Christy O'Connor: Underdog Rebels almost wrote their comic book ending
Dublin's Brian Fenton tangles with Tommy Walsh of Cork. Picture: INPHO/Evan Treacy
The endgame was like the last few images of a comic book strip, without having to wait until the next edition to see if the ending actually worked out the way the underdog, and everyone rooting for them, wanted the story to conclude.
When Luke Fahy launched a Hail-Mary ball into the Dublin square in the last minute of additional time, Brian Tyers in his TG4 commentary mentioned Tadhgie Murphy, the name Cork people always refer to when seeking to reinvoke the iconic memory and desire to relive it anytime Cork need a late goal to win a game.
Mentioning Murphy’s name was all the more appropriate yesterday considering his late goal in the 1983 Munster final against Kerry ultimately set up the famous Cork-Dublin All-Ireland semi-final replay in Páirc Ui Chaoimh.
After Jack McCaffrey won the dropping ball, Cork managed to turn it over before Maurice Shanley set up the chance for Daniel O’Mahony to pull the trigger and relive that modern Tadhgie moment (albeit not as heroically as Mark Keane did against Kerry at the same end in 2020) but the ball was brilliantly stopped by a diving block from Tom Lahiff.
Dublin countered but Colm Basquel missed the chance to put Dublin three ahead and Cork came raiding from the kickout. Conor Corbett offloaded to Brian Hurley, who suddenly had the chance to re-enact that Tadhgie moment.
He was forced to shoot from an acute angle with two Dublin defenders closing in. Hurley still got serious power on the shot but goalkeeper David O’Hanlon got a touch on the ball to deflect it on to the post before it bounced out and Dublin smuggled it clear. The final whistle instantly blew. If it was a comic book story, the illustrator would have stopped just as Hurley was drawing back his left foot.
The way in which Cork went after Dublin when trailing by five points and being a man down midway through the second half underlined the potential in this team, and how well set up they now are since shipping three goals on the opening day against Meath.
Two clean sheets and Cork’s much more organised defensive system, and attitude and approach, has been enhanced by a much slicker and cohesive counter-attacking game. Their long kickpassing into the full-forward line yielded 1-2 in the first half and almost another goal, which was disallowed for a square ball. Cork’s second goal from Mattie Taylor also originated from a Dublin turnover.
Cork gave Dublin the short kickout all day but Cork also won all but one of their own restarts, which included seven long kickouts. Cork dominated possession for long periods. They had three more shots than Dublin (29-26) but their conversion rate just wasn’t high enough; Cork’s was a paltry 41% compared to Dublin’s 69%.
Hurley was outstanding; from 16 plays, he scored four points from play, plus a pointed mark, while he was fouled for two converted frees. He will be disappointed to have missed a handy chance by his standards to level the match in the 68th minute, but Hurley nearly wrote the perfect ending.
If the illustrator of a comic-book telling the story had been doing their job properly, the next edition would have been a bumper sell-out.
When Jarlath Óg Burns was only 10, Jerome Quinn interviewed him along with his cousins and uncle after they had played a primary schools game before an Ulster championship match between Armagh and Tyrone. “I really want to be like my Dad because he was a great midfielder,” said Burns. “Unlike him, I can also shoot.” That touch of mischievous wit showed that Jarly Óg already had something about him, and how, despite wanting to emulate his father, he was keen to forge his own identity at such a young age.
That was always going to be difficult when Óg Burns was following such a similar path. He began his career with Armagh as a midfielder, just like his Dad. When St Mary’s reached the 2019 Sigerson Cup final against UCC, Jarly Óg was retracing steps taken by his Dad 30 years earlier. In 1989, Jarlath Snr was a key player on the St Mary’s side that won the Sigerson for the first time against a Maurice Fitzgerald driven UCC outfit.
Comparisons were always inevitable but, before that 2019 Sigerson decider, Burns Snr spoke about wanting his son to have the freedom to continue to write his own story. “Jarly Og’s his own man,” said Jarlath. “The fact that he shares my name, I wouldn’t want that to be a distraction because he’s his own fella. He has his own personality.”
Sons always seek to impress their fathers. That desire to stoke and ignite a father’s pride is often even more pronounced when elite sport is part of their genetic inheritance.
Pedigree may pass on talent but deciding what to do with it will ultimately decide the journeys those sons take. Jarly Óg has always been guided by that inspiration but he is in a unique position now because his father’s achievements have extended far beyond the sporting field, and into a sphere an inter-county player has never occupied before - not in living memory anyway.
Half an hour into yesterday’s Armagh-Roscommon game, the TG4 cameras flashed to Burns Snr sitting in the stand. At half-time, Burns was introduced to the crowd in Dr Hyde Park after being elected as the next GAA President on Friday night.
With his son Jarly Óg on the pitch, the father-son relationship is set to become absolutely unique, but also challenging, for the Burns’, especially if any controversies raise their head around Armagh and Burns Snr has to honestly comment on them the way a GAA President should.
Yet it could also be immensely satisfying if Jarlath Burns finds himself presenting big trophies to Armagh. And a medal to his son.
In his post-match TV interview after the Meath-Derry game on Saturday evening, Meath manager Colm O’Rourke was honest in his assessment of what had just unfolded. “We’re trying to build a team and it’s going to be a rocky road,” he said. “We know where we are. We got a reality check.”
This was a serious wake-up call. After two impressive wins, where Meath scored seven goals in those two matches, Derry were a big step-up. Apart from the difference in systems and philosophies, Derry also showed the disparity in class.
In what was always likely to be a clash of styles, there were long stages when Meath were just schooled. The slickness and panache of Derry’s skill and skill execution in such tricky conditions was on a different level.
Two of Meath’s first three points were scored with minimal pressure applied, which was such a slap in the face to Derry’s game-plan and philosophy that they reacted with a venomous backlash. After that third point, Meath didn’t score again for 32 minutes.
Meath were restricted to just five shots in the first half. Being without their best forward in Shane Walsh was a big blow but the biggest learnings for Meath was the amount of ball they turned over from kicking it down the throat of the Derry defensive beast. In total, Meath turned over the ball 27 times.
Meath’s first two attacks inside the Derry ’45 metre line were turned over by a swarm of Derry bodies. It was obvious by that stage that it was going to be a long and difficult day for Meath and O'Rourke.
And a serious reality check.
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