KING slayers
Anthony Cunningham recalls a time when Galway took no notice of Tipperary’s lofty and fearsome reputation
WHEN TG4 released a trailer for their Laochra Gael programme on Galway’s iron wingback Pete Finnerty, the clip summed the Xrated nature of the rivalry with Tipperary during the late 1980s, John Leahy flaking across the Galway defender as he drove out with the ball in typically red-blooded fashion.
Back around that famously fractious 1989 All-Ireland semi-final, anything could happen. In a week in which Davy Fitzgerald’s altercation with Tipperary midfielder Jason Forde has hogged the headlines, Galway-Tipperary back in the day carried a bit of that, and more.
At one stage, Galway selector Bernie O’Connor went to pass on a message to one of his players down at the Canal End and was met by a much stronger reaction than Forde doled out to Wexford’s manager for his incursion onto the field of play.
Anthony Cunningham lived through those pitch battles and recalls just one of the flashpoints that encapsulated the fiery nature of the rivalry between the counties as they prepare to meet in this afternoon’s Allianz League final at the Gaelic Grounds.
‘Bernie would have been the modern “major fire” rather than “runner” – I don’t know if he did a whole pile of running!’ said Cunningham. ‘He was the guy who would always come in if there was a message to be given. There was some player altercation with him at the back of the goals. If you did it now you’d get two months.
‘It was intense, no doubt about it. Tipperary were in the doldrums for many years and had then become… I think they liked to call themselves the Manchester United of hurling when they arrived. They had a swagger, some very talented players.
‘They had won Munster and going back many, many years before that, they would probably see it as having a divine right that they would go on further.’
The thing is, Galway were having none of it. When they won the 1987 All-Ireland final, it came after spoiling the Tipperary party in the semifinal, the Munster men stewing over not being able to build on their big provincial breakthrough.
‘A game for consenting adults’ is how RTÉ commentator Ger Canning brilliantly captured the ferocious nature of the exchanges in the final against Kilkenny and that line could have summed up the battles to come between Galway and Tipperary which culminated in the 1989 semi-final, a meeting franked by ‘the Keady affair’, which saw Galway lose their centre-back and talisman after being singled out for suspension for playing in New York.
‘There was a pretty large consensus in the media and the hurling public at the time, that Croke Park would have liked Tipperary to win one,’ says Cunningham. ‘Because they hadn’t tasted success for decades really.
‘In terms of the Keady affair, he was just singled out. There were many, many players. Everybody knew it.’
The bad blood was a by-product of a drama that had spilled from onfield to the corridors of power. ‘It was more a case of Tipperary didn’t like being beaten or Galway having the upper hand. In the ’87 semi-final, and in ’88, we would have beaten Tipperary fair and square. They really were hard-hitting matches. A lot of physicality. Tipperary wouldn’t mind me saying that they didn’t like getting beaten.
‘Also then, there was so much going on, it would have been felt that Tipperary maybe used other influences behind the scenes to push the Keady affair.
‘If Galway had full concentration… there probably was a lack of concentration. The game turned out to be pretty nasty. It was more concentrating on duals and physical battles than hurling really.’
Galway still haven’t forgiven referee John Denton for his part in their three-in-a-row bid being foiled, sending off Sylvie Linnane for a run-in with Nicky English when Leahy escaped for his wild pull across Finnerty.
In that same Laochra Gael show, the Galway wing-back made no bones about the mark left by that day. ‘We left that pitch infuriated. Afterwards, it wasn’t disappointment that heads were down and tears were in your eyes, it was pure frustration. It was the following day and we were having a pint in Larry’s pub in Loughrea and somebody said, “They are going to have a handy final now against Antrim.”
‘I said, “What? Antrim beat Offaly?” I never knew. That’s how focused I was on the game beforehand and how infuriated I was afterwards.’
It’s the big ‘if’ for Galway hurling, the prospect of a three-in-a-row that would have put them on a pedestal.
Ever since, a senior All-Ireland continues to elude.
Cunningham has come closer than anyone to bridging that gap. In his first year as manager in 2012, Galway won a historic first Leinster title, hammering Kilkenny by 10 points in the process. An All-Ireland final rematch ended in a draw before Kilkenny won comfortably in the replay.
THREE years later, Galway led Kilkenny at half-time in another final before a second-half fade-out cost them that long-awaited title, and ultimately cost Cunningham his position as manager.
He had his own stand-offs along the sideline at times with Kilkenny manager Brian Cody, but he makes a clear distinction as to what is acceptable in light of the suspensions facing Fitzgerald and Forde which have overshadowed the buildup to the League final.
Cunningham has a real problem with the proposed player suspension. ‘I’d be mystified as to why he [Forde] should get a ban. To me it’s ludicrous. He was faced with telling a rival manager to get off the field. That’s ridiculous to be honest.
‘There’s a golden rule there, you can’t interfere with a player in any way, verbally or being on the pitch. You just cannot cross the line. You fight for every ball on the sideline, contest every ball that you think is yours fairly. But there is no leniency of going on the pitch, remonstrating.’
He doesn’t underestimate the importance of Galway winning a first national title since the League of 2010.
‘It would be massive for confidence, that would be the biggest thing. Galway have still quite a lot of young players there who haven’t any medals, haven’t been on winning teams, apart from the Leinster title-winning team of 2012. It would be huge for confidence, you can’t underestimate that.
‘Defensively, Galway will need to play at a higher level, that they become huge players, like the two Mahers for example. Galway need that type of performance from their defence in the Championship. The best way to prove that can happen is do it against Tipperary.
‘The mental aspect or the confidence aspect comes from winning tight matches. You see what this set of forwards did to the Kilkenny defence last year, a Kilkenny defence that had several All-Ireland winners. You do have to hold these players, stop them from scoring. Out of six positions, you need to be winning at least five. ‘If you don’t provide that sort of performance, then there is going to be a major doubt going into the Championship.
As of now, Tipperary remain the benchmark for any team. ‘They are ruthless and then they have the flair up front to take the best option. Even the subs
who came in did the very same thing against Wexford. That’s the magic they have at the moment. They’re building on that and getting better every day.
‘There is a feeling amongst management and supporters that they want to pick up as many titles as possible. They’ve seen Kilkenny do it over the years, which has been hard for any Tipperary man. So they’re making up for lost time. After 2010, they would have felt like they slipped back again. I’m sure they are fully intent on taking everything in front of them this year.