‘W Cody paints picture of a team in decline
HOEVER is last, put out the lights.’ In the upstairs committee room at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny treasurer Barry Hickey offers a gentle reminder to the journalists in the room who are still typing away, trying to make sense of what they had just witnessed.
He didn’t mean it as a rueful reflection on Kilkenny hurling but it was tempting to interpret it that way, even as the rush to invest a spring outing with summer significance gathered pace.
As the county board officers slipped away downtown on Sunday evening, there were those who liked to imagine them as characters from the soap opera of professional English soccer, heading for a backroom of Langton’s to sip brandy and talk about management coups — ‘What about Dalo lads?’ — or chew over whether it’s time for Brian Cody to move ‘upstairs’, as former captain Eddie O’Connor suggested when things got sticky in 2017 and particularly last season in the opening rounds of the Allianz Hurling League.
There was no denying the shock value of Limerick’s victory. A nine-point defeat at Nowlan Park has been a rare thing in Cody’s 21 seasons in charge.
There were elements of the AllIreland champions’ performance so reminiscent of Kilkenny in their pomp — like the capacity to roll with the punches before delivering two major body blows just before half-time. Goals are the currency that Brian Cody’s Kilkenny have always traded in, but there was so little activity in front of Nickie Quaid’s goal he could have perused the latest copy of the Limerick Leader between puck-outs.
‘Mesmerising’ is how Tommy Walsh described Limerick’s linkup play and their score in the 47th minute was like something out of the Paul Kinnerk school of coaching. Tom Condon takes it up inside his own 45-metre line, gives the hand-pass to Conor Boylan and keeps running to take the return. He pops it on again to Robbie Hanley who slips it to Graeme Mulcahy who offloads to Barry Murphy. When the ball split the posts, a ripple went around the ground, even the locals tipping their hat to such finely calibrated quality.
That pushed Limerick a staggering 14 points ahead, the scoreboard carrying a surreal tinge at 2-16 to 0-8. At that point, the champions had hit 2-9 to just a single Kilkenny point from the 32nd minute of the game.
Twelve months ago, Kilkenny went 11 down against Clare only to die with their boots on, showing all the fire and brimstone fighting qualities that have defined the Cody era. Most worrying for Kilkenny on Sunday was the manner in which the match slipped to an inevitable conclusion, the game finishing in near silence as supporters filtered quietly out.
Sportsfile’s Piaras Ó Mídheach captured Cody in a montage of sideline photographs, the striking portrait quality making them like a collection of Caravaggios; looking to the heavens in the main one; bent in half, hands on knees in the next; eyes closed, a look of pure frustration in another; and then fist clenched, his face a tortured mix of conflicting emotions that must have summed up what so many supporters in the ground were thinking.
Just like last year, there is a sense that this is arguably the greatest challenge he has faced, to reboot Kilkenny for high summer. Conor Fogarty’s dead leg and Enda Morrissey’s calf strain only reduce his options further for the trip to Thurles to play Tipperary next Sunday, adding to an extended injury list that includes such notables as Cillian Buckley, Richie Hogan and Ger Aylward.
As time goes by, winning last year’s League title seems like an achievement to be ranked with any of the 11 All-Irelands.
Limerick have the strongest squad in the country — as evidenced by the dazzling level of performance without Hurler of the Year Cian Lynch or five other starters from the All-Ireland final. Robbie Hanley and Conor Boylan were two who stepped in and played with the swagger that comes with being part of that Under 21 All-Ireland winning generation.
If there is one thing to offset the impact of not having the Ballyhale Shamrocks contingent until after St Patrick’s Day, it’s that an heir apparent to Cody has emerged in the shape of Henry Shefflin. It’s not inconceivable to imagine a time when Cody passes the torch to his on-pitch lieutenant, the one player whose career dovetailed in perfect tandem with the county’s greatest era.
Those writing off Kilkenny for the year ahead and beyond might need to be mindful of the impact TJ Reid alone has the potential to make on his return.
And be mindful of history. This was Limerick’s first win at Nowlan Park since August 1997 when Tom Ryan’s team won a National League semi-final by 10 points, 1-17 to 0-10, the defeat soured further by the jeering of Canice Brennan when he was replaced. His crime? To be the brother of manager Nickey Brennan.
It was a moment so out of keeping with the respect for the game that infuses Kilkenny life. On Sunday, the former president of the GAA was there interviewing Cody, hurling’s circle ever turning. One of the three second-half substitutes was Michael Carey, son of the famous DJ. The first time, by all accounts, a father and son have lined out under Cody.
In the corner of the committee room upstairs, there’s a poignant reminder of former groundsman Mick O’Neill, who passed away unexpectedly last December. A table laid with a framed photograph of him and a written framed tribute to the O’Loughlin’s volunteer who became synonymous with the upkeep of the ground and the bunch of 38 keys that gave access to all areas. Following his funeral mass at St John’s Church, a guard of honour by GAA friends and colleagues accompanied his remains, the funeral cortege pausing briefly at the Nowlan Park junction where he crossed so many times.
It was O’Neill who was always a friendly face to those up against deadline, who issued the ‘whoever is last’ line to drop him a text and he would return to lock up.
Even on a day when Kilkenny’s standing was being questioned, there remained a sense of a careful nurturing of the game, a respect for the traditions — of a light that will never go out.
‘He was a tortured mix of emotions’