Spirit, experience and determination may take you a long ways in a hurling match, but they will still be beaten when matched by the same qualities in your opponents and topped up by a superior level of skill and talent, writes An Fear Rua …

This is a key lesson of the All Ireland senior hurling final of 2002 and one that must be taken to heart by any county that aspires to displacing Kilkenny from their elevated throne.

We knew Clare were in trouble before the game had even begun. There was a Fógra Práinne: ’Would the driver of the Clare bus please return to the vehicle immediately’. What had gone wrong, we wondered. In his haste to deposit the team on time had the misfortunate driver double parked on Bertie’s Mercedes … or blocked off an angry resident in Fitzroy Avenue … Had Cyril Lyons left his reading glasses on the back seat … or was Louis Mulqueen still busy in the on-board toilet when the bus was locked and parked on arrival at Croke Park? Whatever the reason, it did not augur well for Clare’s prospects on the day.

For stretches, until the mid-point of the second half, the game looked uncannily like a replay of Clare’s semi-final against Waterford, except this time their opponents we wearing black-and-amber jerseys. There was that early goal. There was that strong early lead again, with Clare slow to start. But the familiar script started to unravel a bit just before half time when Niall Gilligan’s sure-fire chance of a goal was narrowly pointed over the bar. Instead of going in with a ‘do-able’ deficit of 1-11 to 1-8, Clare found themselves six points down instead.

Again, the Clare classic script calls for a whirlwind start to the second half, and sure enough, the Banner lads produced it. In the first fifteen minutes of the second moiety, Clare held the Cats to a single point from a free. Baker – his arrival in the twentieth minute of the first half had lifted Clare - and Colin Lynch began to get a better break of the ball against Kilkenny’s Comerford and Lyng at mid-field. At the back, the tactic that worked so well against Waterford was again paying off. The Clare backs hunted in packs of three or four, with a loose man picking up the ball and clearing it. At times, there were as many as eight players from both sides ‘mullocking’ for the sliothar around the Clare halfback line and mid-field. As long at that continued, Clare were content.

Twenty minutes to go, and Clare were only a goal behind – 1-12 to 0-12. That Gilligan first half missed goal was starting to hurt. Now came the test of character that Waterford failed so dismally in the semi-final against Clare. Would Comerford and Lyng fade at mid-field and would Kilkenny succumb to the smothering tactics of Clare at the back, while the Banner forwards eked out point after to point to finally pull them ahead?

Henry Shefflin had the answer. In the fiftieth minute of play, as Kilkenny dithered, he grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and fired over a point from play. Shortly afterwards, he scored another from a free. Not to be outdone by the young lad from Ballyhale, Dennis Joseph Carey, in the shadow of the Hogan, took the ball on the tip of his hurley – and without putting a hand to the slitothar – pirouetted a classic point over the bar. It alone was worth the €45 entrance money.

After that, Kilkenny relaxed and their game flowed once more with the grace of the opening half. The richness of this Kilkenny team effort was underlined when – shortly afterwards – manager Brian Cody called Charlie Carter and Brian McEvoy off the subs’ bench and put them in play. Within minutes, both had pointed in combination with each other. With subs like these, how could any team be beaten?

There was a huge cheer when it was announced that Gerry Quinn would take the number seven position for Clare, having recovered from a hand injury sustained in the semi-final. In fact, Quinn outshone even the Lohans in the Clare defence and all hurling fans will rejoice at his miraculous return to the game so soon. The reports from Clare had led us to believe we might never again see him in a Banner jersey. Ollie Baker more than justified his inclusion, Davy Fitzgerald was as competitive as ever, but apart from those two, the rest of the panel did not perform up to the expected standard. On the other hand, every Kilkenny player was a star and as many as five of them – Mullally, Larkin, Comerford, Carey or Shefflin – had justifiable claims to the title of ‘Man of the Match’

Kilkenny led from start to finish. They displayed classic hurling economy by creating twenty-five chances, scoring twenty-two of them and only sending three wide. That’s the kind of ratio that wins you a 27th All Ireland title and your first League and Championship double since 1983.

Having been critical of Aodán MacSuibhne’s refereeing in the past, it is only fair to record that he did an excellent job in his first final. He took ‘bull’ from no one, and nearly always had the correct balance between asserting authority and allowing the game to flow, thus adding greatly to the spectators’ enjoyment.

For Clare, the only consolation is that they probably had the better of the set dancing display before the big game. But, sure, we wouldn’t expect less from them…

Related Topic:
Desperate Déise, Dubious Clare