A night like Wednesday reminds us of the joy to be found in our sports
PEOPLE say a week is a long time in politics – well it’s also a long time in sport.
After enjoying the classic that was Cork-Limerick last weekend, I could sense a bit of panic following the comprehensive defeat of Offaly’s senior footballers by London. Rather than add fuel to the fire, I made a point of saying to our management and supporters: it happens. We’d a huge week ahead – it was up to us now to bounce back.
On Wednesday night, our under-20 hurling team were out in a Leinster semi-final against Kilkenny. This is the crew that reached an All-Ireland minor final, reached last year’s under-20 final. They have become a kind of flagship team, led by the likes of Adam Screeney.
And what unfolded at O’Connor Park in Tullamore turned out to be one of the most amazing hurling evenings I was ever at. We don’t charge under-16s through the gate but there must have been 10,000 people at it.
This bunch of players, they’re loved because they give it everything. The basics of sport will never change – it’s all about heart, guts, determination. And the Offaly public love them for all of that.
Our goalkeeper Liam Hoare was Man of the Match, making saves and even stopping a penalty. He’s an amazing young man. He was struck down with cancer last year, missed the entire under-20 championship. When we lost the final last year I spoke about him in the team hotel. On Wednesday night, he was back and was brilliant, one of the heroes.
The lads roll on to a final next Wednesday where they meet a Dublin team who had a stirring win over Galway. Our senior hurlers have a big weekend with basically a Joe McDonagh Cup semi-final against Kerry today.
I know there has been a bit of negativity about GAAGO and big hurling games not being shown on RTÉ but there has been so much to enjoy of late. And here we go again with two massive games in the Munster senior hurling championship.
Cork take on Tipperary after that classic against Limerick last Saturday night.
What a game it was. Cork are probably the most consistent team in championship outside of AllIreland champions Limerick. If you look back at their results in Munster last year, the results tell their own tale.
They beat Waterford in their opening game, 0-27 to 0-18. Drew with Tipperary in the second game, scoring 4-19 but conceding 2-25. The third game against Clare saw them score 3-18 and concede 3-22. In the final round, they hit 1-30 against the champions Limerick only to concede 3-25 and lose by a point.
This year, they lost to Waterford, conceding 2-25. Hit another huge number in scoring 3-24 against Clare but lost after conceding 3-26. Won the game of the year last weekend against Limerick on another massive scoreline 3-28 to 3-26 – which is insane.
The bottom line though is that they have big problems defensively.
This year, they dropped two of their full-back line after the firstround defeat by Waterford, plus two of their half-forward line.
Pat Ryan and the players know they are not far off. While that little bit of luck at times has gone against them, plus the odd refereeing decision, they are conceding too much.
No more than on Wednesday night at Tullamore, it was so unusual to see the Cork crowd on the pitch at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Saturday. It was as if the Cork public and players reunited.
Tipperary and Cork both have to win or they are effectively gone so this has a sense of old knock-out championship about it.
The pressure is going to be on Cork. They will be expected to win after the result last weekend, which is a nice way for Tipperary to come into it. I spoke of the venom in the air from supporters after that opening defeat by Limerick. There wasn’t a large travelling support then against Waterford. But I heard there were 8,000 tickets sold in the hour after the Cork-Limerick match. That’s in part down to that Cork-Tipperary tradition, for whatever it’s worth.
Cork look to have all the aces coming in. Something in my head in this mad cycle of sport says that Tipp will bring the fire.
Mark Kehoe was brilliant the last day and is really blossoming. Jake Morris has sparked at different times and I think we’ll see Tipp’s biggest performance of the year. My brain tells me Cork but it’s hard to come down from that hurling high and go again.
It is the most competitive Munster championship right now. Waterford were missing 10 or 12 players in the league but they are all back now for this crucial trip to Clare. Mark Fitzgerald has been one of the most improved players in Ireland and they look re-energised. But they couldn’t put Tipp away in Walsh Park and I think that might come back to bite them.
Any team would take third place in Munster and perhaps avoid having to go and play Limerick again. It has killed Clare the last few years. They have gone to Croker flat.
Even though a Munster title would mean so much to all the other contenders – some down there would tell you it’s worth as much as an All-Ireland – Limerick still loom large, even if that air of invincibility has been slipping somewhat.
Back to GAAGO and that debate – in some ways, I think people are missing the point. It’s there to show the games that would otherwise not be seen. It’s the scheduling that the GAA has gotten slightly wrong.
Two weekends went by where there was no hurling shown. That should be an easy fix.
The past week has shown that this is not the time to be negative about the games. These are special teams, special players.
Let’s enjoy these spectacles for what they are.