It’s easy to be champions when you’re winning but it’s in defeat that you show yourself at your fullest. On Sunday, the Limerick hurlers proved themselves to be the truest of champions.
It would not have taken much for us to be writing about the greatest show of defiance of all from the Shannonsiders – a couple of late shots going over the bar rather than wide would surely have seen them reel Cork in to keep the five-in-a-row dreams alive.
Even down by seven points with 20 minutes left, there was never a sense of panic from Limerick. On Sunday, Cork were as good as them and slightly more efficient with their shooting. It happens.
The loss ended the drive for five but coming up just short in a semi-final does not mark the end of an era for Limerick. Their manager, John Kiely, has always spoken well in victory, and that did not change in defeat.
Acknowledging that the hurt was going to be “God-awful”, Kiely paid tribute to his squad.
“They shape their world around hurling,” he said, “where they choose to live, where they choose to work, where they choose to go to college.
“They have shaped their world around this group, this team. There’s an incredible togetherness and unity within the group and they’re going to hurt now, there’s no doubt about that.”
The scenes as the team returned to Colbert Station in Limerick showed the regard they are held in by supporters who have been treated to days of unprecedented joy.
Battle for the cup
Of course, before all of that, Cork and Clare must do battle for the cup, with each of them sensing a great opportunity.
Cork manager Pat Ryan didn’t even try to pretend that there would be an attempt to quell the hype of Leeside – “Cork people get confident when we win a game of tiddlywinks!” – but he made the point that the team and the squad know they have a job to do.
The buzz is around Cork, not least with the fact that, for the first time ever, a hurling semi-final sold out. However, that will suit Clare and they produced a Limerick-like steady surge to turn a six-point deficit against Kilkenny into a two-point win.
More on the final next week, but one parting thought.
When Kilkenny were going for five in a row in 2010 but were thwarted by Tipperary, the pain was just as tough to take, one would imagine, but which county won the All-Irelands of 2011 and 2012?
It was of course Brian Cody’s Cats, trusting the process that had brought them the four on the trot from 2006-09 and 2000, 2002 and 2003 before that. Limerick for Liam 2025 might be a worthwhile investment.
O’Mahony was a man apart
The late John O'Mahony pictured in McHale Park, Castlebar last year. \ Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Just like John Kiely, the late John O’Mahony, who died last weekend at the age of 71, carried himself with dignity in victory and defeat.
It’s rare that the passing of a GAA person would bring an outpouring of sadness from people in three different counties but then O’Mahony was no ordinary person.
A body of work that includes eight Connacht senior titles – four with Galway, three with his native Mayo and one with Leitrim – stands in comparison to anyone. Indeed, while Leitrim’s 1994 victory is hailed, it’s forgotten that a year later they lost by a single point in a semi-final to a Galway side that easily saw off Mayo in the decider.
It was with the Tribesmen that O’Mahony won two All-Irelands, in 1998 and 2001, as well as losing to Kerry in the 2000 final after a replay.
When Pat Comer decided to chart Galway’s campaign in 1998 for a documentary, he could scarcely have dreamed that the finished product, A Year ‘til Sunday, would work out so well.
While O’Mahony was unable to bring the Sam Maguire Cup back to Mayo, he was the driving force behind the county’s resurgence in 1989 and it was a measure of the man that he was able to embark on a second life as a Fine Gael TD, serving the county he loved so well.
With Galway preparing for an All-Ireland semi-final this weekend, is it too fanciful to wonder if the spirit of 1998 and 2001 can carry them over the next two hurdles?
FAI-Ling yet again
Next Tuesday night at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh should be a special occasion as the Republic of Ireland host France in a Euro 2025 qualifier.
The team cannot qualify for the finals via the direct route, even if they were to beat England in Norwich on Friday and then overcome the French in Cork, but the uniqueness of the occasion should draw a curious crowd.
It will presumably offer welcome respite to the FAI after even more negative revelations.
FAI people & culture director Aoife Rafferty, left, and FAI interim chief executive David Courell during an FAI media briefing held at FAI Headquarters in Abbotstown. \ Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Last weekend’s revelations that multiple female footballers were the subject of alleged unwanted or inappropriate sexual advances from FAI coaches in the 1990s, as outlined by RTÉ Investigates and The Sunday Independent, raises a number of questions and the FAI has promised a full investigation.
Without wishing to sound too cynical, they’d nearly be better off having the ‘full review’ document saved as a template, so often has the organisation had to deal with varying scandals.
Looking at this as something involving people and their lives, the sadness is that all these allegations are coming to light so long after when the events are said to have taken place. It’s a common theme of such incidents, where the person wronged is left to carry the shame.
