Con Houlihan - appreciation - what Con might have said

Con, in pensive mode.

What Con might have said:’

(this was written following the dramatic replayed All Ireland Hurling Final replay in 2013. Con Houlihan, my favourite sports writer, an immensely popular figure, had passed away a year before. The drawn game was magnificent and the replay was an epic. There is no doubt that Con would have been enthralled by the game and would have loved to have written about it. I tried to imagine what he would have said...)

I don’t know if David Fitzgerald is a student of Greek mythology. If he is, then he surely must have felt like Sisyphus at around a quarter past six on Saturday evening.

Sisyphus was the poor man who was forever destined to roll a large stone to the top of the hill only to see it roll down again.

Having seen his young charges utterly outplay Cork in the drawn game, only to see all their good work undone by three smash-and-grab goals and then barely escape with a draw, to see it all happen again must have felt like his own version of Groundhog Day.

There were times during the drawn match when such a wily old warrior as Jimmy Barry Murphy could only look on in awe and frustration as his team appeared to be on the verge of being taken apart.

Clare started this replayed final like they did the drawn match. With carefree abandon, they scored goals and points at will and coming up towards half time, had established a seemingly unassailable eight point lead over their great rivals.

From one to fifteen, they played like men possessed, marrying silken skills to fiercely determined physical effort. It would be hard to pick out any one of their number during that first period but Shane O’Donnell ensured his name would forever be associated with this final by achieving what had seemed impossible in this championship — securing three goals in nineteen minutes.

But if Cork bent a little, they refused to break and through sheer guts and self-belief, they once again rallied and secured a few invaluable points to reduce the deficit to four at the tea break.

They continued where they had left off in the second half and acquired new levels of energy and confidence. Although Clare continued to play well, by the three quarter stage, Cork had hauled the Clare men back to level terms.

Much has been said of Clare’s youth and indeed, the average age of the team is barely into the early twenties. In truth, their counterparts from Cork were not much older and Davy’s men were probably the more experienced and battle hardened.

That they found the mental tenacity to fight back time and again despite Cork leveling matters on two occasions in the second half speaks volumes for the bravery of these young men.

This was an epic contest in the true sense of the word. There was such honesty of effort and refusal to yield, from both sides, that it reassured us, if such was necessary, that the ancient game is alive and well.

In fact, such was the level of skill on display in both games, coupled with the extraordinary season we have had, would tempt one to suggest that hurling has never been as strong.

This was a game in which there were no losers. Clare thoroughly deserved their victory but Cork can stand tall in the knowledge that they did their county and their manager proud. They never wilted and gave everything for the cause. In the end, it wasn’t enough but there was no shame in losing on this day.

On a day when everyone put in such effort, it would be unfair to single out individuals. Every Clare player was a star and while much has been made all season of sophisticated game plans, what was on show on Saturday was just pure hurling at its best.

We will make special mention of Conor McGrath’s goal. It came at a time when Cork appeared to be gaining the upper hand and had just drawn level. Having played himself almost to a standstill throughout the match, the young man still managed to run sixty yards with the ball on his stick and left all defenders in his wake. At the time and given the pressure his team must have been under, he would have been forgiven for blasting the shot. In the end, he did, but he placed it perfectly where the excellent Anthony Nash could not reach. To have the presence of mind to pick his spot at that stage of the game was, as our American cousins would say, truly awesome.

Unbelievably, Cork mounted another rally and as the referee began to consult his watch, they once again had the margin down to three points and were in a dangerously attacking position in front of the railway goal.

But just as if it seemed that the Clare citadel might fall and take us into extra time, the cavalry arrived and Seadna Morey, a young man getting his first touch of the ball, emerged from the chaos and ran ninety yards before expertly passing to another substitute, Darach Honan. He closed in on goal and astonishingly, beat the Cork keeper for the fifth time in the afternoon. It was the cue for Banner pandemonium and Jimmy Barry Murphy’s brave warriors were finally slain.

There was talk afterwards that this Clare team could dominate the game for years and why not? Some of the artistry displayed this summer by the likes of Tony Kelly, Patrick Collins, Conor Ryan, Brendan Bugler and David McInerney is as good as any ever seen on a hurling field.

But there was also much skill from their opponents and I am sure some of the teams that came close this summer like Dublin and Limerick will also have a say. We look forward to many more feasts of hurling in the years to come.

You will always have the naysayers and some complained that Clare didn’t defeat Kilkenny or Tipperary on their way to the top. True hurling people in both these counties will be the first to admit that it would have been difficult as their teams were defeated twice in the championship. This is similar to the sort of nonsense that is spoken when a team wins the football championship without meeting Kerry. All teams start on level terms in every championship and in this one, the best that I can remember, Clare are worthy champions.

Fogra: The weather was good to us and the lights were not needed. Nonetheless, they added to the atmosphere on what was a truly special day.

Hurling