Those games which still hurt after all those years

[OwlsFan]

Ireland:

Of course there are lots of painful last minute goals and loss of play offs (Belgium in particular) but the 1-1 draw with England at Wembley in 1991 still comes in to my mind the most. The team went unbeaten through the group stages but we had a great chance to beat England on their own turf and for that team to etch their place in history and also more than likely qualify. I can still see Ray Houghton bearing down on goal late in the game with a chance to make it 1-2 and the rest is history.

Shamrock Rovers

I had the pleasure as a kid seeing the great Rovers teams who won the cup 6 times in a row (well the last few anyway including the memorable win over Waterford) but league titles, I hadn't seen thanks to Waterford and others and then came the play off against Cork Hibs in 1971. Rovers were stuffed and I had to wait until the 1980s before the title came Rovers way. I can still remember coming out of the ground as a pimply teenager thinking that was not supposed to happen to the mighty Hoops.

Sheffield Wednesday

Three Cup Final defeats but it is a semi-final loss to Brighton in 1983 I remember with the greatest sadness. Following relegation in 1971, Wednesday had been in the wilderness and were almost relegated to the 4th division until Jack Charlton turned their fortunes around and led them back to the 2nd Division and a cup semi-final against struggling Brighton. It wasn't to be and a poor performance and 2-1 defeat was followed a few years later by another semi-final loss to Everton but they had been promoted by then under Wilkinson.

Other sports

Lots of disappointments in rugby and numerous other sports but I remember most the great Eamonn Coghlan: surely he would win the Olympics in the 1500 meters in 1976? Eamonn had always relied on his sprint finish but for some bizarre reason he took the lead at the bell I think and was chased down and overtaken on the finishing straight. Was it panic? I will never understand it. He didn't even get a medal. He also missed out on a medal in the 5000 metres in 1980 but it is the 1976 Final that I still think about. He must have been devastated. I certainly was.

Sport, the occasional moments of ecstasy also carry hours and hours of pain but who would miss it for the world?

[osarusan]

Limerick 0-0 Finn Harps

We needed a win to get into a promotion playoff, they needed a draw. A very good shout for a last-minute penalty for handball was denied by referee Eddie Foley. He was known as Eddie 'The B@stard' Foley in our house for years afterwards.

He is a referee assessor now (I think) and I see him at games sometimes. I always want to smack him in the face.

[nigel-harps1954]

Derry City v Finn Harps - 2002/03 Promotion/Relegation play off.

Brandywell packed to the rafters. The ecstasy as Kevin McHugh scored a late goal with half the Harps fans already exiting the ground, the now infamous doggy track celebration following. The horrible, horrible cheated goal that lost it in extra time..from the free kick taken with the ball rolling and about 15 yards away from the foul, to Eloka Asokuh and Shane Bradley running into each other as the ball trickled over the line. Noel King and two Harps players were sent off soon after and we were doomed to another seasons in the First Division before winning the title in 2004. Horrible memories altogether, hard to believe it's 13 years ago now.

[pineapple stu]

Longford in the Cup semi in 2007.

We'd beaten Derry in the quarters in the Brandywell with a goal from Sammo and a one of our best-ever performances; think we had a rake of injuries that night too.

Home semi against Longford was the draw everyone wanted; Bohs and Cork were in the other semi.

Belfield Park was fuller than usual (still only about 1500 at it, mind) - and we did nothing all game. Robbie Martin - our own former player - scored the only goal for Longford. In the last minute, we got a corner but faffed about, taking it short and then getting tackled...at which the final whistle blew.

Honorable mention to Slovan away last year though. 7 minutes away from a draw...

[BonnieShels]

Shelbourne: Nothing comes close to Limerick in 2008. I lived off the Clonliffe Road and had to contend with us getting thumped by NZ in an Autumn International that evening and thus depressingly difficult time trying to get out and down to Tolka on time for our game v Limerick. And then that f***ing Phoenix from the flames banner came out... and then Limerick equalised and we went from Promoted to Playoff. Rarely been sicker.

