The mythical and mystical five-in-a-row, a GAA obsession.

The lost five-in-a-row:

I was walking in west cork recently, in a remote part of the beautiful Beara peninsula. It was a magnificent day, one of those that if we had enough of them, you’d never want to leave the country. As I crested the top of a very stern hill, I met a man who had just climbed it from the other side and both of us looked like we needed a rest. The chat came easily, initially covering the beautiful weather, the gorgeous countryside etc. but before long county of origin was enquired of. With me being from Kilkenny and my fellow walker being from Kerry, it wasn’t long before GAA matters were mentioned. And, inevitably, we were not long into that discussion when the infamous failed attempt at the five-in-a-row in 1982 got an airing.

Why are Kerry folk still obsessed with that time? I can honestly say that I have never discussed gaelic football with anyone from that county without it being mentioned, discussed, dissected, argued about and, usually, complained about. It was 1982; for God’s sake, it was 40 years ago; get over it; move on, and words to that effect. All have been spoken numerous times but they haven’t cured the obsession. In fact, there are people who weren’t even born in 1982, who can hold a reasonable discussion on the deciding incident, some of whom will almost convince you they were there. Even the great Con Houlihan, God rest him, wasn’t immune. Con mentioned it in many a column for years afterwards, often of course with tongue-in-cheek as he poked fun at his fellow county men. Perhaps it was the regret that, arguably the greatest gaelic football team of all time came within a minute of the ultimate achievement only to see it snatched away at the death is what fuels the angst? Now that Dublin have not only achieved this feat but surpassed it, maybe the talk of ’82 will finally be put to rest, but I have my doubts.

By contrast, Kilkenny’s failed attempt at the five-in-a-row in 2010, is rarely, if ever mentioned. Beaten by the better team on the day; move on; nothing to see here, are the standard replies when the subject is broached. You can almost put a face to those responses — Brian Cody. An occasional diehard will point out that arguably the greatest hurler of all time, Henry Shefflin, had to leave the field injured after ten minutes and that Brian Hogan was also absent. But even then, they don’t dwell on it.

What actually exercises the Kilkenny hurling anorak far more, is the other, lost or never spoken of five-in-a-row. When was that, you may ask? 1971–1975? Or back in the mists of time in the early part of the 20th Century? Not at all, the one that embitters us, somewhat, is 2011–2015. 2011 was won handily against the same Tipp team that had shattered the dream the year before. 2012 was won against a magnificent Galway team after a replay. 2014 was won again against Tipp, after a replay in which the drawn match was arguably the greatest final ever. 2015 was again won against Galway. It is the year in the middle that grates.

In the early part of the 2013 championship, Kilkenny were literally crippled by injuries. There’s no need to list all the key players who were absent, other than to say that Henry again didn’t feature, nor did Michael Fennelly, the two previous year’s ‘hurler of the year.’ This led to a defeat by Dublin in a Leinster semi-final replay. Tipp had also lost in Munster and the back door draw paired arguably the two best teams in the country in a first round qualifier. The venue was Nowlan Park and the atmosphere was without question the greatest I have ever experienced at a hurling game. The ground was completely full two hours before the throw-in. That is surely unprecedented in GAA. On the night, Kilkenny staged a Lazarus like resurrection and won by three points. The score was 0–20 to 1–14. Lar Corbett scored the Tipp goal early in the first half and then had to go off injured and was undoubtedly a huge loss to Tipp. To be fair, TJ Reid also succumbed to injury shortly before Lar. Henry made a very late cameo appearance and created a point for a colleague.

Kilkenny had now played three weeks in-a-row but going through the back door meant they were out again the following week against a magnificent Waterford team. It was a tremendous game and Kilkenny just scraped victory in extra time. Two weeks later, Cork waited in the quarter final in Thurles. This is where it gets complicated. Henry was back, fully fit now and taking the frees. Never one to be shy, he queried at least three decisions in the first half with referee Barry Kelly. These were the days before Hawkeye and for some reason or other (perhaps the sun was in his eyes), one umpire at the town end signaled three wides which were, very arguably, points. Two of these were Shefflin frees. Henry was incensed and pleaded with both Johnny Ryan, the linesman, who agreed with him, and Barry Kelly, the ref, who didn’t. Midway through the first half, Barry gave Henry a yellow card for what appeared to be an innocuous incident. Henry continued to protest the umpires’ decisions and shortly before half time, Barry Kelly, by then probably thoroughly pissed off, gave him a second yellow for what again looked like a harmless tackle and he was gone — two yellows = red.

Kilkenny ultimately lost the game by five points. Would Henry and fairer officiating have made a difference? Most of those in black and amber were convinced it would have. Cork went on to reach the final where they lost to Clare after a replay. Would Kilkenny have beaten Dublin in the semi-final and Clare in the final? We will never know. (It has to be said that Clare were magnificent and worthy champions, and those 2013 finals were suerb hurling matches. However, Clare's legendary former manager Ger Loughnane was to claim years later that ‘2013 was the greatest fluke of all time.’) What we can surmise though is that Brian Cody was and still is convinced they would have. His astonishing attack on Barry Kelly’s officiating in the following year’s drawn final, only made after Kilkenny had won the replay (under a different referee) was revelatory. Cody has never before or since criticized an official with such vehemence. He described Barry’s decision to award Tipp a free in the final minute as ‘criminal.’ Mind you, even Tipp people in the stadium agreed that the incident was either a free to Kilkenny or a ‘play on.’ For some reason, Barry saw it as a free to Tipp. Ultimately, John O’Dwyer sent it wide, although it needed Hawkeye’s intervention to confirm it, and Kilkenny won the replay.

Was Cody criticizing Kelly for his 2014 decision, or was it 2013 or was it a combination of a series of controversial calls which led to an outburst from sheer frustration? Did Cody see Kelly as the key factor in denying him a record breaking five-in-a-row? It must be acknowledged that the 2015 championship had yet to be won and there was nothing remotely certain about that in late September 2014. Nonetheless, despite much media speculation, the GAA never disciplined Cody for his remarks. The incident was quietly forgotten, but Barry Kelly never again refereed a match involving Kilkenny. Fear by GAA officials or a tacit admission that there was something there? We will leave that debate for another day. Suffice to say that many in Kilkenny believe that the five-in-a-row wasn’t lost in Croke Park on the day Lar Corbett scored three goals, but on a sunny day in Thurles when a Westmeath official lost his cool.