fantastic day in croke park yesterday. got my ticket to see cork win back to back titles in glorious sunshine against a fantastic Galway team



12/09/05
30 steps to heaven

By Michael Moynihan, Croke Park
TURNS out they fooled us all. Cork put All-Irelands back to back yesterday, repeating the results of 1986 and 1990 by replicating the Cork style of old.

For the last couple of years, hurling neocons in the deep south have lamented the loss of the direct ball, sacrificed for the new running game. Yesterday Croke Park hosted a revival of that old-time religion, and there was no shortage of believers. Rumours that the Cork full-forward line might not go grey with age waiting for the ball yesterday were circulating on Leeside earlier in the week, and they were proved right.

Exhibit A for the conversion was Ben O'Connor's goal: Diarmuid O'Sullivan attacked the ball and found space in front of the Galway goal with his quick delivery. Ben O'Connor had a lot to do, cutting towards the corner flag as Ollie Canning bore down on him with uncharitable intent, but the Newtownshandrum man's finish was immaculate.

"We were trying to get the ball into the full-forward line faster," said O'Connor after the game.

"We'd done a good bit of speed work in training and we decided to concentrate on getting the ball in that bit faster. That might be only a split-second faster, but it all counts. We didn't abandon our game plan altogether, we only hit the long ball when it was the right thing to do."

If that surprised spectators, the second half was often Old Testament Cork Hurling. Selector Ger Cunningham, the keeper in 1986 and 1990, must have been nodding in approval of his successor's strategy after the break, because Donal Óg Cusack simply bombed the ball into the heart of the Galway defence. With Tom Kenny and Jerry O'Connor rampaging forward, Galway began to crack, pressed back until they were defending the D on the 21 from aerial assault. Against another midfield pairing, Galway might have survived, but Kenny and O'Connor ran so far so fast, their boots must keep travelling around the dressing-room when their owners hit the showers.

It would be unfair to say it was all Cork at Croke Park yesterday. Galway are a coming side, and they had enough possession to win yesterday, but the old saw about losing one to win one was never more apt. Derick Hardiman, for instance, was terrific, winning ball after ball, but he didn't always have a purpose to his delivery. Put that down to lack of composure, and if Galway want to find out how to take that extra step they could do worse than consulting the team which lost the 2003 hurling final.

Ben O'Connor acknowledged as much: "A lot of us are playing in our fourth final, and our third in a row. That experience stands to you, and maybe we were that little bit cuter than Galway on the day."

Cork also had leadership in every line. As expected, the Tribesmen started full of fire, and Cork were thankful that Brian Corcoran was on hand to show that while form is temporary, real class is perpetual. His exit in the semi-final and slow recovery from injury were worrying for Cork, and the big man's early industry yesterday helped to give his team-mates focus in the opening exchanges.

At the other end of the field, Donal Óg Cusack was immense. As always the Cloyne man quarter-backed the defence, if that's not a contradiction, but he also made terrific saves. After O'Connor's goal, Galway ranged forward in search of a riposte, and Alan Kerins' shot would have beaten most keepers. Not Cusack. In the second half he was even better, at one point killing a ball going over the bar before working it outfield for Ben O'Connor to give Cork a valuable two-point swing. As a cameo of belief in one's ability, it spoke volumes, and other players kept the faith also. Joe Deane was beaten for three balls in a row at one stage in the second half but the Killeagh man still had the grit after that to point a free from the sideline: belief.

SIGNIFICANTLY, Cork players who went into the game, if not under a cloud then at some slight risk of precipitation, made huge contributions - Ronan Curran had his best game of the year, as did Timmy McCarthy.

Eventually, Cusack was beaten; he stopped a Richie Murray shot from close range, but Damien Hayes nudged the rebound home, under Diarmuid O'Sullivan's retreating legs. You don't have to break the net to score a goal, but Hayes' effort barely broke a stroll as it trickled over, inhaled by the sizeable Galway contingent on the Hill.

Even then, Cork refused to panic. John Gardiner had a free within his range - just - after the Galway goal, and he nailed it. Belief. The game started to slip from Galway slowly, little omens everywhere; Ollie Canning, heroic throughout, had a clearance intercepted by Ben O'Connor for a point. Liam Donoghue's puck-outs began to drop into John Gardiner's baseball mitt of a left hand. With 10 minutes left, Cork took over and strangled their opponents.

When the final whistle went, Sean Óg Ó hAilpin walked up the steps, and during his passionate speech as gaeilge, the roller-coaster ride this Cork side and its fans have taken was brought into focus. Three years ago, they were beaten well by Galway, but Cork reinvented themselves. They have become a great team, overcoming strikes and stand-offs, controversies and collisions, departures and developments, affirming the power of the red jersey throughout.

Cork hurling. It's okay to believe.

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Setanta Ó hAilpín 64 AFL Games 45 Goals

Up the Rebels All-Ireland Hurling Champions 2004/2005

yayyyyyyyy!!!

but sinead wont be happy....

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Absolutely fantastic, Kev.
Congrats to Sean Og as well.

Here's hoping Setanta can experience some premiership glory before his time is up at Carlton.

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Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

WooHooo!

Nothing like a winning Premiership team hey Kevin?!

The better team won. Men against boys. We're (mostly) young and inexperienced.
Doesn't mean we won't be back though

Pete Finnerty was a bit wrong, eh Kev!?! I thought Alan Kerins (12) played his heart out though, and David Collins (7) was pretty impressive too. Cork were class though, wow, like it never looked like we'd win. Whenever we got a point, it felt obvious that Cork would spring right back. Ye're not the champs for nothing!! You just had to stand up and applaud when it was over! Brilliant team.

