There are days when it really is worth it being a sports journalist. What? A day when Roscommon hurlers take on Armagh in a Nicky Rackard Cup final? Are you losing it Marty? Absolutely not.
You would have had to be there to see what I mean but let me try to explain. Every young boy and girl who loves sport has a dream. That may vary from becoming the next Brian O'Driscoll or Roy Keane or perhaps to one day play in Croke Park before 80,000 people.
For successful counties like Dublin and Kerry in football or Cork and Kilkenny in hurling, the latter is quite attainable if you have the talent to reach the county panel.
But what happens the poor soul that is not so lucky to be from a county that is successful? 'Dream on' is the usual response and advice!
But the GAA prides itself on its family ethos and the policy of inclusiveness, so three years ago the Christy Ring and Nicky Rackard Cup competitions were started for the lower tier counties who love their hurling.
London won Nicky in 2005, while Derry took the honours last year. Today it was the turn of Roscommon and Armagh to battle it out for the ultimate honour of being crowned champions.
For counties that are first and foremost football territories, like Roscommon and Armagh, to get to Croke Park is in itself a major achievement.
To see the happiness in both the Roscommon and Armagh dressing rooms before the game, to see the appreciation they had in just being in Croke Park to play at Headquarters in a game that was about to be televised by RTÉ to the nation was quite fulfilling.
That's the emotional and spiritual side dealt with.
Make no mistake, there was also a steely determination in both dressing rooms that they came this long journey to Croke Park, not for the 'craic' and have a look around the place, but to bring the Cup back home. Game on.
The sides were obviously nervous in the opening 15 minutes and indeed over the first 35 minutes were level three times. The half-time score was 0-06 each with the endeavours getting a high rating of 10 out 10 but the skills level maybe getting just half of that.
But that didn't take away from the enjoyment of it. Armagh were by far the better team in the first half but their superiority out the field wasn't reflected on the scoreboard.
The second half was much better and by the 40th minute Armagh and Roscommon were still deadlocked at 0-08 each. The game changed in the 43rd minute when a high ball zooming in under the crossbar at the Canal End was batted out by Armagh goalkeeper Joby Burke only for the sliotar to be lashed into the net by inrushing substitute Gary Fallon from Athleague. Armagh were clearly now in a spot of bother.
Two of the best players on view were Armagh corner-forward Declan Coulter and full-forward Chris McAlinden and points by the Cuhullian and Sean Tracey players kept the Orchard County in contention.
Shane Sweeney's transfer from corner-forward to the midfield area was crucial as he picked up a load of breaking ball. Try as they might Armagh could not find it in themselves to snatch an equaliser.
Coulter and Sweeney kept exchanging points but even when Armagh did break down a stubborn Roscommon defence, led superbly by full-back Colm Moran and centre-back Michael Kelly, they found it difficult to get pass 'keeper David Connell, whose ball handling was soundness personified throughout.
Sweeney ended up with a personal tally of six points but the victory at the final whistle was more about a massive team effort than individual brilliance.
The defence worked their socks off for the full 70 minutes, while midfielders Mervyn Connaughton and Thomas Lennon created the opportunities for the men up front.
The two lads must have been exhausted at the end for they also helped out a defence that was under pressure for most of the afternoon. Colm Kelly was a colossus at full-forward and his contribution and scores were invaluable.
Roscommon won by two points, 1-12 to 0-13, and the final whistle was greeted by grown men from the county rolling around the green grass of Croke Park in uncontrollable joy.
For the hurlers of Roscommon, the Nicky Rackard Cup meant an All-Ireland medal and a cup they can be rightly proud of back home.
David McConn, the Roscommon manager, was pragmatic and yet emotional in his interview afterwards on the Saturday Game Live programme and attributed all the success to the players.
But in my humble opinion it also took good management and a passion by great people like Johnny Haughey who kept hurling going in a county where I'm sure sometimes it would have been easier to give up.
There are only seven senior clubs in Roscommom; Athleague, Four Roads, Tremane, Roscommon Gales, St Dominic's, Oran and Padraig Pearse's, and each and every one of them can be proud of what happened in Croke Park today.
We can all be influenced by the big glamour days in whatever sport we love. For me personally, All-Ireland final days are special and are part and parcel of Irish culture.
They are magnificent occasions but the raw beauty of the GAA and its family ethos is what turns us all on. The 'little fella' in the family won today, a dream was fulfilled.
Three cheers for Nicky Rackard, three cheers for Roscommon and Armagh. This is really what the GAA is about.
