Thatâs the only group with something to play for in Round 3 so, albeit Na P will have to beat Adare to avoid the relegation playoff. Wonât happen.
I followed you in kid⌠Ive enough to pay for a ticket now
Iâll be buying another 12 jäger bombs tonight so I will.
Just back from Croke Park after seeing Limerick humiliate Cork by 16 points in an All-Ireland senior hurling final, sealing the back-to-back and a third title in 36 months.
(Almost as many as Clare in 130 years).
The hunt for La Decima is over. Thatâs the legacy secured. Immortality achieved. Beating the likes of Galway and Waterford in a final is all well and good but to gruesomely butcher one of our fellow Big 4 teams in a final is the pinnacle. A cold, clinical dismantling of Corkness. Some amount of soul searching in the English Market this morning.
When that bluffer, spoofer and charlatan Derek Del Boy McGrath was bigging up Cork all week I knew which way it was going. Made a nice few pound on Limerick -15, but was made to sweat for it unnecessarily.
Lynch is the best hurler of his generation. Heâs better than TJ Reid. Whereas the likes of Joe Canning and Tony Kelly will be remembered as nice hurlers who won an All-Ireland, Lynch will go down as a double HOTY and he has the three Celtic Crosses to show for it. Thatâs before you come to the likes of Quaid, Sean Finn, Hannon, Big Seamus and co. And Hego, the darling of the Limerick support. Youâd want to have been some ape to have said heâd not make it at intercounty level. There might be a post floating around from a few years back saying âhe doesnât have the hurling.â He does have 3 medals now though. You might dig out that post @iron_mike please.
Can someone update the summer hurling record of Kiely and Kinnerk too. A tactical masterclass. The Rock is a deep thinker of the game, it was always going to take something special to unlock that Rebel defence. Kiely and Kinnerk came up with the blueprint, the players implemented it.
Fair play to Cork. We all like Cork hurling. They always bring great colour. Sadly for them though, you can field as many Olympic sprinters in a team as you like but it wonât matter a damn if they canât hurl. The likes of Meade and that Jack OâConnor chap are all nice hurlers but theyâd have been more use out in Tokyo.
And when you are relying on the likes of that giraffe at full back, the gym bunny OâDonoghue, the shit Cadogan, both Cahalaneâs⌠Kieran Kingston did an incredible job to get such a limited group of players to a final. In fairness to him Seamus Harnedy was one of the few to not throw the towel in, he kept going when the game was over and Iâd respect that.
When you are relying on a Limerick castoff in Darragh Fitzgibbon to provide the steel in midfield⌠
WOD chewed him up and spat him back out.
Look, the Cork boys have their rowers to fall back on. They were very gracious after. As one of them remarked to me in the beer garden - âit was an honour and privilege to see that Limerick team in the flesh today.â
What now for one of the greatest teams the sport has ever known? If the management team step down then who knows. If our de facto leader Caroline Currid departs that would leave a colossal void. Christ, sheâd have some job on her hands trying to get inside the heads of those Tipp and Cork players after their capitulations in the Munster & All-Ireland finals respectively.
Even if they never win another game the legacy is secured. Better than any Tipp team over the last 60 years, better than Galway â87/â88, better than Loughnaneâs Clare. Considerably better.
Croke Park was heaving. Such a great feeling to return to normality. The pubs were back to normal, hugs at full time, handshakes back in vogue. Holohan would have been seething as people enjoyed themselves. Another lockdown is imminent, sadly it has come too late for the Cork senior hurling team 2021. They have the Taoiseach, Limerick has Liam MacCarthy.
The âole oleâsâ in the last few minutes. Hannon walking off, punching the air with a clenched fist. Gillaneâs bullet finish. Graeme Mul coming on and reminding Coleman of 2018. Peter Casey sending the corner back for fish and chips. The bants at the toll in Portlaoise. So many wonderful memories of the day.
In a few years weâll probably be back down at the level of a Wexford or Laois but we can enjoy this team while we can. Theyâve been there and done that. Won the lot and won it handsomely.
Now, I think itâs time to throw on The Sunday Game.
This is the post youâre looking for. However in fairness and kudos to @Big_Dan_Campbell , he did say he was wrong.
Just the 2-02 for Hego yesterday.
Classless post really.
Anyway congrats to Limerick, an incredible team. 
Thanks pal.
We know they are incredible alright.
Oh my ⌠
I found myself nodding my head in agreement with a lot of that.
Iâm delighted for you. After missing the 2018 semi you needed to see Limerick beating Cork for closure
4 points from frees for limerick is a ridiculous stat.
Says it all about the cork intensity as well
Maybe so. Hoggie got 12 points. If Iâm correct heâs 4 off canning? Will he go again?
Funny that. I said something similar after Tipp conceded little or no frees against Waterford and I was vilified
Lynch is without a doubt the best hurler in the game at the minute, better even than Tony Kelly, albeit that he has the luxury of being on a much stronger team. He appears to be impossible to mark and takes up fantastic positions, probably due to an inate hurling intelligence. He scored his first point from the 65 on the Hogan Stand side. His second touch was on the 21 in the Cusack Stand side setting up the goal. How do you mark that? And then he slowed down and surveyed his options without actually slowing his feet. The pass to Hegarty wasnât the obvious pass when Lynch turned for goal, Hegarty arrived late but it was the obvious pass by the time Lynch decided it was the best option.
Lynch will be Hurler of the Year this year. He will be the second Hurler of the Year to graduate from Minor Hurlingâs annus mirabilus of 2013, a year that gave us not only Lynch and Gleeson but talents like Tom Morrissey, Barry Nash, Conor Whelan, Conor McDonald, Stephen Bennett and Patrick Curran. Unlike his uncle, Pa Carey, who was the outstanding minor of 1984, Lynch didnât win the minor All Ireland but he has conquered all before him at senior.
He will Iâd say