The Cork people around me were very gracious I have to say, and didn't rub it in our Galweigan faces when ye won

Is David Collins married to a woman that teaches Biology??????

_________________
Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Is her name Mrs., Synbad?!

For those interested, from teh Na Piarsaigh website

SHUFFLING in his office chair at the Ulster Bank branch in Cork, bound in a shirt and tie, Seán Óg Ó hAilpín strives to explain the forces that shaped him. "My parents are competitive," he admits, jab-lifting a childhood memory to corroborate the claim. He recounts the day he arrived home from a school sports event to inform his father he'd finished second in the 100m race.
A quick reconstruction of the dialogue that followed:
'How come?'
'The other guy was faster.'
'Why didn't you come first? Did you train for it?'
'I did.'
'Not hard enough, obviously.'
In case you have an impression of obsessive parents driving their kids relentlessly, he moves quickly to dispel the notion. "Ah, Dad has mellowed out big time. They wanted us to be competitive, to get the best out of ourselves. It wasn't them giving out."
We're about to move to another topic but he's not finished. He is highly competitive. There's more to it. Though he left Sydney at 11, it also played a part. "I remember playing rugby league in primary school. Looking back, I had a coach in the rugby leagues and I'd say Ger Loughnane wouldn't lace this fella's boots. I grew up in that kind of place. I did cross country, rugby league, it was very competitive; you don't see that same competitiveness in Ireland."
You think of Seán Óg and what comes first: the athlete or the hurler? Impure thoughts. Last year he received the ultimate individual accolade, Hurler of the Year, joining the hallowed ranks occupied by some of the greatest players the game has ever known. He isn't a fool though and knows his appeal is more holistic. He's not the most skilful hurler in the Cork half back line, let alone the country, but there is so much more to being a top-drawer player. He's a victory for substance over style.
With dedicated husbandry he has maximized every portion of his talents. When he came to Cork with his family at 11 he began playing Gaelic football at Na Piarsaigh which he got a handle on quickly. But hurling was different, more exotic; he stepped back, he didn't want to look silly. One day when football had finished for the summer he grew restless and pulled a spare hurl out of a bag. He can see it still: no tape, no grip, part of the bás missing. He took a swing and they told him that, at Na Piarsaigh, they trained "hurlers, not golfers." It began there. "I'm not saying it was easy, Jesus it took a good while, but hurling gives me more satisfaction than any other sport because I had to work hard at it. And I appreciate that more."
By the time he was 17 he had made the Cork minor hurling team, his confidence bolstered through formative years at North Mon where he found himself marking players from some of the top schools, lads who were breaking on to county minor teams or on the verge. He found he could subdue them and every victory fuelled his powerful drive to succeed.
His two younger brothers have followed the professional path and he would have too had he been in their boots
It doesn't come as a huge surprise to learn that he's close to Donal Óg Cusack, a highly-motivated figure like himself. Insights into Cusack's obsessive nature are contained in Christy O'Connor's excellent book, Last Man Standing, revealing long and lonely hours spent preparing for the hurling season. Seán Óg beams at the mere mention of his name.
"He's a pro, that guy's a pro. We have other guys on the team, they'd like to be pros but they're not. I have great time for that kid. I like to see myself as a Donal Óg as well, he literally wants to get every last ounce out of himself before he retires and I respect guys like that because there's nothing worse than finishing up your playing days and thinking; Jesus, if I had done that. You have to look in the mirror. And that guy - he's a freak. I've great time for him."
You're as dedicated as him? "No. And I like to see myself as dedicated. He's a leader like. We all look up to him. I was making this comparison: Donal Óg not involved in the Cork set-up is like Nelson Mandela not being in South Africa. And last year Na Piarsaigh played Cloyne in a county final and if they'd won he'd have been captain. It was nice for me to win and I was delighted to be captain, but if they'd have won he'd have been captain. Ideal."
His two younger brothers, Setanta and Aisake, have followed the professional path and he would have too had he been in their boots. He's a professional in an amateur production. During what he calls the "off-season," the winter spell of least activity, he hardly skips a day's training. It doesn't feel a chore or an imposition, but something natural and fulfilling.
"My own view is that I think you tend to get more rewarded with the extra effort you put in. I enjoy it. I think Donal Óg enjoys it. I don't think he does it because he has to do it. He enjoys it. When he talks about it he doesn't talk about it like it's a chip on his shoulder. You talk to some guys, (weary voice) 'I've to go to the gym now.' I enjoy it. Then again you have to realise, for the likes of myself, Joe (Deane), Donal Óg, Diarmuid (O'Sullivan), we don't have that many years left at this.
"That's why their dedication over the years has increased because they know that their time, I wouldn't say it's near, but we're not 21. I think they want to get as much as they can out of it and then move on to their next life."
What would take him away from where he is now? Would anything? Money? Girls? A nice languid beach?
There are players who lament what they're missing, the pleasures of ordinary life. Not him. He has been a senior hurler with Cork since they got hammered by Limerick in 1996. That's his life, his life of choice.
"I've grown up with the attitude that my holidays are Thurles, Páirc UÃ

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'Cause I'm J.U.D.D
I'm dynamite
J.U.D.D
And I'll win that fight
J.U.D.D
I'm a power load
J.U.D.D, Watch me explode

Does anyone recognise the gear????

_________________
'Cause I'm J.U.D.D
I'm dynamite
J.U.D.D
And I'll win that fight
J.U.D.D
I'm a power load
J.U.D.D, Watch me explode

How do i put a pic in?

_________________
'Cause I'm J.U.D.D
I'm dynamite
J.U.D.D
And I'll win that fight
J.U.D.D
I'm a power load
J.U.D.D, Watch me explode