Cuala and Errigal Ciarán give a glimpse of what the new game can’t afford to lose
CUALA BOS: Cuala players celebrate with the trophy after their side's victory in the AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Club Championship final. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile.
Farewell then, Gaelic football as we knew it.
There will be remote jolts before the new age completely commanders the country, but it will never be like this again. 31,267 in Croke Park in search of an enthralling primetime showdown. Wowee, did they get it.
The story of this remarkable All-Ireland isn’t just Cuala completing an All-Ireland set, joining Cork's St Finbarr's as the only two clubs to have won All-Ireland senior titles in both codes.
Nor is it Errigal Ciarán’s immense heart to come from 14 points down just before half-time to three down with three minutes left.
The story too is how they did it, how they showed what we are leaving behind on this march to a new era and what we should strive to preserve.
They started like a club playing in their debut All-Ireland final from a county that has never had an All-Ireland SFC club final representative. Their basic execution broke down with severe consequences. Few club teams have ever been able to counter-attack with such pace and power and pure ruthlessness as Cuala can.
Errigal Ciarán tried to get their fast plays going only to get captured in the Michael Fitzsimons-shaped trap. The Dublin stalwart was deployed as a sweeper early doors with Danny Conroy marking Darragh Canavan close to goal. It was Fitzsimons who stripped Peter Harte prior to Cal Doran delivering the first green flag of the final.
The Tyrone star’s final regrettably came to a close after 22 minutes when he took a heavy knock to the head. Manager Enda McGinley would later reveal that his brother Ruairi was also on his way to hospital having looked ‘dazed’ during the post-game formalities.
Cuala continued to blitz forward in a controlled frenzy. David O’Dowd’s goal was elite team play, effective and entertaining. Athleticism has always been a prized asset in the big house and it is about to become even more valuable under the new rules. The task for Enda McGinley’s underdogs wasn’t to stick with them. They had to first absorb them.
Doing that has always been tricky. Doing that in a game designed to create more space and more scoring could prove preposterous. A high-scoring sport like hurling has fewer shocks because of its intrinsic nature. Just consider the opening fixture on Sunday. Sarsfields couldn’t find a way to dig in and stem the tide.
McGinley sent a team out in the second half who pressed high on set pieces and dropped deep in play. They mirrored Cuala’s inclination to protect the D ruthlessly. The outstanding Con O’Callaghan and Conroy conceded consecutive frees in the second half for simply refusing to let a man go past them in the scoring zone.
They knew they had the ability. Despite a dreadful first half, the Andy Merrigan Cup was still attainable. All of them knew where they were at half-time.
“There was an acceptance it was a disaster of a first half,” McGinley explained in his press conference. “The team froze but there was a reality check that Cuala are good, but they are not that much better than us. We are not that bad.
"Whatever was going on in the first half, it was not because we were playing against a team that was too much for us. That meant it was on us to settle ourselves and just go.”
Much of this will not change. The devastating way Cuala can attack through the hands will persist in the future. Even with three up, not every team will favour a kicking game.
No one can say for certain what the new version of Gaelic football will look like and really that is wonderful. Previously winners set the trend. There is no format now. Weeks and months of experimentation and discovery lie ahead.
The point is that in the search for knowledge, there should be space for teams to find a way to cling on. Slow it down, find a footing, keep in the fight.
That might mean the odd boring passage or deep-lying defence. Errigal Ciaran goalkeeper Darragh McAnenly had a noticeable impact after the turnaround. That is what they needed. Others will need it again.
There was plenty more besides that demonstrated what is magnificent about Gaelic football. Peter Harte landed points with both feet but his best shot of all was a top corner corker from 20 metres. He spun Charlie McMorrow and looked up to see Ryan Scollard hugging his near post. The Cuala goalkeeper didn’t even try to dive for it. It was sensational.
What of the courage and class? Three points down with the clock in the red, Padraig McGirr went for goal only for Con O’Callaghan to throw his body at the ball. It broke and Cuala countered, with O’Callaghan eventually creating the final point for Conor Groake.
None of this is to say the game doesn’t need fixing. The last two weeks of gripping club clashes simply served as reminders of things that we don’t want to lose in the process.
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