Standing in their boots

MUNSTER won the Heineken Cup this year. There was a World Cup in Germany. Europe won the Ryder Cup, for the, er, honour of the little continent. Presumably the Premiership was completed. You’d maybe assume that even a man who loves hurling might find a sporting highlight in there somewhere.

Not even close. My highlight came in Croke Park in August, featuring the same two teams who’ve featured every year since I started offering an annual highlight. No matter, the company is good: when the great photographer Louis MacMonagle was taken to task by this newspaper long ago for supplying too many snaps of Christy Ring, he solemnly replied that every picture showed Ring getting a score but promised that he’d speak to the Cloyne man and sort it out.

Cork and Waterford fought out a heart-stopper in last August’s All-Ireland hurling semi-final, a game still undecided when Tony Browne won the ball late on in midfield. Ben O’Connor arrived to contest, and the referee blew for a Waterford free. Cork were a point up, injury time had almost run out, so if Ken McGrath could put it between the posts there’d certainly be a replay.