Eimear Ryan: The danger of leaving a hurling match early
SURROUNDED: Gearod O'Connor of Tipperary is surrounded by several Cork players during the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League Final at Páirc Ui Rinn in Cork. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
It was only when the Cork fans started leaving Páirc Uí Rinn that I began to feel worried. This was last Sunday afternoon, at the Munster senior hurling league final, and I was sitting in the front row of the covered part of the stand, just in out of the persistent drizzle. Tipp were comfortably cruising, five points up with five minutes of normal time to go. Cork had looked extremely dangerous at times, especially in the first twenty minutes, but had also gone long stretches without a score. Some of the Cork fans had decided to vote with their feet, making for the exit and passing directly in front of me. They had seen enough, it seemed.
Until then, I’d assumed that Tipp would keep happily tagging on points and that Noel McGrath, brought on for the last ten minutes, would get in some trophy-lifting practice. But the departing fans’ certainty about the outcome stoked my doubt. Five points is a grand lead heading down the final straight of a match, but who among us hasn’t seen a margin like that go up in smoke, either as a spectator or a player? A couple of goals and it can look like a very flimsy lead indeed.
