Limerick win respect and hearts of fans
Limerick lost the match to become the first casualty in Munster, the first to go into the new All-Ireland qualifier system, but in the gutsy and cohesive manner in which they fought to the bitter end, they won back respect and the hearts of their supporters.
Tipperary won the match with a display of skill and character to advance to a semi-final meeting with Clare in two weeks, but their support is far more demanding, far more critical. They remain unconvinced. They’re wrong.
Mid-May, summer hurling, Munster championship, but conditions were mid-winter.
“Not vintage hurling,” admitted Tipp manager Ken Hogan, but vintage Munster championship. Heavy, cold, driving rain drenched everybody, but not the fire in the belly of two sides determined to battle their way to the next round of this ancient competition.
Both sides picked up where they left off in last week’s exciting draw in Thurles, though with a role reversal. Last week it was Tipperary hanging on to a rampant Limerick, fighting their way back; on Saturday, it was Limerick under pressure from the first whistle, called on to show heart and courage.
In fact, in what was almost a carbon copy of last week’s finish, with Limerick a point behind in the dying minutes of extra-time, Limerick midfielder Paul O’Grady came charging through, ball in hand, had the posts at his mercy, but, unaware that he had raced clear, shortened his stick and tried to toss the ball over the bar from about 30 yards. Wide. Cruel, but the right result, because Tipperary were the better side on the night.
“It was an unbelievable game, but this is what Gaelic games is all about,” said Hogan. “Total commitment, amateur players out on that field, extra time. We have a great tradition in extra time, I spoke to the lads about that, we’ve always come up trumps.
“We drummed that home to the lads, the belief that we’d come through in extra time, and thankfully we did.
“Everybody will point to mistakes, will point to this and that, but as Tommy Dunne said to us, just before we went out for extra time, ‘at this stage, hurling has gone out the window, now it comes down to heart, to commitment’. That summed up the whole thing, the lads went out and gave it everything.”
One of those lads was Diarmuid Fitzgerald, recently finished his physiotherapy exams, given a starting berth and played a starring man-of-the-match role.
“I tell you now,” he said, “if I could go straight to my bed, I would.” It was that tiring, but fellas gave that much, from both sides.
“Epic stuff,” reckoned David Kennedy, another superb individual performer. “Both teams have been criticised for lacking backbone, but both teams showed that though we mightn’t have the most skill, no-one can doubt our commitment.
“In fact, I don’t think you can question the commitment of any inter-county side, hurling or football; we all train long and hard, no-one goes out to bottle it. It was certainly one of the most physical and heart-stopping matches I’ve ever been involved in, in the seven or eight years I’ve been with Tipp. It gives great satisfaction to win it.”
As for those doubting Tipp fans? “I want to give credit to those who came (to Limerick)”, said Kennedy (I reckon about 500 bothered to travel).
“It’s been very difficult for them. I even found it hard to give away my four tickets. I gave them to a Meath-man eventually. But even 50,000 Tipperary supporters aren’t going to win you a match.
“It’s great for them, there will be another day out now, but no-one is getting carried away with this.
“We’ve an awful lot of work still to do. If Limerick had taken their chances there at the end, you wouldn’t be here talking to me now, you’d be inside in the Limerick dressing-room talking to the likes of Brian Geary.
As for Limerick, full-forward TJ Ryan typified their attitude.
“It was another heartbreaker. Towards the end we had three or four chances to get the equaliser, then who knows?”
Only mid-May, but a foretaste of late July. We’ll see both these sides again in the All-Ireland quarter-finals. Guaranteed.
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