Monday, August 10, 2009
THE first thing that probably strikes you looking at Munster’s best hurling team of the last 25 years – an initiative between the Munster Council of the GAA and the Irish Examiner – is the illustration of various eras within the province.
The Clare renaissance, the Waterford quest and the Limerick heartbreak of recent years are all represented along with the big two of Cork and Tipperary, who both have representatives book-ending the selection.
One of those appears in the number one jersey: though there has been a golden age of goalkeepers in the last decade or so, there can be no serious quibbles with Ger Cunningham between the posts. The big Corkman was majestic for 16 seasons, and ended his inter-county career in 1998 with an outstanding stop from Niall Gilligan in the Munster semi-final.
The selection committee went for a unit in the full-back line, with the two Lohans having a telepathic understanding of each others’ play, while Stephen McDonagh of Limerick always had the ability to play independently. It’s not breaking any trade secrets to reveal that the battle for full-back was just that between two legendary figures; it was also a close-run thing between McDonagh and Cork’s Wayne Sherlock in the right corner.
In fact there were close run things all over the field when our adjudicators’ votes were added up – we even had to invoke Jim Forbes’ casting vote in one position. Midfield, left half-forward and right corner-forward were so close that those who didn’t make it in the positions were as close as makes no difference. Feathers will always be ruffled with such selections, but Munster hurling is tougher than most.
Sean McMahon’s placement at centre-back shouldn’t ruffle too many feathers. Apart from his innate ability to perform all the skills demanded of a defender – superbly – he was also able to chip in with crucial scores to tip tight championship games Clare’s way. The other two nominees – Brian Corcoran of Cork and Ciarán Carey of Limerick – would have had a fair shout, but how much did their versatility influence selection? Corcoran had a second coming as a target-man full-forward, while in his time Carey ranged the three middle lines of the field from half-back to half-forward.
Flanking McMahon is a combination of athleticism in Sean Óg O hAilpín and hurling elegance in Tony Browne, though O hAilpín is well able to hurl and Browne no slouch when it comes to getting up and down his wing. The only two defenders on the team still playing – though there’s no truth to suggestions that Browne was actually playing senior for Waterford before 1984 – there’s no doubt that their longevity in a demanding position helped them get the nod.
Midfield is a conundrum, as so many pairings depend on the right chemistry to work. Hard to imagine Colin Lynch without Ollie Baker, for instance, though the judges felt they could mix eras with John Fenton and Jerry O’Connor.
It’s a classical combination, a striker in Fenton to stick around the middle and a runner in O’Connor to work between the 45-metre lines.
The half-forward line is another intriguing mix, and no doubt a few eyebrows will be raised when it comes to the omissions – no Declan Ryan at centre-forward, no Jamesie O’Connor at wing-forward. Yet again, the logic is hard to beat. Gary Kirby was more mobile than Ryan, and also chipped in as a reliable free-taker, despite that unorthodox style. Ken McGrath was a precocious centre-forward but a centre-back in his considerable pomp.
O’Connor came through as a midfielder with Clare in 1995, even though he scored the winning point in the 1997 All-Ireland final from the orthodox left-half-forward position. The irony is that O’Connor loses out to a player who often appeared to be playing midfield, but there was no way someone of John Leahy’s talent could have been omitted. The Mullinahone man ranged all over the field but didn’t neglect his duties on the half-forward line either. When he was good he was irresistible.
Likewise, Ben O’Connor on the other wing – Michael Cleary of Tipp was a sweet hurler but didn’t have to shoulder the scoring burden O’Connor has, while Dan Shanahan has had some memorably productive shifts at full-forward for Waterford.
Talking of productive . . . it’s only a couple of seasons since Tipp’s Eoin Kelly notched 0-14 against Limerick in the Munster championship, then followed that tally with 2-9 against Waterford in the next round. That’s the kind of scoring average they were composing ballads about back in the forties. Come to think of it, they could compose a few ballads about him even now.
In the other corner is one of the most elegant hurlers of any era. Nicky English’s hamstrings may have begun to betray him even as Tipp began to revive, but at his peak he couldn’t be marked.
The same could be said of the man in the number 14 jersey. When English and Fox were poised to help Tipperary back to the promised land at the Munster final replay of 1987, a rumour ran around Killarney: Jimmy Barry-Murphy had been seen going into the Cork dressing-room.
It was only talk, but the fear that instilled in Tipp hearts indicates the regard Barry-Murphy was held in. Though he did much of his damage in the seventies, he won All-Ireland medals in ‘84 and ‘86.
No arguments there, but there’s nothing to stop you from arguing the toss . . .
The nominees were:
1. B Cummins (Tipperary); G Cunningham (Cork); D Fitzgerald (Clare).
2. P Delaney (Tipperary); S McDonagh (Limerick); W Sherlock (Cork).
3. B Lohan (Clare); D O’Sullivan (Cork); N Sheehy (Tipperary).
4. F Lohan (Clare); B Murphy (Cork); M Ryan (Tipperary).
5. Conal Bonnar (Tipperary); T Browne (Waterford); L Doyle (Clare).
6. C Carey (Limerick); B Corcoran (Cork); S McMahon (Clare).
7. A Daly (Clare); M Foley (Limerick); S Óg O hAilpín (Cork).
8 & 9: T Dunne (Tipperary); J. Fenton (Cork); C Lynch (Clare); T Kenny (Cork); J O’Connor (Cork); M Walsh (Waterford).
10. M Cleary (Tipperary); Ben O’Connor (Cork); D Shanahan (Waterford).
11. G Kirby (Limerick); Ken McGrath (Waterford); D Ryan (Tipperary).
12. J Leahy (Tipperary); J O’Connor (Clare); T O’Sullivan (Cork).
13. P Fox (Tipperary); E Kelly (Tipperary); J Mullane (Waterford).
14. Cormac Bonnar (Tipperary); J Barry-Murphy (Cork); E Kelly (Waterford)
15. J Deane (Cork); P Flynn (Waterford); Nicky English (Tipperary).
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