Water under the bridge

It's been 15 years since Cork and Galway met in an All-Ireland hurling final, the year of the double and the day Joe Cooney had a first half to dream about. However the second half belonged to Cork and Tomás Mulcahy.

They relived that day in the company of Diarmuid O'Flynn.

Tomás Mulcahy: Look at us, 15 years on, and we haven't aged a bit, still as slim as ever.

Joe Cooney: Still a 32 waist!

TM: That's right, but that's for one leg, Joe! No, you'd feel it, the years passing, I feel it.

Diarmuid O'Flynn: What happened, that day? How did Galway lose that match?

JC: Everything went right for me in the first half. There was a good breeze with us, and all the puck-outs were coming down on the half-forward line; you know one of those days when everything seems to drop into your hand? That's the way it was, no matter where Jim (Cashman, Cork centre-back) was going, there was nothing he could do, the ball was just hopping right for me. And then, when things are going so well for you, you'll try things you mightn't otherwise try, things you shouldn't do, take shots from difficult angles, that sort of thing? I did that, hit a few bad wides; not much in it, only barely wide, but enough. Because of that, our inside line didn't see a lot of ball.

TM: We could have been eight or nine points behind at the break if ye'd taken all the chances. I won't say what was said to us at the break, the man is an Archdeacon now (Cork manager, then Canon Michael O'Brien), but it was a serious tongue-lashing. Our aim coming out for the second half was to get the first score, but within five or six minutes, we were seven points behind.

JC: Then ye got a goal, and things started to go wrong for us. Ye came back well, but a few decisions (by the officials) didn't help, changed the course of the game, from our point of view anyway.

TM: I had been at corner-forward, on Ollie Kilkenny, not having a good day. A fella said to me afterwards, I was the only fella to play against Kilkenny and Galway in the one day in the same All-Ireland final!

JC: You'd know about it when you were on Ollie.

TM: I did, he was hard but fair. We were struggling, but the team had shown in Munster we had the ability to come back, and I felt we were always in with a shout if we got going. It helped that a certain centre-forward, who had a fantastic first half, wasn't as dominant afterwards. I was talking to Jim Cashman today, by the way, he sends his regards.

DO'F: You had words that day as well, with Tony Keady (Galway centre-back, a noted trash-talker himself); what did you say?

TM: Ah, nothing much. I was probably asking him where he was going for a pint that night! In the middle of an All-Ireland final, what do you think? People talk of great half-back lines, and Cork had a good line that day, but Galway had Finnerty, Keady, McInerney, a fantastic line, massive experience, and we had to try to break them down. People still ask, what was said that day with Keady, but things happen in matches, and it's no big deal afterwards. I had run through with a ball before that, took a shot, it ended up in the side netting, and as I came out, I met Keady, we gave each other a bit of a bump, and there was a comment thrown in, he might have said something to me about 1986 all over again (another famous incident, Tomás ran about 20 steps with ball in hand before firing the fatal shot, got away with it). These things are said in the heat of a game, but it was very little. I hadn't seen the man since then, until about three weeks ago, the day of the Galway/Kilkenny All-Ireland semi-final. The first thing we did was give each other a bit of a bump, 15 years on.

JC: There was an incident though, in that final, when Martin Naughton broke in on Ger Cunningham; I was sure that was it, we'd get the goal back, restore our seven-point lead. Cunningham came out, made the save, but I'd love to know, did he have any idea where that ball was going? It hit him right on the bridge of the nose, went wide. Saved a certain goal, but how it was waved wide, I don't know. I went into the umpire, said to him it was surely a 65, but he just ignored me.

TM: But sure you had the referee as well, he's following the play, he saw the shot, saw it cannon off Cunningham, he should have seen it was a definite 65, overruled the umpire. That was a slice of luck and a turning point. A goal there, and Galway were back, it would have finished Cork.

DO'F: Was that the highlight of your career, Tomás?

TM: A good memory, but not the highlight. 1986, the All-Ireland final, that's the one that stands out for me. People talk about the goal I got, and looking back, I did take the few extra steps ... But you tell me the man who doesn't try the occasional stunt, who would have stopped in that situation and gone back with the ball, "ref, that's a free, I took too many steps!"

