MICHAEL DUIGNAN: TREATY PROVED TO BE MEN
THEY will savour this for a long time in Limerick. I have always said that among the hurling public, everybody deserves to experience the winning feeling of an All-Ireland final day at least once. I was lucky enough to feel the emotion of it as a youngster growing up with Offaly in the 1980s, and then as a player myself in the ’90s.
You can’t describe the sheer emotion of it until it actually happens. And so many of the Limerick supporters in Croke Park last night couldn’t remember 1973. Or if they could, it was so long ago, that it felt dusty and faded.
That is why yesterday was so emotional. This is huge for the people of Limerick. For all their supporters and for all the past players and managers who couldn’t get over the line. They all contributed in some way to this success.
It was a strange game, especially in the early stages of the first half. There were seven wides in the first four minutes and Limerick had five of them. It is often the case that a string of early wides can competely destroy a game of hurling. It sucks the energy from the crowd and anxiety grows in the players. And there were 21 wides in the first half, Limerick had 11 and Galway had 10.
The Treaty’s wides were worse, though. Galway were shooting under pressure and taking the wrong option because they were forced into doing so by defenders. But the Munster men missed a few easy chances and that is why they were only four points up at half-time. They left Galway clinging on, because of those misses.
But they came out a different team after the restart. Kyle Hayes led the way from centre-forward. He scored four points from play and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. Séamus Flanagan, who never stopped moving, and Aaron Gillane started causing problems inside. They went back to basics and streaked ahead.
But we have seen all year that big leads are fraught with risk. I said it in commentary that nine points can be a dangerous lead in hurling and I was only saying it half tongue-in-cheek, but it has happened quite often.
When Limerick came within sight of the finishing line, they stumbled. And they started to panic. Tom Morrissey hit a wide from the sideline. Dan Morrissey missed the target and Hayes also failed to hit the mark. Those shots needed to go over.
Conor Whelan, who had been well tied up by Sean Finn for most of the afternoon, got a brilliant goal. Joe Canning hit that 21-yard free to the back of the net. From being eight points up, Limerick were suddenly hanging on.
And thoughts of 1994 and what my Offaly did to them in the final five minutes must have gone through every Limerick supporters’ mind in Croke Park. At that point, I was hoping they would win because I thought to myself if Limerick manage to lose this, they will never recover from it. It would be too much to take.
Graeme Mulcahy scored a vital point at the end and it was a score that once again illustrated the strength of their bench. Peter Casey did brilliantly to win the ball back and remember he won the ball for Shane Dowling’s goal too, and was able to put it into the right man in the right place in the Treaty super sub.
I had my doubts about them handling the occasion because they were a young team playing in their first All-Ireland.
But the reality is that they were the more composed team. For 50 minutes, this was the worst that we had ever seen this Galway team hurl — Joseph Cooney was their only scorer from play in the first half — but they managed to hang in there.
Talisman Canning stood up in the second half. As did David Burke, Pádraig Mannion and Cooney. The leaders in the Tribe team were to the fore when most needed.
And you have to credit Galway for the manner in which they dug so deep. They had won the AllIreland last year, their hunger was satisfied but they kept going until the very last minute, until the very last ball was dropped into the square.
They did everything they could to get themselves back in the game. And it is to their immense credit that there was only a point in it at the end.
But some things about the Galway performance baffled me. Their puck-out strategy was confusing. They were pucking it short to Adrian Tuohy and John Hanbury, who then didn’t seem to know what to do with it.
They were trying to run it out of defence and they were being hassled and harried by the Limerick forwards, whose workrate was phenomenal.
Galway appeared a bit jaded, as they have done all year. When they drew the Leinster final, they looked flat and I felt that was a great opportunity for Micheál Donoghue to shake things up and bring in a few new faces. One thing that Brian Cody did unbelievably well down the years is that no matter how well Kilkenny were going, he always found a couple of new players to keep things fresh.
Galway were working off the same 17 or 18 players all summer and maybe that was reflected in their apparent tiredness. And you do lose a bit of appetite when you win an All-Ireland. On the other hand, Limerick were ravenous for this success in a game that had a poor first half but developed into a dramatic second period to give us a fitting end to a wonderful Championship.
Galway appeared to be a bit jaded
If Limerick had lost, they would never recover