Things can only get better

Heroic Championship displays aren’t all about getting off to a good start; often they’re about getting over a bad one

If you were to trace the moment when Christy Ring made the leap from mere brilliance to greatness, Ringologists will invariably pinpoint the 1946 All Ireland final.

“Up to 1946,” his team-mate John Quirke would say, “Christy was just a very good hurler on a great team. But in the ‘46 final he gave a performance that marked him out as someone very special. He scored a magical goal but it was his overall display at centre forward. You could say that was the start of the real legend of Christy Ring.”