It’s easy to be champions when you’re winning but it’s in defeat that you show yourself at your fullest. On Sunday, the Limerick hurlers proved themselves to be the truest of champions.
It would not have taken much for us to be writing about the greatest show of defiance of all from the Shannonsiders – a couple of late shots going over the bar rather than wide would surely have seen them reel Cork in to keep the five-in-a-row dreams alive.
Even down by seven points with 20 minutes left, there was never a sense of panic from Limerick. On Sunday, Cork were as good as them and slightly more efficient with their shooting. It happens.
The loss ended the drive for five but coming up just short in a semi-final does not mark the end of an era for Limerick. Their manager, John Kiely, has always spoken well in victory, and that did not change in defeat.
Acknowledging that the hurt was going to be “God-awful”, Kiely paid tribute to his squad.
“They shape their world around hurling,” he said, “where they choose to live, where they choose to work, where they choose to go to college.
“They have shaped their world around this group, this team. There’s an incredible togetherness and unity within the group and they’re going to hurt now, there’s no doubt about that.”
The scenes as the team returned to Colbert Station in Limerick showed the regard they are held in by supporters who have been treated to days of unprecedented joy.
Battle for the cup
Of course, before all of that, Cork and Clare must do battle for the cup, with each of them sensing a great opportunity.
Cork manager Pat Ryan didn’t even try to pretend that there would be an attempt to quell the hype of Leeside – “Cork people get confident when we win a game of tiddlywinks!” – but he made the point that the team and the squad know they have a job to do.
The buzz is around Cork, not least with the fact that, for the first time ever, a hurling semi-final sold out. However, that will suit Clare and they produced a Limerick-like steady surge to turn a six-point deficit against Kilkenny into a two-point win.
More on the final next week, but one parting thought.
When Kilkenny were going for five in a row in 2010 but were thwarted by Tipperary, the pain was just as tough to take, one would imagine, but which county won the All-Irelands of 2011 and 2012?
It was of course Brian Cody’s Cats, trusting the process that had brought them the four on the trot from 2006-09 and 2000, 2002 and 2003 before that. Limerick for Liam 2025 might be a worthwhile investment.
O’Mahony was a man apart
The late John O'Mahony pictured in McHale Park, Castlebar last year. \ Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Just like John Kiely, the late John O’Mahony, who died last weekend at the age of 71, carried himself with dignity in victory and defeat.
It’s rare that the passing of a GAA person would bring an outpouring of sadness from people in three different counties but then O’Mahony was no ordinary person.
A body of work that includes eight Connacht senior titles – four with Galway, three with his native Mayo and one with Leitrim – stands in comparison to anyone. Indeed, while Leitrim’s 1994 victory is hailed, it’s forgotten that a year later they lost by a single point in a semi-final to a Galway side that easily saw off Mayo in the decider.
It was with the Tribesmen that O’Mahony won two All-Irelands, in 1998 and 2001, as well as losing to Kerry in the 2000 final after a replay.
When Pat Comer decided to chart Galway’s campaign in 1998 for a documentary, he could scarcely have dreamed that the finished product, A Year ‘til Sunday, would work out so well.
While O’Mahony was unable to bring the Sam Maguire Cup back to Mayo, he was the driving force behind the county’s resurgence in 1989 and it was a measure of the man that he was able to embark on a second life as a Fine Gael TD, serving the county he loved so well.
With Galway preparing for an All-Ireland semi-final this weekend, is it too fanciful to wonder if the spirit of 1998 and 2001 can carry them over the next two hurdles?
FAI-Ling yet again
Next Tuesday night at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh should be a special occasion as the Republic of Ireland host France in a Euro 2025 qualifier.
The team cannot qualify for the finals via the direct route, even if they were to beat England in Norwich on Friday and then overcome the French in Cork, but the uniqueness of the occasion should draw a curious crowd.
It will presumably offer welcome respite to the FAI after even more negative revelations.
FAI people & culture director Aoife Rafferty, left, and FAI interim chief executive David Courell during an FAI media briefing held at FAI Headquarters in Abbotstown. \ Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Last weekend’s revelations that multiple female footballers were the subject of alleged unwanted or inappropriate sexual advances from FAI coaches in the 1990s, as outlined by RTÉ Investigates and The Sunday Independent, raises a number of questions and the FAI has promised a full investigation.
Without wishing to sound too cynical, they’d nearly be better off having the ‘full review’ document saved as a template, so often has the organisation had to deal with varying scandals.
Looking at this as something involving people and their lives, the sadness is that all these allegations are coming to light so long after when the events are said to have taken place. It’s a common theme of such incidents, where the person wronged is left to carry the shame.
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