Glimpse into the future: Cats secure the perfect 10
It was the worst of times.
It was the best of times if you hailed from Kilkenny; the worst if you hailed from hopeful but outclassed Tipperary or from any other region of the hurling heartlands. It was surreal stuff on the day when Kilkenny achieved the miraculous feat of winning no less that 10 senior hurling titles in a row. It was surreal but it was brutally real from that fifth-minute goal which began their now ritual slaughter of all opponents come All-Ireland final day in Croke Park. And, as the pundits have been predicting for years, the victory was majestic for Kilkenny but clearly pyrrhic for the code of hurling itself. It was a long cruel path home to Tipperary last night as they followed again the losing path of all the others who have been mercilessly clawed to death by the Cats for almost as long as anybody can remember.
This again was not a match. It was a slaughter from the moment when 22-year-old Ritchie Reid from Ballyhale, on his senior debut, fanged his way through a backpedalling Tipp defence to slash to the net in true Cats tradition. The two points that followed inside the next two minutes from towering midfielder Olly Walsh and Padraig Walsh, and the individual and brilliant goal from Ger Aylward had already cast the mould for another Kilkenny triumph before the first quarter was completed with Tipperary’s solitary point on the scoreboard.
Even the black and amber celebrations were muted enough at the break when Kilkenny were already 13 points ahead and, as for the past decade, just effortlessly cruising towards the milestone 10th title.
If there was no pitch invasion at the long whistle it was as much because of the pall of déjà vu over the Cats’ killing field as the height of the fences which now hem off what has become an abattoir for the other hurling counties.
The new Tipperary manager Tony Considine, drafted in from Clare after Tipp’s defeat in last year’s semi-final as a desperate measure, was typically bluntly honest after the game. Considine, visibly shocked, pulled no punches in his post-game interview: “Our fellas gave it everything they had and then gave 40% more and still, in all fairness, we were absolutely devoured by what is definitely the best hurling team of all time. You have to hand it to Kilkenny. People have been saying for years now that the day will come when their legs will let them down and Cody will no longer be able to motivate them. There is no sign of that at all. They are a super team. I can’t see anyone, including ourselves, dethroning them next year either. We are the league champions and we’ve had a great season but they made us look like an U12 team today. They are an amazing outfit.
“I know Kilkenny will not mind me saying, though, that their incredible dominance of the game of hurling over the past decade especially, is now badly damaging the game. They have been so superior to everybody else that we have not had an All-Ireland final worthy of being called a match for the last five or six years. The lack of worthy competition is killing hurling. Look at the attendance here today. There were hundreds of empty seats in the Hogan Stand alone, thousands around the park, no real excitement at all, just another merciless slaughter. Would there have been empty seats in Croke Park 15 years ago? Not at all, back then tickets were like gold dust. I take off my hat to Kilkenny but my heart is broken, not just for our lads, but for the whole code of hurling and that’s the honest truth.”
The Kilkenny manager Brian Cody, serene as ever, would not be drawn into a discussion about Considine’s comments but did admit that Tipperary had played well below their best form on the day and this had contributed to yet another one-sided affair. “That is not our fault,” said Cody,” We have to deal with the opposition that arrives before us. We did not let up even when the game was well won because we never let up. And we never will either. “I was delighted with the work ethic of our panel on duty today and the youngsters coming through are showing great promise for the future. The only scoreboard that matters to me is the one on view at the final whistle.”
Pressed on his future as manager after this milestone win Cody instantly responded: “I’ll stay on as long as Kilkenny want me to stay on. I’m enjoying it as much now as ever I did.”
On a day when the Tipperary fans were heading towards the exits long before the final whistle, there was one powerfully evocative moment six minutes from the end. Cody introduced two veterans for the last five minutes whose appearance drew the loudest applause of the day from all around the ground. Their introduction, indeed, was the highlight of a day when highlights were as scarce as hen’s teeth despite the hurling history being made. Trotting afield together came Henry Shefflin and Tommy Walsh, two of the stars so instrumental in creating the first seven years of the 10 years of glory. Both, incredibly, through a combination of injuries and the good form of their replacements, had made only one appearance each in this year’s campaign. But the roar of appreciation which greeted the veterans demonstrated that they will never be forgotten in the county where hurling is king. The man of the match was another of the youngsters blooded by Cody this year, Cillian Carey, but in truth it could have any of the 18 pedigree Cats who made history on the day. Overall then it was the best of days; the worst of days. The question now arises as to exactly how long these Cats will keep purring. Fifteen years?
* Contact: cormac66@hotmail.com
