Captains fantastic remember

THE Captains Fantastic they were, both of them counties from decades in the wilderness, each will be remembered forever for their epic speeches on those days of days.

For Joe Connolly and Galway it was 1980 in Croke Park, an eloquent, emotional oration in the most beautiful of Irish following their first All-Ireland championship title since 1923. For Anthony Daly and Clare it was 1995 in Thurles, a first Munster title since 1932, their second since 1914. As they had done in 1914, Clare 1995 went on to win the All-Ireland title, also their second, but Munster was the real breakthrough.

"When I was speaking after that game, I wanted to mention the venues where we lost all those games over all those years, bitter losses," Daly recalls. "There was a huge sense of relief and I suppose Tony Consodine summed it up best, when he said 'the funerals are over'. That was always the sense we had coming back from another Munster final beating, a sense of death, of funerals."

Heady days for both counties and better was to follow. For Galway, 87 and 88, two more titles, and in consecutive years; for Clare, more Munster glory in 97 and 98, with another All- Ireland added in 97.

But how did Connolly and Daly finally get to lead their counties to glory? How did they crack it?

Connolly remembers a lot of "hard work, and perseverance" to smash the accumulation of all the heartbreaking losses through the generations.

"That, brought with it a kind of defeatist attitude, a lot of psychological baggage," he says. So close to making the breakthrough, and so often, but so many things combined to prevent it. But ability was not being reflected in results. Ultimately, it took a talented group of players getting together in Galway, working extremely hard, to make the breakthrough. But even at that, I remember being very close to despair.

"After the 79 All-Ireland final, beaten again by Kilkenny, talking to Paddy Prendergast and Richie Reid on the Monday, and they told me they had trained a total of five times before the Leinster championship, and 10 times for the All-Ireland. That's the way they did it, and they were winning All-Irelands we had trained five times as often. That was a time of despair for me. But eventually the extremely hard training we put in it didn't start with Clare in 1995, let me tell you paid off. Our hard work eventually caught up with the natural talent and natural confidence Cork, Kilkenny and Tipp had. That was a big factor."

For Clare too, the barrier was mainly psychological, the formula for overcoming that barrier the same hard work and perseverance. "There was such an outpouring of emotion afterwards, of relief. We had lost final after final after final, always total floppers on the big day. Year in year out flop.

"Often we gave brave accounts of ourselves when nothing was expected, like 1986 against Cork in Killarney. But even then, when we had a chance to kill off Cork, we didn't. Whenever anything was expected, we flopped."

Now, since their breakthrough years, both have remained in the limelight, and their meeting this Sunday in Croke Park in the final game of the All-Ireland qualifiers is accepted in this hurling country as a meeting of two of the modern powerhouses, the winners seen as potential All-Ireland winners. But it was not always the case, As Connolly is quick to point out.

"We won three All-Irelands and I absolutely count my blessings that the year Galway made the breakthrough, I was part of it. A lot better hurlers before and even since weren't that lucky, and my All Ireland medal is absolutely sacred.

"I could just as easily have played in a 10 year era when Galway won nothing. A decade like the 90s."

Daly is a little disappointed with the way things have turned out in Clare, although he's hopeful this year might prove pivotal. "We've struggled since 97 to make any impact at underage, which is probably the most disappointing thing. We thought going all the way would make a statement to the youth, that we were as good as anything out there, and winning the second one, in 97, confirmed that.

"But it's been slow in coming. A harvest has been reaped. The hard core of the team is still there, but it's probably half and half now, the mix with the younger lads. Maybe that's the legacy of 95, finally coming through. And there is a level of expectation now too, within the camp, that we have a chance against anyone, any time we go out. The days of flopping are gone now, I believe."

On Sunday at least, there is no question about the respective merits of either Galway or Clare, and regardless of who wins, Waterford, their next opponents, will be taking nothing for granted. But aren't Waterford a county overdue a breakthrough of their own?