Dublin: 2010 AISF v Cork. Never more ill and angry after a Dublin match.

Ireland: Where do I start? France 2009, Austria 1994 (Toni Polster is still my nemesis), Belgium 1997 (this one is also coupled with a NZ Autumn loss as well) and Croatia 1999 are ones that still make me scream internally when I think of them. Perhaps though Macedonia in 1999 was the one that made me angrier than all. Proper kick the setee angry.

Ireland Rugby: Eugh... Way more than the soccer team because the joys are short lived and generally prefaced with something as well. That game v NZ in 2013 leading 22-17 in the final minute. All we need to do is not foul or turn over the ball... and then... I'm actually near sick thinking of it.

Athletics: Sonia in Barcelona. Sonia in Stuttgart. Sonia in Atlanta. Sonia in Paris. :(

There's loads more naturally.

[backstothewall]

This...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrooZwU2Hh8

I was there. Derry won the league a few months earlier. It was a great summers day and i went on a whim with my dad. It doesn't show you there but we were tearing up the right towards the Derry goal when the ref blew it up early. 16 years later it still sticks in the craw. A result like that could have changed everything for Antrim.

In more recent times Villa blowing a 2 goal lead to lose 3-2 against Leicester at the start of last season. Entirely down to Tim Sherwood making a daft double substitution taking off Grealish and Gil who had been tormenting them. I said to my brother that night that we wouldn't win again under Sherwood and would go down. I was right.

And of course Leicester went on from that result to win the league.

[geysir]

One of the the worst was my first memory, my uncle brought me to see Dundalk losing a cup game 3-0 to Shamrock Rovers at Milltown with that bollíx Mick Leech scoring two or all three, including one where he kicked the ball out of the Dundalk goalie's hands, (Maurice Swan?) as he was preparing to kick the ball up the pitch. The ref was just staring at it and allowed it to stand.
Those were the days when the tv/radio commentators wore Rover's scarves, called the Rovers' players by their first name and the ref was singularly blind to rules when it came to favouring Rovers.
The unwashed Rovers' fans behind the goals were chanting, "Tommy Rowe... ha ha ha". Tommy was the Dundalk manager and might have said something rash pre-game about beating Rovers, as in " I'd love it if we beat those cxnts".

edit, Milltown was packed to the rafters that day, I'd say about 15,000 were there.

[OwlsFan]

One of the the worst was my first memory, my uncle brought me to see Dundalk losing a cup game 3-0 to Shamrock Rovers at Milltown with that bollíx Mick Leech scoring two or all three, including one where he kicked the ball out of the Dundalk goalie's hands, (Maurice Swan?) as he was preparing to kick the ball up the pitch. The ref was just staring at it and allowed it to stand.
Those were the days when the tv/radio commentators wore Rover's scarves, called the Rovers' players by their first name and the ref was singularly blind to rules when it came to favouring Rovers.
The unwashed Rovers' fans behind the goals were chanting, "Tommy Rowe... ha ha ha". Tommy was the Dundalk manager and might have said something rash pre-game about beating Rovers, as in " I'd love it if we beat those cxnts".

edit, Milltown was packed to the rafters that day, I'd say about 15,000 were there.

Can you remember what year that was? I have a vague recollection of the legend that is Mick Leech kicking a ball out of a keeper's hands and scoring but can't remember the game.

[DeLorean]

This...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrooZwU2Hh8

You should be pretty annoyed with your No.12 as well, who was chuffed at scoring a point when it had goal written all over it! How does he not see his teammate inside?! (on 1:30)

[geysir]

Can you remember what year that was? I have a vague recollection of the legend that is Mick Leech kicking a ball out of a keeper's hands and scoring but can't remember the game.
It's all a bit of a blur but that game happened after a high profile league game where Rovers beat Dundalk 2-1, again at a packed Milltown.
It was on a Sunday afternoon:) . The cup game was built up as Dundalk's revenge, but as it turned out revenge unfulfilled and to be beaten twice by Rovers was the pits.