Lynch and his Limerick are a force of nature

THIS is the story of the hurricane.

A whirlwind. A cyclone. A perfect storm. A green and white tornado.

Limerick introduced us to a new concept at Croke Park yesterday — blitzkrieg hurling.

Good luck to Reeling In The Years when they try and find a moment or two to sum up the Shannonsiders’ majesty.

Truth is, they would really need to show the entire first half.

It was 21st century hurling. Fast and furious, the yellow sliotars quickly blistered red raw with the whiplash of the striking.

Cork hung on to Limerick’s coattails for as long as they could. That wasn’t very long...

There is no heat like that of an All-ireland Sunday with nowhere to hide.

Some reputations die, scorched and shrunk. Others glow as if hotwired to the mains.

Cian Lynch, Gearoid Hegarty, Kyle Hayes, Aaron Gillane, Peter Casey... it’s not as if we didn’t know all about them before yesterday. But this was an emphatic reminder that they are a special crew, hurlers for the ages.

There is something about Lynch (inset, with his mum Valerie) — maybe the most recognisable hurler in the country now that Joe Canning has retired — that screams box office.

It’s in the way he carries himself, on and off the field.

That strut to his stride. That narrow-eyed focus.

Lynch has an ingrained capacity to be at the point of the ball’s arrival, an instinct to be in the right place at the right time, from where his smooth acceleration is often elegantly exploited.

Lynch has never been a man to play the percentages.

He shoots for the moon, the glory, the jackpot.

He possesses that rarest of combinations — the hardness to destroy and the coolness to control.

With a wonderful lightness of touch and confidence in his running and passing, this was an impeccable display.

All over the field, Limerick had men who generated plenty of energy but Lynch was the piston that turned it into motion.

Now, Lynch and Co didn’t beat any ordinary county.

Cork weren’t just going for a first Maccarthy Cup in 16 years. They were also chasing a third All-ireland in five days.

The Rebels were playing some decent hurling but were like a conductor missing an entire string section.

Has there ever been a better first half performance by any team in an All-ireland final?

Kilkenny v Waterford in 2008 would be part of the conversation but there was something about this display that seemed to come from another dimension.

In the first half, Limerick scored a staggering 3-18, with 3-16 coming from play. They had 10 different scorers. They worked 2-5 from turnovers. Peter Casey was gone before the break due to injury, but had put himself in the frame for man of the match with five points from play.

Cork had managed 1-11. It doesn’t seem that long since teams would be happy with that for a first half haul in a big game.

But Limerick are writing their own script.

When the first water break was called, the feeling was that Cork needed smelling salts, not H20.

The second half was just about sealing the deal. Patrick Horgan tried manfully for

Cork but too many of his team-mates ended up chasing shadows.

Cork are doing plenty right at all levels and many feel their day will come but you look at Limerick’s age profile and the Rebels’ hungry years may last a fair while yet.

The Treaty are one of the most hyped hurling teams we’ve ever seen and it hasn’t taken a feather out of them.

They have embraced the tag of greatness, rather than shrank away from it.

At the final whistle yesterday, their celebrations were as wild as when they bridged that yawning 45-year gap in 2018.

Winning has become an addiction and they want more, more, more. A warning there for any pretenders to their throne.