Scores aplenty but truly a final to forget

LOOKS like it was a classic, doesn’t it? Eighteen scores apiece, just four points separating them at the end, another in a long line of epic Munster senior hurling finals, yes?

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the GAA, all the bunting and banners were in place for a day of old-fashioned pageantry, the Artane Band graced Semple Stadium with their own storied presence, down from Dublin for the day. Even the rain, which had fallen in buckets before the start of the minor game between the same two counties, held off. After a thunder-and-lightning start, however, the game soon blew itself out, eventually became just another damp squib; even if it wasn’t quite over at half-time, at which point Tipp led by nine points, 3-10 to 2-4, it was certainly over just six minutes after the restart, when Lar Corbett’s second goal (the result of another defensive blunder in a game peppered with them) put Tipp 11 points clear.

The final four-point margin? Deceptive, very deceptive, Tipperary surrendering six points to Waterford in the final 10 minutes of almost uncontested play. A pity, and for the thousands of loyal Waterford fans who again turned up with real hope, those hopes cruelly dashed.