowing even a win may not be enough as London had them on the head-to-head rule.

The Exiles were in action against Antrim in Cargin, but matters up there seemed irrelevant as Wicklow led by 11 points.

However, Longford staged a stunning comeback – Daniel Reynolds with the late winner – and Antrim won by a point up north to allow Longford to sneak into the promotion spots.

GROUNDBALL BACK IN FASHION

There’s not much Seánie O’Shea can’t do, and he added another string to his bow by becoming, surely, the first inter-county player to score a two-pointer off the deck from play.

O’Shea almost waspishly took aim from outside the arc against Mayo, the ball riding the wind to help the Kingdom move 2-26 to 0-14 ahead down in Tralee in Round 6.

The Kenmare man proved something of a trend-setter too.

On Sunday past, the left-footed Killian McGinnis kicked over off the ground with his right from a near impossible angle for Dublin against Galway while Niall Loughlin fired low to the net from distance in Derry’s win over Cavan.

WEE COUNTY, BIG AMBITIONS

Again, more a series of moments than one individual one, but Louth’s reputation took a significant boost in Division 2 as they took six points from their three games against Ulster opposition.

Gavin Devlin’s side gave promotion a good push, ultimately finishing third, and they’ll move into championship season with plenty of optimism.

There is a feeling in the Wee County – perhaps not without good reason – that they haven’t been given enough credit for last year’s Leinster triumph, their first provincial victory in 68 years.

When Ciarán Downey said earlier this month that the team had Sam Maguire ambitions over the next five or six years, sniggers followed from some quarters.

Ask pre-league promotion favourites Tyrone and Derry about the quality of Louth after both were turned over in Ardee – the latter especially impressive given how many players Louth were without. Cavan were also beaten with ease at Kingspan Breffni.

Write Louth off at your peril.

THE GOAL-DEN TOUCH

Shea Malone’s 60th-minute goal in Donegal’s five-point win over Monaghan at Clones on Sunday doesn’t feel hugely consequential, but it was the final Division 1 goal of the year – excluding the final – and the 72nd in the top tier.

The introduction of the two-point score sparked fears that goals would become obsolete, but this was another spring where that was far from the case.

Roscommon, with 15, scored more than most while Armagh could only manage four.

Unsurprisingly, the Connacht side have the top scorers with Diarmuid Murtagh and Enda Smith both nabbing four.

Donegal’s Shea Malone and Conor O’Donnell and Kerry’s David Clifford – all three – will have a chance to join or surpass them in the league final. Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea also hit three goals.

Armagh and Monaghan are the two counties who saw no player score more than one goal.

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