A summer to savour for Limerick faithful
ON SUNDAY I briefly cast my mind back to September of 1996.
The final whistle had just sounded to signal that the Liam MacCarthy Cup would be heading back to the banks of the Slaney after an all too long hiatus.
I emerged from the hordes on Hill 16 and still being of tender age I was able to catapult myself over a large barrier that separated me and the other delirious fans from the hallowed turf of Croke Park.
The wait was over. My beloved Wexford had won their first All-Ireland since 1968, seven years before I was born, and I wasn’t going to let this moment pass me by.
However, amid all the feckless jubilation I felt a massive amount of sympathy for the crestfallen Limerick supporters, who stood beside us like brothers and craved the Holy Grail just like we did.
Ever since that memorable afternoon I wanted Limerick to enjoy their day in the sun.
Their pain was even more acute, considering what had happened to them two years earlier, when they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as Offaly produced their Houdini act and blitzed the Shannonsiders in the dying moments to lift the cup.
When a Joe Canning inspired Galway began to breathe down their necks in injury time I feared that history was going to repeat itself and their hearts would yet again be broken by a barely believable finale.
Those final moments must have been excruciating for Limerick supporters, especially the ones that are old enough to remember past collapses, but the dramatic manner of their victory made it all the sweeter, having the character to just about stumble over the line.
There’s absolutely no doubting that a hungrier Limerick side deserved their victory, but whatever about Jimmy Greaves’ assertion that football is a funny old game, hurling definitely is and the course of a contest can be altered in the blink of an eye.
If it hadn’t been for that late Galway resurgence this year’s hurling showpiece would have been largely forgettable in comparison to what went before it.
The last hurrah of the championship summer of 2018 was never going be a damp squib though. There just had to be one final illuminating firework before the burning embers faded away.
The opening half was one of the poorest 35 minutes of hurling in an All-Ireland final in recent memory, with more wides than scores on show and nervy champions Galway were so lethargic that the side hoping to take their title could have been out of sight by half-time.
After playing so badly, the Connacht men must have been slightly relieved to be only four points behind at half-time, but it got even worse for the westerners after the interval, with the superb Kyle Hayes helping a Limerick side with a phenomenal work rate to an eight-point lead within ten minutes of the restart.
Surely when Gearoid McInerney’s pocket was picked by Tom Morrissey in the 54th minute and he flicked the ball to the net choruses of ‘Limerick You’re A Lady’ could be belted out with great gusto?
Galway chipped away at the lead but Limerick fans found full voice again when substitute Shane Dowling had his customary major impact from the bench by bagging a goal to put them eight clear again with time running out.
Game over? Not a bit of it as Galway showed the never-saydie grit of champions in injury time, with Conor Whelan causing many hearts to skip a beat when he got the green flag waving and when Canning’s piledriver hit the back of the net Limerick supporters were watching through the ever-decreasing gaps between their fingers.
With the margin down to one and Joe Canning standing over a long-range free, the poor Limerick folk were put through the wringer one last time, but to their relief the effort felt short and the danger was cleared.
Liam was finally on his way to the banks of the Shannon.
Having underperformed for much of the game, like true champions Galway fought to the end and died with their boots on, but it would be difficult for anybody to argue that Limerick didn’t deserve the titanic triumph.
Four months of exhilarating hurling has come to a thrilling end with John Kiely’s side bridging a 45-year gap and the supporters should enjoy every single second of the celebrations.
It might still be August, but it brings back magical memories of that stirring September Sunday 22 years ago.