Stepping up.
It’s a simple concept.
Rise above yourself, show us something special. Lead. Inspire.
If ever a man stepped up before, Chrissy McKaigue went one step further, one inch higher, one dream bigger.
Slaughtneil are in the All-Ireland club football championship final for the second time in their history and the second time in three years.
Slaughtneil win it! pic.twitter.com/voBbFMosXm
— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) February 11, 2017
And they did it with no-one saying they could do it. They did it against the Dubliners. Against the odds, the talk, and the logic as some saw it.
They did it against Diarmuid Connolly because they did it with Chrissy McKaigue and one of the most special individual performances this game has seen for a long, long time.
This is something special we're seeing from Chrissy McKaigue #TheToughest pic.twitter.com/1aHBhueZIh
— Conán Doherty (@ConanDoherty) February 11, 2017
We don’t even need to go into where Slaughtneil are coming from again. The rural area on the side of the mountain, the population, the fact that their second ever Derry championship only came in 2014.
What Mickey Moran and that club have done in the last three seasons has been simply unbelievable. The scale of their achievements in such a short space of time with such a limited stretch of land honestly knows no worthy description.
We don’t need to talk about how their club continues to do the impossible and how if Slaughtneil doesn’t shake every other community into action and pure pride of place, then nothing will.
We do need to talk about Chrissy McKaigue though.
Jesus Christ Chrissy McKaigue!!!#TheToughest
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) February 11, 2017
The Derry captain led from the front in Newry on Saturday afternoon as Robert Emmet’s once more stared down the barrel of a gun and scared it into retreat. He led from the front with heart, with power, with balls and drive. He led from the front, from the back.
At number six, McKaigue manned the centre of the Slaughtneil rearguard and he defended it with all his life.
He never gave Diarmuid Connolly a second’s peace and, the one time the Dublin All-Star broke free to curl over a beauty off the left, McKaigue almost took it as a personal insult.
He went straight back up the other end and hoofed over an almighty effort from the right flank. When he came out for the second period, he was a man on a mission. A deadly mission.
Chrissy McKaigue > Blanket Defence
Hurling semi-final in two weeks… business as usual for @GACSlaughtneil #TheToughest pic.twitter.com/ScTTi3L0Ai
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) February 11, 2017
McKaigue kicked the sides level, six apiece straight after half time and Slaughtneil would never fall behind again.
Paul Bradley put them ahead and then Antoin McMullan sprang to action with a cat-like piece of movement across his goal line to keep Vincent’s at bay.
Gavin Burke equalised. Then McKaigue strode forward.
Chrissy McKaigue wants another shot at that All-Ireland final.
The Derry man has kicked three scores from centre half back.
0-8 to 0-7— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) February 11, 2017
The Ulster champions smelt blood. Sammy Bradley and Shane McGuigan joined in on the action as Slaughtneil pushed three points clear.
Gavin Burke responded. Then McKaigue strode forward.
Four points from his own 45′ and still the opposition couldn’t get a handle on him. Eventually, the man he was keeping well under wraps reacted with an overly-aggressive tackle. Connolly was booked, McKaigue jumped into the air in celebration. Pure passion. Pure Slaughtneil.
As if it wasn’t enough, they were hanging on to a two-point advantage with 59 minutes on the clock. Diarmuid Connolly came across the 13′, he was ready to unleash an effort at goals. McKaigue intervened.
https://twitter.com/eoghanandonly/status/830436815161147392
What a tackle from Chrissy McKaigue. That could be a game saver. Brilliant
— Brendan McTaggart (@bmct123) February 11, 2017
Slaughtneil hung on because Chrissy McKaigue wouldn’t allow them to let go.
Two years later, they’re back in the All-Ireland final. You just get the feeling that they want to put their memories of Croke Park right this time. They’ll have a heck of a chance with this man leading the way.
But they’ve a hurling semi-final to take care of first.
We should've beaten Slaughtneil in a league game back in 2014.
But we didn't.
— Conán Doherty (@ConanDoherty) February 11, 2017
