‘We played some stuff !’
Limerick’s Donie Ryan was drained, out on his feet, but there was one last kick in him. “Ah God lads it’s a great day — but ye media fellas know nothing about hurling!”
It wasn’t a sharp kick, nor a mean-spirited one. A knowledgeable thinking man across a broad sweep of sports, Donie knows this game, understands that on all known form, Waterford had to be favoured for yesterday’s semi-final. There are some elements, however, that aren’t as obvious as others, and Donie had an inside track denied to us pundits.
“We knew in our heart and soul that we were coming here to win, there was never a doubt in our minds. We knew in the Munster final we did as good as Waterford and we didn’t play well, conditions were bad.
“But we played some stuff today! Our backs were unbelievable!
“But sure we have no chance now at all against Kilkenny…” and he was laughing at us again.
About those backs though — funny to hear a forward who had contributed 2-0 from a thumping 5-11, heaping praise on the backs. But it was repeated.
“Ah, our backs were awesome — lads, every Waterford fella will be sore for a month I’d say! Our full-back line — awesome! We have to mark them in training, we know what it’s like. Lads they were awesome!”
That they were, Donie, that they were, but talk us through your two goals.
“I was here two weeks ago and I got a lucky break for a goal (he got 1-1 against Clare) — does it happen twice? Does it happen three times? Begs (Brian Begley) — is an animal of a man on the edge of the square. If you stood two or three yards off him, you can be lucky, you can be unlucky — I was lucky. In fairness, he deserves all the credit for the second goal, he brought the ball along the endline and threw it over. Sure I was lucky, I played a bit of tennis there in Hospital and my old back-hand served me well (he doubled on that one, to add to a one-handed forehand for the first goal). But I still can’t believe it — what did we win by anyway?” Four points Donie. “I can’t believe it — awesome. But we knew this morning lads, this team is unbelievable. I’ve been around the county scene a while, never seen a bunch of lads like this.
And every one of us was at Mass this morning — that has to stand for something! Four points up at half-time, but I thought it was better we played in the second half. In training we were saying, 10 minutes into the second half, if we were a point or two down and we could make a dog-fight of it, we felt we’d have a great chance. But I’ll tell ye one thing lads, we did play some hurling out there today, definitely the best hurling we’ve played this decade anyway.”
And now Donie, ye only have to do it all over again against Kilkenny.
“Nah,” he laughs, walking away, then throws this back over his shoulder, “Handy one in the final!”
Two-goal hero then, man-of-the-match? No; that honour could have fallen to any of those backs praised so colourfully by Donie, to corner-back Seamus Hickey or team captain Damien Reale particularly, it could have gone to the aforementioned Begs, big Brian Begley on the edge of the square, for all the damage created.
Instead it goes to yet another two-goal hero — 2-7 to be exact. It goes to Andrew O’Shaughnessy. 1-6 in a first-half that set the tone for Limerick, the goal a tribute to his ambition, to his courage. Many a top forward would have settled for the point, for the sure score, not Shaughs. He knows the value of a goal, knew especially the value of a goal again in the second half, when Limerick were awarded a penalty. Five minutes to go, Waterford having fought their way back to within a point, again the point would have been the certain option, the easy option; again Shaughs scorned such a cop-out, went for the goal, went for the jugular. And again that courage paid off.
This guy, you see, doesn’t do cop- out. And never did.
He explained: “We got our opportunities, obviously it will be different against Kilkenny, we might or we mightn’t get as many chances, we might have to take our points or our frees or whatever. But when you get your goal chances you mustn’t be afraid to take them. You get those chances, especially in the full-forward line; you get the ball in your hand, and if you can pass your man there’s a huge opportunity for a goal.
“It’s all about your first touch — and if you go past your man, fair enough, if you don’t, put it over the bar. We got those chances as well in the second half but we were blocked down or hooked. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t — but you keep trying.”
That’s the philosophy that has had the Cats at or near the top for the past 10 years, that determination to go for goal when the opportunity presents itself, the killer players like DJ in his pomp, like Eddie Brennan, like Henry Shefflin, like Willie O’Dwyer, Richie Power, a whole assembly-line of them; that’s the philosophy that has powered Waterford this year, a power that was only barely contained yesterday.
That’s the power Limerick now possess, in that lethal inside line of O’Shaughnessy/Begley/Ryan. That’s the power Kilkenny will now face in three weeks, even if most people fancied Waterford, would have given the men from the Decies a bigger chance, a proposition accepted by O’Shaughnessy.
“Well they did beat Kilkenny in the league final, they have been playing the more attractive hurling — their games against Cork were far superior (to ours). But it’s not all about how good you hurl either, it’s about how dedicated you are, how focused you are, how concentrated you are down on the field.”
And how brave you are, Andrew, how brave you are.
Fortune still favours those who go for the jugular.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
