’Never forget this day’
Such logic makes you think that every hurler in the county must be here in front of you and perhaps it’s true as, depending on who you ask, there are either one-and-a-half or two-and-a-half clubs in the place. Between the adrenaline-riddled cocktail of nerves and excitement, no definite answer emerges.
It’s 8.30 on the morning of the Lory Meagher Cup final and the team is sitting in the breakfast room of the Regency Hotel near Croke Park. In the corner, the joint managers are telling tales of days out with the county, good and bad. “We won a junior All Ireland in 1994 in Ruislip,” recalls Seán Duffy, then a player. “It was 100 degrees. Ireland were playing in similar heat at the World Cup the same day but at least they were getting paid for melting.” “It’s not all glory though,” laughs Seamus McCusker. “A few years ago we played a minor game in Donegal. We only had 14 and there was one guy there with us, in his mid-20s, just out of prison and we said we’d try get away with it. No one noticed but he was the worst player on the field.” Such memories make today all the more special.
