Waterford’s final disappointment still raw for Kevin Moran

There can’t be many upsides to losing an All-Ireland final but it was put to Kevin Moran yesterday that their loss to Galway had at least avoided the spectacle of John Mullane riding a horse through Waterford City in his birthday suit.

“I have seen him naked enough times now,” said Moran, laughing.

Mullane’s part in the quest for Waterford’s Holy Grail ended with retirement five years ago but his fellow De La Salle clubman shows no sign of calling time after the Déise came within three points of that first senior All-Ireland title since 1959.

One score. It could have been so different — there was a sliding doors moment for Moran yesterday as he rubbed shoulders with Galway captain David Burke at Croke Park for the announcement of PwC as the GAA/GPA All Stars sponsors.

Moran scored 1-1 in the hurling decider but a powerful performance faded as the final quarter gathered pace. Burke managed four points from play and a display that was exemplary from first minute to last. If little separated them that day, then their respective paths have taken them in totally different directions.

Burke has had one evening to himself since. “It’s been hectic the last few weeks,” he said, “but it’s a great complaint.”

For Moran, the All-Ireland final is an occasion that has been confined to a dark cupboard.

He hasn’t looked back at a recording of the game as of yet and probably won’t at all at this stage. “It’s still raw,” he admitted. “Hugely disappointing.”

He teaches in the same school, De La Salle, as Derek McGrath but the pair of them have yet to reference the defeat. Not even once.

“Genuinely, I swear to God. Honestly. I wouldn’t see him that much. There’s 1,200 boys in the school. You’re doing your own thing. You’re busy enough in there. If you’re not in class you’re out getting a bit of lunch and things like that. That’s the truth.”

Still, he couldn’t help but think back to September 3 as he walked through the doors under the Hogan Stand yesterday. Snippets of the day flickered into focus, none more so than the moment midway through the second half when he registered that wide.

Waterford were a point up when he collected the ball in space. He had two choices: Take a quick point or carry it on and try to engineer a goal. He leaned towards the former but the indecision filtered into his execution and the chance was lost.

Galway responded with the next four points and finished the game much the stronger.

Would it have been different if Moran had claimed a point? That’s dangerous territory he is determined not to get mired in. “If you go down that route you would drive yourself demented. You just have to put it to one side for the time being and maybe come back and analyse it, if ever, to be honest. You have to get back to the club and enjoy it.

“Take a bit of time off. Recharge the batteries and start again. It is disappointing but there are lots of fond memories out there as well. It’s ultimately about trying to bridge a huge gap and win the Liam MacCarthy. We just fell a small bit short this year.”

He’s moving on. Trying to anyway. He’d obviously like to see McGrath stay at the helm and for Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh to commit to another epic voyage in 2018 but he won’t be annoying either of them about their intentions for now.

Win or lose, it doesn’t take long for people to turn the page and sneak a peek at the next chapter. Burke found himself yesterday talking about the need for Galway to maybe claim a few more goals when they defend their title but that’s for another day.

Burke is driving to work with a smile on his face these days. People are shaking his hands on the street, some of them people he mentioned in his wonderful acceptance speech who couldn’t let him pass without expressing gratitude for the gesture.

The Galway squad played their 1988 predecessors in a benefit game for Tony Keady’s family shortly after the final. Some of that crew thanked the younger generation for relieving them of their burden as being the last Galway team to bring Liam back with them.

Gerry McInerney picked up his son Gearoid. Burke was on Eanna Ryan. Great craic. Great memories. He‘d heard players in the past say they hadn’t really enjoyed the whole brouhaha. That it had passed them by.

He’s determined not to let that happen to him. He’s right.