The small matter of Deane and Davy...

FOR years, they’ve represented all that’s best in their respective counties, represented the hopes, the dreams and occasionally the heartache.

Two of the smallest men in hurling. And two of the biggest stars, with two of the biggest hearts. They are Joe Deane, corner forward for Cork and Davy Fitzgerald, guardian of the net for Clare.

In 1990 Fitzy made his Munster championship debut against Limerick. Six years later Deano came on the scene for Cork, against the same opposition. Since then, both have become favoured sons of their respective supporters, with every act on the field cheered to the echo.

Fitzy’s bursts onto the field have become the stuff of legend, and he did it again yesterday — the mad diagonal dash from dugout to posts, the lash off the crossbar, firing up his team with little individual hurley taps across various parts of the anatomy. He’s fiery, confrontational, fiercely competitive and the talisman for this Clare team.

Deano? Well, Deane is Deane, not at all as fiery as the Clare man but just as competitive.

Yesterday in Semple Stadium, as near as can happen in a 15-man game, they came head to head. Their first confrontation came in the 12th minute. Having caught a long Diarmuid O’Sullivan delivery behind the back of Gerry O’Grady, Deane turned and headed straight for goal with one thing on his mind. From 20 yards, he picked his spot and shot towards the top corner. Fitzy reacted, instantly, dived to his right, made the save and then saved again from the inrushing Brian Corcoran.

It was first blood to Fitzy, and how the Clare thousands cheered.

“If that goal had gone in the first half it would have been nice,” said Deane. “I thought I was going to be hooked. I kind of mishit it, but it was still a superb save. You must give him all the credit in the world.”

Given Davy’s renowned penchant for winding up the opposition, did they exchange any pleasantries afterwards? “Not after the save,” Deane grinned. “But later on, there was alright.”

That came later in the game, much later. When Fitzy made that wonder save, Clare were well in control, leading 0-6 to 0-2, and by the time that chat came, in the 68th minute, it was a very different scenario.

The save that should have inspired Clare seemed instead to galvanise Cork, and off they went on a scoring spree. They hit points before the break, nine more thereafter. 0-19 to 0-13 it was with just minutes to go in regular time, eight of those points by the mighty Deane.

He was on fire, winning ball to which he had no right; one minute he was launching his stocky frame to the heights to take one over the head of his marker, turning and scoring; the next he’s on the end line, stealing a ball that at one moment looked dead, at another looked like it had been won by his marker, making an angle, again shooting between the posts.

It was exhibition stuff, and all this time all Davy can do is look and watch.

IN THE 68th minute, however, after a Cork shot had gone wide, Davy went to take a quick puckout. And suddenly, a bit of argy-bargy developed.

“I tried to stop him taking a quick puckout and he didn’t appreciate it,” Deane explained. “It was nothing really, just a bit of banter.”

To the respective sets of fans it looked a little more, but really, that was all it was. Fitzy was awarded a free, drove it a distance. Much to the delight of the jeering Cork fans it tailed off, over the sideline. To rub it in even more, the ball was worked up the line to Deane, who won possession wide left and, under serious pressure, nonchalantly launched a left-handed missile between the posts.

The real measure of these two greats, however, isn’t just what they do on the field; it’s how they behave once the final whistle sounds. No malice, no hangover.

“Ah, we had a chat afterwards, it’s all in the 70 minutes of hurling,” said Deane. “Everyone gives it their all but once the whistle blows it’s over. We’d know each other, we’re both playing quite a while now. They’ve got the better of us, we’ve got the better of them, but when it’s over, we’ll all shake hands and go home.”

The difference yesterday was that Joe Deane goes home to a county feeling good about itself, with a Championship challenge well on track.

“We try to get as much out of it as we can on the Championship day. The quickest way to win an All-Ireland is to play five games in the summer, peak five times, and that shouldn’t be beyond any team.”

Davy Fitz? In his 17th season between the posts for Clare, he hasn’t lost a step, not a millisecond in reaction time, not a jot of that fighting spirit; he has, however, lost a few kindred spirits out the field.

Oh, what he would do for someone like Joe Deane in his own colours.