Mike Quirke: Replay one monumental kick in the groin for pumped-up players

An All-Ireland final going to a replay is like a kid counting down the sleeps waiting for Santa Claus to deliver the presents, only to run down the stairs and burst in the sitting room door on Christmas morning to be greeted by a sign saying ‘sorry kid, we’re out of stuff, call back in two weeks’.

Mike Quirke: Replay one monumental kick in the groin for pumped-up players

There isn’t much in the life of an inter-county player that is more frustrating than a drawn championship game. There you are with the ‘going-out’ clothes all neatly folded away in the bag. Work has been squared away for the following day. Your partner is all sorted and booked into the hotel and is looking forward to a great night. It’s a kind of release, a full stop, after training from January and then stressing and building yourself in anticipation for one football game, you’re ready for it to end.

You want a conclusion. But when it finishes like it did last Sunday, without a result… it is a monumental kick in the groin. I thought the sudden silence that fell in Croke Park at the final whistle beautifully captured the empty feeling of every player and supporter in the stadium. It leaves you in limbo, unsure of how to compute what has just happened.

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