And then the sky cleared.
They have waited for a long, long time for this Monday morning in Tipperary; Thurles ready for a blazing welcome for the Liam MacCarthy on its 27th winter in the county; All-Ireland minor and senior championships secured and, perhaps most importantly, a sense that, as a hurling people, they can finally see through the black and amber-coloured fog which has defined their progress for longer than they care to remember.
Has Tipp’ ever craved or needed an All-Ireland final win as desperately as they did in Croke Park? Perhaps that day in 1989 rivalled this one for importance. But only now that a special generation of Tipp’ hurlers has delivered on its mesmerising skill and creativity can the county, as a whole, fully acknowledge the dramatic alternative that this day held.
Disappointments
To lose this All-Ireland to
Kilkenny
– to watch another Noreside three-in-a-row – would have been to go somewhere beyond the most ravaged notes that Johnny Cash touches in
Hurt
; beyond the profound disappointments of 2009 and 2011 which bookended their splendid and isolated All-Ireland win of 2010.
It would have surely brought about despair and a profound doubt as to whether Kilkenny were beatable after all.
The pressure on Michael Ryan’s team to win – somehow, anyhow – was more immense than we will ever probably know. But it is the style in which they won that will be celebrated as much as the fact.
The final score 2-29 to 2-20: a non-stop shootout into which they embroidered 2-15 in the second-half alone. 0-9 from play, from Seamus Callanan, who was more direct and lethal than he has ever been.
“Nine points?” whistled Ryan in genuine surprise when he heard. “That’s an outrageous contribution, to be honest.” It was matched by John “Bubbles” O’Dwyer, the chunky Killenaule wizard whose 1-5 spanned both sublime and ridiculous. All of Tipp’s demons and dark thoughts seemed to vanish with his 48th-minute goal, a strike of fabulous boldness and deftness which signalled the team – and county’s – unstoppable bolt towards liberation. And it seemed to mock the pre-final suggestion that maybe O’Dwyer, for all his silky repertoire, should be held in reserve.
“For the last three weeks, since the Galway game, Bubbles has been in outstanding form,” Ryan said. “He was there on merit. There are no freebies in our training world and he showed us something that made us think ‘yeah’. Timing is everything and you could see out there today: he was a little bit irresistible. ”
Overwhelming
Irresistible is the word, from Darren Gleeson’s impeccable deliveries to the overwhelming presence of
Ronan Maher
and the older brother Padraig in the heart of the half-back line.
The younger of the Maher brothers reportedly went straight to the team hotel after the match, simply too exhausted to join in the celebrations.
He will have plenty of chances in the nights to come. All is right with their world. In the build-up to this latest chapter of this Tipp-Kilkenny ritual, the terrific exchange between the captains of the 1917 version was chronicled. “We were better hurlers than ye, Leahy” Sim Walton is alleged to have said to Johnny Leahy immediately after the game, drawing a retort iced in immortality from the winning player: “Yes, Sim, but we were the better men.”
Manhood, bravery, hurling craft, Border towns, marriages, family-lines, jibes, friendships, schools – hurling has run through the counties’ relationship in the decades since.
It maybe ran perilously close to on-field hatred at one stage but, through Tipperary’s persistent bid to topple Kilkenny since 2009, a heightened mutual respect has surely developed. Who could question the moral fibre or skill of either team after the thrillers of 2009, 2010, 2011 and, most unforgettably, of 2014. And yet, the Tipp’ hurlers were in danger of being defined by black and amber success.
“I would have felt all season that this team has answered questions directed towards them,” said Ryan. “It is very hard to win against top-class opposition. I can say that now because we have won. But for all the other counties that have failed down the years: it is so difficult. We were playing against the most successful team that ever played the game and the most successful manager that has ever managed.
“There would have been a far greater share of the spoils for every other county, if Kilkenny weren’t as successful as they were. We certainly weren’t happy about it. But you just have to keep believing and doing the right things.” That can’t be forgotten. Tipp didn’t just beat a good team. They fought through a sort of force field which has never been seen in Irish sport before.
That's what Kilkenny under Brian Cody have been. Are we slipping into past tense too quickly? Perhaps. Kilkenny were as honest as ever – from TJ Reid's deep know-how, keeping them in touch in the first half, to the 44th-minute goal fashioned out of nothing. They kept all those ghosts and doubts racing through Tipp' minds – through all minds – for as long as they could. But Tipperary were not going to be distracted. Not on this day. The beautiful vision of Eamonn O'Shea, their last manager, was evident in their soaring closing stanza. So too was the dauntless winning spirit of the late John Doyle and company. This was Tipp' old and new. Cody played his hand but he has seen these days before."The better team wins the game and the better team won today and Tipperary won today," said Cody.
‘Bitter end’
“No excuses. You got to fight it out to the bitter end and we tried to do that. But we weren’t narrowing the gap enough and, as the minutes wore on, we were finding it very hard to get it back.”
It was strange – eerie, even – to see Kilkenny blunted in the crucial minutes of an All-Ireland final. Not even Richie Hogan’s goal could disguise the fact that this was, in the end, a Tipperary procession. If the Premier fans felt light-headed by then, forgive them. It must have been like wakening from a long, bad dream. For Kansas, read “the square in Thurles”.
