The Top Sporting Moments of 2014

The end of the year is officially here and it wouldn't be right to head into 2015 without taking a look back on the year that was.  With some superb sporting moments across all disciplines, it was impossible to list them all. Instead, here are some of our favourites. ______________________________________ Irish Rugby Team glory We have to start with perhaps one of the top moments in women's sport this year. The day the Irish women’s rugby team beat the New Zealand All-Blacks in the World Cup is a day that will be etched in our memories forever - this was followed by a sad farewell to captain Fiona Coghlan who retired after the World Cup. Shut the Front Door! Rewinding back to April and another great Irish sporting moment was when Shut The Front Door won the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse. The Barry Geraghty horse won by a length coming home the 8 to 1 favourite after a thrilling finale. Raheny do us proud Another highlight of the sporting year came courtesy of Raheny United, the Irish Women’s National League Champions. They qualified for the last 32 of the UEFA women’s Champions League and then topped their group in Romania. Despite losing out in the next stage, they put Irish soccer on the map. Couple this with a superb performance by the Irish ladies Under 19 squad earlier in the year along with Stephanie Roche's recognition by FIFA and it's truly been a fantastic year for women's soccer in Ireland. Wexford take the glory! Who could forget perhaps the best hurling game of the summer. Underdogs Wexford overcame Clare on a scoreline of 2-25 to 2-22 after extra time in a replay. The epic battle had all the ingredients of an All-Ireland final, never mind a qualifier, with red cards, goals galore and an inspirational performance from Jack Guiney. Nail-biting GAA Who could believe this year's All-Ireland football finals? Indeed the semi-finals themselves served up a thriller, as Kerry crushed the dreams of Mayo after a replay, while Donegal inspired when they overcame Sam Maguire holders, and hot favourites, Dublin by six points. A sea of green and gold headed to Croker and it was Kerry who took the honours. Meanwhile Kilkenny took the hurling title after a toughly-fought final in Croke Park.

Conor is UFC hero

Conor McGregor was one of the heroes of the year with his massive success in 2014. He won at the UFC Fight Night in the O2 in Dublin, winning against the Brazilian, Diego Brandao. He then moved up two spots in the UFC Featherweight division, putting him in the Top 10 for the first time in his career. Farewell BOD Ireland may have won an absolutely incredible Six Nations this year, but one of the moments that resonated most with fans in the aftermath of the win was Brian O'Driscoll hanging up his boots for the last time.

Phew! Worked out ok! Thanks for all the messages of support. Unreal feeling. Not easy taking this off for last time pic.twitter.com/Sq89BdLOnw — Brian O'Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll) March 15, 2014

 Katie makes it five! Katie Taylor boxed her way to her fifth World Championship title this year at the event held in Korea. The talented Bray boxer was never really in doubt for a place in the final throughout the rounds and came home to a hero's welcome at Dublin airport. Cork win nine of ten Cork ladies football team scooped their ninth All-Ireland title in ten years this year when they overcame Dublin by one point, 2-13 to 2-12. They also won the double, scooping the All-Ireland camogie title. Johnny is coming home! Although not exactly a sporting moment this is still perhaps one of the favourite highlights of the office here. It was announced that rugby star Johnny Sexton is returning to Ireland. The Irish international has signed a new four-year contract with Leinster and will be pulling on a blue jersey in no time. Glory for Andy Lee Andy Lee did Ireland proud when he won the WBO World Middleweight title on December 13^th. The Limerick man boxed to glory in Las Vegas against the two-time world champion Matvey Korobov and half of Ireland turned out to welcome him home at Shannon airport.