Kilkenny the ultimate survivors
You’ve played well, have taken the fight to the ultimate warriors, and are still hanging in. You’re trying to manage that excitement and keep guys focussed. And yet down the other end of the corridor, Kilkenny are just going through their routine like getting ready to head back to work after their lunch-break.
You almost know what Cody is telling them. That they’ve been in this position so often in the past and they’ve just toughed it out. Twelve months ago, when Limerick unleashed hell at them in a torrential downpour, Kilkenny saw the game out. They saw Limerick off, just like they had done to Clare, Galway, Tipperary, and everyone else they’ve ran into in All-Ireland semi-finals since 2005. They never doubted for a second at half-time that they wouldn’t do the same again.
Kilkenny just ramped it up after the break. They had pushed the deficit out to five points inside nine minutes. It could have been more if TJ Reid and Ger Aylward hadn’t missed two good goal chances but they were beginning to turn the screw and Waterford just couldn’t push them back.
With 10 minutes to go, Kilkenny had just worn them down. They had broken Waterford. Some of those late shots were just tired efforts but that’s the effects of going up against this machine. They are relentless in how they keep rattling into bodies, slowly and surely reducing them to physical wrecks. By the end, numerous Waterford players had nothing more to give.
I met the Waterford players in the Croke Park Hotel afterwards and was struck by just how young these guys are. Some of them look like kids but they are; Shane Bennett will get his Leaving Cert results this week.
When it comes down to it, most of them have only a year or two strength and conditioning done at this level. Many of them haven’t the bodies yet to withstand Kilkenny’s ferocity for 70 minutes.
They haven’t the experience that the Kilkenny players have of going to war on each other every night in training, which would get you ready for anything.
With that physical pressure comes mental tiredness. I wouldn’t mind Barry Coughlan’s poor clearance to TJ Reid for a gifted score in the second half but some of their other decision making was just off, which Kilkenny always ruthlessly punish.
Stephen O’Keeffe is one of the best goalkeepers in the game but he made a couple of wrong choices when in possession that showed his inexperience.
There was one occasion when spraying the ball to the Hogan Stand side looked the best option but he landed it into a zone with Cillian Buckley, Michael Fennelly, Conor Fogarty and Eoin Larkin. A bear wouldn’t have got his hands on that ball with those four lurking with intent.
That just comes from experience, which you saw with Eoin Murphy.
He didn’t have a shot to save but Murphy was superb yesterday in possession. He was so sharp off his line he was playing like a second sweeper with Paul Murphy.
He pinged the ball around the pitch, always taking the right option, and starting so many of Kilkenny’s attacks.
Cody also got his match-ups right by targetting Kevin Moran, Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh and Austin Gleeson.
Moran and Walsh never made any real impact because they couldn’t get their hands on the ball. When they couldn’t win the dirty ball, it was hard to see who else could.
In the end, the same old failing came back to haunt Waterford. A score of 0-18 was never going to be enough, just like 0-16 wasn’t in the Munster final.
They needed to hit 1-20 and hope your defence holds up and that you might get more breathing space from a couple of poxy refereeing decisions. And even with Waterford’s defensive set-up, Kilkenny still hit 1-21.
Waterford never even had a decent goal chance. They had one half chance in the second half when Colin Dunford should have penned his ears back and gone for glory but he tapped the ball over the bar. Dunford had an excellent second half with four points but when you get an opening against this crowd, you gotta go for it.
For a finish, it reminded me of a big heavyweight boxing match, where the old slugger goes up against the young pretender. The match is still level on points going in the ninth round when the slugger lands a couple of big punches and the young pretender’s chin just isn’t able for those hits.
At this stage, Kilkenny are the ultimate old pro.
They are in good shape going into the final. Cillian Buckley has really stepped up and taken his game to a level that Tommy Walsh and JJ Delaney set. Ger Aylward also stepped up. Richie Hogan and TJ Reid were devastating at times. Michael Fennelly had a huge second half but I still thought he struggled to maintain that huge intensity and there’s no doubt that there were signs of wear and tear. Eoin Larkin also looked leggy. They will face a huge challenge in the final but this crowd are always ready for any challenge.
For Waterford, a great year finally came to an end. When I ran into Derek McGrath afterwards in the hotel, he was just like his players — gutted. That is a good sign. Limerick were here in this same position last year, when everyone was telling them that they were so close and look at the year they had? There is nothing guaranteed at this level. You have to use this pain to propel you forward or you will just go backwards. Derek will go back and look at where he can find that few extra per cent to take this group to that next level.
And that level is Kilkenny. Still the ultimate barometer. Still the ultimate warriors. The ultimate old pro.
