Lifting the lid on the pride of Peterswell

He is quiet and unassuming but Anthony Cunningham can let fly in a dressing-room — usually starts with the strongest player and working his way back, says John Fallon

There was an audible chuckle from one of the locals down at the back of the hall at the Galway hurling press night recently when a national newspaper reporter prefaced a question to Anthony Cunningham asking him what he thought about something ‘given your football background’.

To many, Cunningham’s elevation to a manager on All-Ireland hurling final day has come as a result of the unprecedented success at county and provincial level with football teams in Roscommon and Westmeath.