Good hurlers come out in the rain during Semple Stadium classic
On a weekend when practically every sport from athletics to soccer had a showpiece occasion and a chance to puff out its chest, Thurles produced one of those classics that confirmed hurling snobs’ every prejudice.
Yesterday’s All-Ireland hurling quarter-final had a ticket to the semi-finals for the winners, but there were other issues at stake as well.
Limerick versus Kilkenny was both a battle for the ages and a fight for the future: An opportunity for this season and a platform to announce one’s intentions for the next few years as well.
Limerick held their nerve and beat Kilkenny to the tape, overcoming a late Richie Hogan goal to outscore the Cats by five points to one in the last 10 minutes. Their winning margin would have been far greater had Eoin Murphy not produced a highlight reel of superb saves, denying Limerick at least four goals.
The Shannonsiders’ boss, John Kiely, pointed out after the game that there were no medals given out in Semple Stadium, but Murphy surely left for home with an All-Star-shaped space in his gearbag.
Before we go any further, though, a word about the conditions. After some weeks of sunshine which reduced the country to near-hysteria in its hunt for Calippos and Magnum Classics, Thurles was wet yesterday, which obviously tested the players’ ability to control the ball.
There’s a fallacious belief abroad, however, that wet conditions somehow equalise matters and may even favour the less skilful side. This collapses under the faintest nudge of logic. Anything which challenges touch and handling only brings the better, more skilful players to the fore, a theme beloved of one of Cork’s great hurlers early in the last century: The good hurlers come out in the rain, not the bad.
Thus, yesterday, Richie Hogan’s stunning goal was a fair testament to his skills, as were the 24 scores that Limerick got from play. One of the placed balls scored a long-distance sideline from Darragh O’Donovan, the kind of strike that would have stopped the traffic 10 years ago, but now comes as regularly as Ryanair.
So much for the verities. The theorems of the era got a good airing yesterday, as well, as Kilkenny made a nonsense of the third-week-in-a-row slump early on, or perhaps they showed the sharpness that comes with repeated outings.
As the first half wore on, however, Limerick showed their conditioning. When they upped the physical stakes, in terms of increasing the pace, Kilkenny struggled to hold onto their tails. At 15 minutes it was 0-6 to 0-2, with Limerick still coming to terms with the game; within six minutes the sides were level and Limerick led by three at the half, 0-15 to 0-12.
When Brian Cody and his management team look back at the 10 minutes following the restart, it’s likely to be through their fingers, however. Kilkenny bossed that period of the game, but hit seven wides and one point. Given how close the game was at the end, there will be some head-shaking on Noreside this morning.
Against that, Limerick can point to the goal chances they spurned. John Kiely and his backroom team will be encouraged by the creation of those chances and will be keen their charges absorb the correct lessons. In the second half, for instance, Aaron Gillane could have gone further for his chance and given Eoin Murphy more to do. The goalkeeper’s manager offered a reasoned précis afterwards.
“It was a very good game and there was serious spirit shown by both teams,” said Cody. “Obviously conditions changed from what they had been for the past five or six weeks almost, so the ball was greasy and slippery and that was par for the course for all players.
“We started off decently, we got a couple of nice scores, and they came back strongly and dominated the last 15 minutes of the first half and, again in the second half, I thought we went in strongly and created some very good chances.
“Obviously, we got a goal at a very crucial time, but I thought their response was terrific. From our point of view I thought we were excellent in so many facets of the play: Attitude-wise, spirit-wise, and hurling-wise.
“We created a huge amount of scoring opportunities, I would say. Unfortunately, they weren’t all converted, but that’s par for the course.”
His opposite number, John Kiely, didn’t bite when asked if his side’s response to the Kilkenny goal was a defining period for the team in general, not just in the game.
“I don’t think so, no. It just qualifies us to go another step along the road.
“You could look at any number of key moments this year — our performance above in Galway in the last 15 minutes, our performance against Tipperary, our performance in Cork with 14 men and our captain gone off — there have been a load of moments one could describe as key moments.
“The most overriding factor is these guys keep demonstrating ferocious qualities, like honesty, leadership, and calmness on the ball, working on the ball.
“Those are the defining attributes of the team. There’s no such thing, for us, as a defining moment for the team.”
Accepting Kiely’s bona fides, however, there was a sense of a team coming into its kingdom yesterday in Semple Stadium.
Limerick needed the win and they got it, despite the level of expectation. That they got the win by applying the game plan even after Hogan’s sucker punch rather than scratching out a lucky winner underscores their credentials.
For Kilkenny the disappointment will soon dissipate. Expectations were low in the southeast during the springtime, but the summer has been one of progress, with a raft of young players earning their spurs on the field of play (one question, though: Why do all these promising Kilkenny youngsters seem to carry themselves, in running and striking, like Richie Power?).
There were other takeaways from yesterday in Thurles. Bring back the double-header All-Ireland quarter-finals, for one. The atmosphere was decent in Semple Stadium but even the 10,000-and-change in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday would have ratcheted up the temperature.
The refereeing — by James McGrath — could do with consistency as well. At times, he was picky, though he did well to penalise (correctly) some throwing of the ball. At others, he seemed to be rehearsing The Purge, with practically every felony given a free pass for short periods.
You can make your own mind up about what the game tells you about the strength of the provinces. There are three Munster teams in the All-Ireland semi-final and one Leinster side from Connacht, but can you say with complete assurance the standard is that much higher in the south than the east? I think not.
This is not the time and place to discuss the World Cup final, Wimbledon or the Super 8s. Or the rowing. Or the athletics.
Neither is it where we puzzle out the pros and cons of moving the dates of the All-Ireland finals.
It is the place to say that the winner of this year’s All-Ireland will have earned it, and then some.
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