‘Another large helpin’ of humble pie there … with lashins’ and lashins’ of thick Kerry cream on it… for Mr. Spillane! Oh, and send it straight up to the Sports Studio on the usual silver platter, with the pot of China tea!’… That was the order flashed down from the RTÉ TV Control Room to the beleaguered Montrose cafeteria late last Sunday afternoon as the redoubtable studio-based footballing expert took careful aim and shot his two feet into flitters, reports An Fear Rua …

By half time in the Tipperary v Cork Munster Football final, Mr Spillane was already nibbling at the humble pie and acknowledging that Tipp were playing extremely well. By the end, he was almost ecstatic in his praise for them. But, before the game had even started he predicted it would simply be ‘no contest’. Tipp, he claimed, had only ‘one and a half forwards’ – Declan Browne and Peter Lambert and no backs at all. Apparently, in Spillane’s not-so-humble opinion, the rest of the Tipp panel would be better off staying at home doing something more in their line, like harvesting apples for Bulmer’s cider in Clonmel. Of course, Spillane’s basic approach to predicting any result is simple: ‘Kerry are the greatest. Therefore anyone who manages to occasionally beat the Kingdom must be super-good.’ And that mantle he placed squarely on Cork’s shoulders in Semple Stadium on Sunday.

Within five minutes of the throw-in, however, it was clear Mr. Spillane had got it badly wrong. Indeed, Tipp played like a team that – by some fluke – had copped the Kerry guru’s remarks on a TV set in their dressingroom just before they took the field, and were determined to make an ass out of him. It was Tipperary who played the bright, open, attacking football and were technically and temperamentally superior to Cork. Within the first six minutes they chalked up three fine points without reply. By the tenth minute, they were leading 0-5 to 0-1. Throughout the game Tipperary’s work rate and ambition were apparent in abundance. Even when Cork had gone ahead decisively – thanks to two flukey goals – the Premier men calmly and surely hauled themselves back into contention with two frees from Browne, a point from Paul Cahill and a goal by Benny Hickey eleven minutes into the second half. Tipperary’s performance on Sunday was such that, under their stylish and astute Manager, Tom McGlinchey, nothing is impossible in the replay, even at Porky Keev.

Probably two individual players contributed more than most to this result. Fair enough, many commentators will note the scoring exploits of the brilliant Browne and Lambert for Tipperary. But it was Colin Corkery’s coolness that kept Cork in the game, allied to two uncharacteristic fumbles by Tipp’s goalkeeper Philly Ryan, who made the Rebels a gift of extremely soft goals. But for those goals, a new page of footballing history would have been written at Semple on Sunday.

Tipperary’s magnificent Munster final performance must be seen in context, in the same setting as Limerick’s fantastic display against Mayo in the Qualifiers game. Like Tipp against Cork, Limerick were ambitious and energetic and – provided they maintain their momentum – they will not be far off the pace from some kind of honours next year.

From the mid-Nineties onwards – on the backs of great All Ireland wins by Clare and Wexford – the national ‘meeja’ focus has very much been on the revival of interest and excitement in hurling. Yet, one of the largely unheralded aspects of Dis Great Asssosheeayshun Of Ours over the same period of time has been the levelling up of inter-county footballing standards, most notably in Munster. Not much more improvement is needed and next year’s Munster football championship could be at least a four horse race, with both Waterford and Clare also having the potential to influence the final shake-up as well.

In AFR’s view, a number of factors have been influential in attaining this happy outcome. In all the so-called hurling counties of Munster there have always been pockets of the county where football has reigned supreme and where hope of a breakthrough was never lost. Limerick, specifically, seem to have planned and implemented an under-age development policy extremely effectively. By allowing footballing champions from the so-called ‘weaker’ counties to test themselves against the best in other counties, the AIB Club championships have been a factor in raising standards all round. Added impetus has been given by the mixing of students from ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ counties in the preparation and coaching of panels representing the various third level colleges in their competitions. And, of course, the new format of the Qualifiers arrived just in time to allow the fruits of these other positive developments to blossom.

However, one county above all others must now look to its impoverished role – or rather, non-role, in championship football. This is a county whose sideboards are laden down with championship silverware, whose people could find their way to Croke Park blindfolded; a county that has provided some of the legendary names of the GAA. But all in hurling. If strong hurling counties like Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Offaly, Waterford, Clare – and footballing counties like Laois, Dublin, Westmeath and Meath – can make the effort consistently to field passable senior teams in both championship hurling and football, when can we expect the same of …. Kilkenny? After Limerick in Roscommon, and Tipperary in Thurles this weekend, there is no excuse left, nor no hiding place for the Kilkenny county board.

Who knows? If Kilkenny had the courage of their convictions and produced a senior football team in the 2003 championship, even they might get a chance to make Mr. Spillane swallow some more large helpins’ of humble pie … with lashins’ and lashins’ of Kerry cream on it, rich and thick, just like himself …

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