I didn't give a damn, the flag went up, that was what was important.

DO'F: What about you Joe, your highlight?

JC: The same year, 1986, a week after ye beat us in that final, an U-21 match against Limerick, in Ennis. I was full-forward, I remember taking a free early in the second half, tit-for-tat between the two of us, but I missed it, sent it wide. Limerick had a small fella at corner-back, "good enough for you, you big-headed bollix!" he said. Well, I said to myself, you'll regret that before this game is out. I switched to midfield, said to McInerney and Malone (Galway half-backs) inside, whatever happens, nothing else is passing midfield. And it didn't, we won it well in the end. Afterwards, there was a big piece in the paper saying bringing me from full-forward to midfield won the game! But everything went right for me after that free, it was like the first half of that Cork game in 1990.

DO'F: So it's not always the big day?

JC: No, but you know the day everything goes right for you. That day in 1990, even though everything went right for me in the first half, we came out the wrong side of the result. In '86, we beat Limerick in the U-21s, then beat Wexford in the final.

DO'F: What was it like in 1987 when you won your first senior title?

JC: You never dream something like that is going to happen, especially beating Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. It wasn't a great final, but that didn't matter.

TM: Did you give a shite? Ye'd lost in the finals of '85 and '86, could have lost three-in-a-row; it was the same with us in '84, we'd lost the finals of '82 and '83 to Kilkenny. That's not a nice tag to carry, you don't mind how you end it, the big thing is to go up the steps, collect the McCarthy Cup.

DO'F: Two All-Ireland final losses to Cork, '86 and '90, that ye should have won, more down the years; do you ever look at Cork and think, the bastards, everything goes their way?

JC: I suppose, occasionally, but a lot of their success is down to experience, able to do the simple things under pressure, come out the right side of the result, where we seem to have to work twice as hard to win.

TM: Hold on now Joe, ye've beaten us in the minor championship this year, beaten us at U-21 (Tomás was a Cork selector), at intermediate, all in the All-Ireland semi-final, and on Sunday it's the seniors. People have criticised Galway for not capitalising on all their talent, but they're starting to do it, and irrespective of what happens on Sunday, the future looks bright for Galway.

DO'F: Do ye like the direction the game is taking?

TM: I was down watching Cork training recently, and how things have changed. Ground hurling was a big thing for us, Johnny Clifford used to drill us on it, you could spend three-quarters of an hour, an hour, up and down the field, moving the ball first time on the ground, left and right. Now, everything is isolated, specific drills for different skills. They're learning from other sports, introducing ideas, keeping it fresh, keeping the enthusiasm. It's almost frightening to see how much it's changed. Where teams used to train together, the whole group, now you go down to Páirc Ui Chaoimh, the goalkeepers are working on their own, the backs are coached by someone else, the forwards at the other end of the pitch, all focusing on their own weaknesses, their own needs. Very professional, fascinating to see.

JC: The emphasis now is on speed. If you weren't the fastest in the world one time, you wouldn't get lost, as long as you had the skills. Now, if you haven't speed, you're in trouble.

DO'F: Who's going to win tomorrow?

JC: It's going to be very close, but very hard for Galway to win. A lot depends on the Cork appetite. They've been around for a while, and even when you think the appetite is still there, you're bound to be a little tired, bound to be taking things a little bit easier. Galway should have the edge in sharpness, for that reason. Whether they'll be cute enough, whether they'll have enough good hurlers to finish off Cork, we'll have to wait and see. The two teams are very similar, midfield especially, all four can score, move the ball. I'd love to see us winning, but being realistic, you'd be more hopeful than confident.

TM: Based on Galway's performances to date, they have the pace and the hurling to match Cork, but I can't see Cork conceding the scores Kilkenny conceded the last day. There's a lot of talk about the strength of the Cork half-back line, but I think their full-back line has been particularly good this year, and that's their strong point. As for the hunger, this is Cork's third All-Ireland final in a row; you know yourself Joe, you lose one, you win one, there's always an appetite for more, and I don't think that will be a factor for Cork. The one thing I'd fear about Galway, they've proved this year they're not a one-game wonder, win a big game, then lose the next. This team is for real, proven through the qualifiers, in their last two big games. But I still fancy Cork.