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County Kildare History and Heritage

1928 All-Ireland Football Championship

Kildare v Dublin, Leinster Senior Football Final, July 22, 1928

Leinster Leader, July 28, 1928, page 3

LEINSTER SENIOR FOOTBALL FINAL.
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CHAMPIONS ONE POINT VICTORY.
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ALL WHITE'S BRILLIANT DISPLAY
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UGLY INCIDENTS MAR GREAT GAME.

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DUBLIN CAPTAIN ORDERED OFF.
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TENSE SCENES IN FINAL STAGES.
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There was a record attendance at Croke Park on Sunday when the Kildare All-Ireland Champions met Dublin in the final of the 1928 Leinster Senior Football Final. The weather was ideal for the occasion, a sharp fall of rain in the morning tending to make the pitch more springy. The rain was succeeded by brilliant sunshine and a light breeze blowing across the field made conditions ideal. Both teams were well supported amongst the spectators, the Kildare following including Gaels of a previous generation, clergy, public representatives, etc. As might naturally be expected when a team is playing on home ground, the Dubliners were well supported by a large following drawn from all walks in life, but in numbers and enthusiasm the Kildare supporters rivalled their metropolitan friends. In addition to the contingents from the rival counties every county in Ireland was represented in the vast gathering which came to witness the brilliant display which the well-known rivalry of the teams was expected to evoke. They were not disappointed for the game which followed rivalled in brilliancy anything ever witnessed in the great Dublin arena. An impressive moment prior to the opening of the game was provided when the band of the Transport Workers took its place in front of the grand stand and the vast gathering stood uncovered and at attention whilst the strains of "The Soldier's Song" brought memories of dark days when the same arena was the scene of the blood onslaught commemorated in the Grand Stand erected to the memory of the Gaels who lost their lives at Croke Park on bloody Sunday. The members of the teams were in their places and a great silence, in which the noise of a late-comer's entry could be heard, prevailed until the final strains of the National Anthem were merged in a great thunder of cheers as the referee, Jim Byrne of Loc Garmain, piped the rivals to action.