Really was a day of days Sunday. An absolute rip roaring spectacle on Jones Road followed by probably best gig I was ever at in Malahide Castle a few hrs earlier. Only feeling right after it now.
Avoided N7 on the way up. The wiley aul lad sent me up via Danesfort, Carlow, Baltinglass, Blessington and in via Tallaght. Left at 9 and was drinking creamy pints in the Palace bar at 12.
Was up in the Holy Gods at the match itself sitting beside Ben O Connor. He could hardly watch but not a bad view from up there. Good view of the hawk doing the rounds keeping the seagulls at bay.
A useful metaphor perhaps to describe Patrick Collins performance to keep the ball out of the net. He was sensational. It was an All Ireland final in everything but name. The red and green hordes, sell out crowd, palpable tension, pre match parade. It had it all. A game befitting of a Micheal O Muircheartaigh special. The weather itself probably as Bipolar as you’d generally get for a traditional Autumnal show piece. Last vesitudes of summer trying to break through an overcast dreary day. As the sun broke it seemed to shine on the Cork backs in a timely manner in the 3rd quarter. There have been many sliding doors moments in this years championship but it was almost at that moment the hurling Gods had decreed that Patrick Horgan had to get his All Ireland medal. But I’m sure Clare and Adam Hogan will have plenty to say about that later.
Limerick went down like the champions they are. Right up to the final whistle it could have gone either way. We have seen all summer Gillane goaling from Diarmuid Byrnes balls dropping short. It would have been heartbreak for Cork but the ball broke kindly from the melee like it did for Limerick in their maiden All Ireland win when Joe Canning went back and that was all she wrote. Niall O Leary came out with the ball around the 72nd minute when Cork needed someone to stand up with the defense starting to ship serious water. Another unsung hero on this day.
The Downey brothers were superb. Every successful team needs brothers. These 2 have stepped up and answered a long standing question since Ronan Curran was standing 20 yards in front of the Rock. And to think it could have never come to pass.
Tim O Mahony is another who has had a second coming. Written off and rumoured to be dropped off the panel earlier in the Spring he had some important cameos. Corks pace and power up front was impossible to contain. Barretts movement was mesmerising. It was said Cork would have to add a few wrinkles to their earlier Pairc Ui Caoimh win but in fact they double downed on it. Did more of it. They had the Limerick half back line pinned back and turned running towards their own goal. Even when breeze was stopping Collins puckouts from travelling beyond Limerick HB line he took a few short one so he could reload again away from his own goal and bombard again. It was relentless. A beautiful symphony of keeping it simple old school values aligned to a traditional Cork (circa mid noughties) running game. Who knew keeping 3 men inside in your full forward line could yield such spectacular results. The so called expert hurling coaches around the country may have been missing a trick here all along. Hayes was the motm for Cork. Following a long line of hurling heros from St Finbarrs. Seen as more of a footballer and a bit raw (where have we seen this before) he has been coached into a brilliant intercounty player. Pace and Power again. He showed a deft touch for the disallowed goal and not totally dissimilar from his first time goal in the drawn Tipperary game last year. He has it all and I’m not sure we have seen an end to it just yet. We wont see his head turned to play Aussie rules like previous incarnations of this type of Cork forward.
To beat a great team everything has to go right and for Cork it did. Cork arguably had to be 6 or 7 points better to win by a point or 2 which is what they did. I wouldn’t be writing Limericks epitaph just yet. It didn’t look like the last burning embers from my vantage point. They are still miles better than every other team and with Cork they have a hurling rivalry that might go back and forth for next 2 or 3 years still. Every great team needs a nemesis and Limerick have found theres. It was always going to be Cork.
Although Saturday and Sunday were two entirely different spectacles it’s hard to believe that Clare will be able to live with Cork if anything like last Sundays Cork show up on the day.