Anthony Daly: Through all their epic glories, did Blackrock ever have to fight like this?
Blackrock players, including Niall Cashman, centre, celebrate with the Sean Ăg Murphy Cup. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
For decades, those of us living outside of Cork were told of this halcyon and almost mythical âlittle All-Irelandâ, where the deeds and feats of those players was the stuff of legend and folklore. The Cork championship may no longer be dominated by the big three city clubs but yesterdayâs final certainly rekindled a flame that once burned like a furnace.
Blackrock may be top of the roll of honour, having won some epic battles throughout their history, but itâs unlikely theyâve ever won a championship as hard-fought and competitive as this one.
After beating a serious Douglas side in the quarter-final, and then winning an epic against UCC after extra-time last week, Blackrockâs performance yesterday was reflective of the quality, resilience and spirit shown throughout this campaign.
The Rockies had a difficult start. They looked nervous early on. They shipped two goals just after half-time in normal time, but it was almost as if they were playing on memory, fully content in the knowledge that theyâd again be able to extricate themselves from another headlock.
They had some brilliant individual performances, led by the outstanding Alan Connolly, while they also had the bench to finish the job. On the other hand, how the Blackrock management used that bench just shows how fine the line is. Fergal Ryan and his selectors have done an incredible job but what would everyone in the club have been thinking if Patrick Horganâs late score in additional time of normal time had been the winner for the Glen?
The contribution of Tadgh Deasy, Robbie Cotter and John Cashman was ultimately the difference between the sides but surely hard questions would have been asked as to what those three were doing on the bench when the Rockies had the storm at their backs? Fortune does favour the brave and Iâm delighted for Fergal, but hurling really is a game of millimeters.
Itâs a tough one for the Glen to take, especially after losing successive finals, but I felt they didnât drive their advantage home enough when they had it after bagging those two early second-half green flags. The Glen had the breeze. Momentum was with them. But they just couldnât stomp their foot hard enough on Blackrockâs neck to squeeze the life out of them.
Much of that though, was down to Blackrock. Over the 80-plus minutes, they outworked the Glen. The 10-point burst they hit in the first half of extra-time was decisive. The Glen did make a heroic late charge but you just felt that Blackrock had the advantage going into extra-time, especially after the way theyâd overcome UCC in that period eight days earlier.
Hoggieâs contribution was massive in that fightback. Rob Downey was also inspirational but I felt the Glen erred in not switching Steven McDonnell onto Connolly, especially when Connolly was so threatening throughout, and particularly when McDonnell has so much experience.
The Rockies' success was a victory for heart and resolve, especially when their backs were to the wall against the breeze in normal time. It was a similar situation for St Thomasâ in Athenry too yesterday but, as weâve often said in team huddles at the break, âThe wind wonât win you the gameâ.
In his acceptance speech afterwards, Conor Cooney neatly summed up the match, and St Thomasâ resilience, in five words: âWe always find a way.â They do.
You have to give it to St Thomasâ for how they negotiated their way through a savage physical and tactical battle in difficult conditions, especially with such a tricky breeze. It was tough on Turloughmore but they just couldnât close out the match when they had the chance in the last ten minutes.
Sean Linnane was Turloughâs best player but the wide he hit which would have put them two ahead with the line in sight might have been enough to close the door. But when Turlough left it open, Thomasâ burst straight through it.
It was a performance of real champions. They never really hit the heights theyâre capable of but, even though the sides were level at the break âwith Thomasâ having played with the strong breeze â you still felt they were going to dig in and dog it out.
Thomasâ use of possession in the first half was nowhere near the level theyâd have wanted it to be but they utilised the ball better after the break, while their big guns really thundered into the match. Conor Cooney was immense. Fintan Burke was a colossus at full-back. Shane Cooney was solid. Fergal Moore gave David Burke enough of it in the first half but David came into the match when the real heat came on. Their use of Bernard Burke as a deep-lying forager and stopper in the last 20 minutes was also decisive. Young Oisin Flannery also looks like a future Galway star.
Itâs never easy to win a county title in Galway and, while St Thomasâ havenât gobbled up All-Irelands like the great Portumna, Athenry and Sarsfields teams did, winning three in a row grants them a worthy status in Galway as the best team of this era. They have some great players but a small parish is always going to have a limited panel so thereâs great credit due to their management of Kevin Lally and TJ Ryan.
Iâm sure it was difficult for the Blackrock and Thomasâ supporters who couldnât go to PĂĄirc UĂ Chaoimh and Kenny Park yesterday. Yet while the TV and streaming coverage does compensate in some small way for those supporters, being able to watch the quality on show over the weekend reminds us all of how short the winter will be if we are treated to that kind of entertainment from the inter-county game; Hoggieâs genius; Conor Cooneyâs class; Mark Colemanâs striking.
Yesterday was the first real sign of the winter coming. The wind stripped most of the remaining leaves off the trees. The Covid-19 numbers are rising at an alarming rate. Nobody knows if the championship will go ahead but Iâve always been consistent in my view; if the medical advisors donât think it should, we have to accept that reality. But if they do think the championship can happen, and it can be done properly, think of the lift it will give everyone, especially older people who will feel increasingly isolated as the winter nights close in.
Watching the games this weekend was also a reminder of how much of a boon the new streaming culture has been for people starved of that experience of going to live matches. Before watching the two games yesterday, I was treated to the tasty appetiser of the Charleville-Fr OâNeillâs Cork Premier Intermediate final by the service. On Saturday evening, they served up another tasty dish with the Blarney-Castlelyons Intermediate final.
You might think that only Cork people are tuning into those games but hurling people everywhere are so hungry for drama, quality and excitement that theyâre devouring whatever action they can.
Streaming is going to be a huge factor going forward in such a tightly condensed inter-county championship. The TV stations can only show so much live action but I think supporters would love to sign up for a streaming package that would grant access to whatever matches they want.
I know I certainly would.
