The All Ireland Hurling Final has a special place in the calendar, even in the quietest of years. But when it delivers a final like yesterday, it goes down as one for the ages.

Cork and Clare could hardly be separated coming into the game, and it was the same at half time, full time and half time of extra time before Clare edged ahead, and Cork’s late rally once more just failed to bring the game to a replay.

As if in acknowledgement of events unfolding at Croke Park, the Open Championship in Scotland, which had itself delivered drama by the bucket load up until Sunday afternoon, doffed its cap and drifted towards a procession of a finish. Even Joe Biden waited until after Tony Kelly’s winning speech from the Hogan Stand to announce he would not contest the 2024 US Presidential election.

It was only right that Kelly had the last word on a day when his talent shone brighter than ever before.

A three-touch goal that you had to watch multiple times on replay to absorb the full glory and a no-look point over his shoulder when the pressure was at its highest were the high points of his personal performance. Goals for Mark Rogers of Clare and Robert Downing of Cork would otherwise have been hailed as the moments of any great game.

The match was broadcast across Britain on the BBC yesterday, bringing the spectacle to a new audience, a point alluded to in Jarlath Burns’s first All Ireland Final speech as GAA President.

There was also a nice line about the diaspora, thanking the many countries that had taken in the Irish who had left Ireland due to war and famine over the years. It was timely, with Coolock burning only a few kilometres from the stadium.

In Clare, the result will be celebrated for weeks after coming so close so many times during Limerick’s previous reign.

This is their fifth All Ireland, and the only sponsor to have adorned their journey across those triumphs is Pat O’Donnell, a construction equipment supplier who has been on the shirt since sponsorship was first allowed.

In Cork, the hurt will be deep, having led by seven points in the first half after a blistering start.

There will be moments when they feel they did not get the rub of the green or the whistle of the referee, but they did see Patrick Horgan extend his lead as the highest-scoring Championship hurler of all time.

But it is now two decades since the last Cork All Ireland Hurling win, which will be painful this morning.

They were, in many ways, the team of the year, and taking down Limerick’s bid for five in a row was a moment in itself. But without the raising of the Liam Mccarthy Cup, it will feel empty, and the road back to Croke Park runs through every other county in Munster, meaning there will never be a guarantee of getting back, no matter the talent and the youth.

In a summer of a major football tournament and a Paris Olympics, the GAA and our native games have a tougher task than normal to stretch beyond their admittedly strong base, but with a game like this and scores like these, they have succeeded once again.

 

 

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