Will-o’-the-wisp Seanie quits the inter-county scene

THE shock announcement by Seanie McGrath yesterday that he was quitting the inter-county scene has not only robbed Cork of a forward option, but also robbed hurling of one of its great characters.

Will-o’-the-wisp McGrath has been around the Cork scene since 1998, when he won Oireachteas and National League honours. But 1999 was the year he really burst onto the national arena, when his scorching pace left many a top-class corner-back floundering. It was McGrath’s three second-half points that powered Cork to a shock win over raging-hot favourites Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final, and the diminutive ever-smiling McGrath became something of a cult figure in Cork. Lately however, that smile had vanished and much though it pained him to do so, Seanie has called it a day.

“I had reservations about going back this year, but it meant too much just to let it go, so I went back. I knew I wasn’t doing myself justice but I couldn’t continue going home every Sunday night either, piddled off with what was happening. It was gnawing at me, eating me up; I just couldn’t face going down every week, am I playing, how long will I get, will I last ’til half-time, will I get taken off in the second-half.