With the Liam McCarthy once again safe in the bag for another year, the attentions turned to the All-Ireland u-21 and camogie finals last Sunday. It must be said that a small Kilkenny contingent made the trip up the N9 and N78 to Croker to cheer on the Cats in their quest for honours.
The success Kilkenny have achieved in all codes over the last four years is remarkable but the reality is that these great days out in the capital are financially very draining on the pocket. The die hards who did made the trip were treated to some great honest endeavour from both teams, sadly both their efforts were in vain.
The young camogie team were first into action on a glorious sunny day that was perfect for hurling. They had taken the scalps off Tipperary, Dublin and Galway en route to Sunday’s final and had only lost to Cork by four points in the Round Robin League. Due to that there was plenty of optimism within the county that they could land the O'Duffy Cup for the first time since 1994. The bookies saw it differently; they had made the Rebels 1/6 to win back to back titles. Ann Downey the Kilkenny manager is no stranger to All-Ireland day having won 12 All-Irelands during her long illustrious playing career. She had her charges well prepared for the big occasion. This was Kilkenny's first appearance in a camogie All-Ireland since 2001, so for many of the girls this was their first outing in Croke Park. Kilkenny had been the dominant force in camogie during the 70s and 80s. However, they had slipped down the pecking order in the last decade, but the huge work that has been put in at underage level during the past six years is definitely starting to pay off. The Cats weren't one bit overawed by the occasion in the early stages. They might have been younger, smaller in stature and less experienced than their more illustrious opponents but they had the Cork girls on the back foot for the first 20 minutes. They were driven on superbly by the tenacious fullback line of Leanne Fennelly, Catherine Doherty, and my Kilkenny girl of the match Jacqui Frisby. Cork's strong midfield pairing of Bríege Corkery and Orla Cotter have been the catalysts for many of Cork's victories in recent times. However, on Sunday Colette Dormer and in particular Ann Dalton, gave them a torrid time in the early stages, they battled for everything. Dalton threw over a well struck long range point during the first half. The one problem Kilkenny did have was converting possession into scores. The Cork girls were very experienced at the back, they also had that bit of maturity on their side over a very young Kilkenny full forward line. Maybe Marie O'Connor's physical presence could have been used a bit earlier. The game more or less drifted away from the Cats in the 10 minutes spell just before half-time when Cork piled on the pressure adding four points.
The second half was dominated by Cork, they added some great scores. To be honest they showed why they are the top side in the ladies game over the last number of years. They were worthy winners on the day, but mark my words this Kilkenny team will be back. They will have gained valuable experience and now that they have got the taste of All-Ireland day I'm sure they will want more.
The Kilkenny u-21s got a good ovation when they entered the hallowed turf of Croker but it was nothing like the roar that greeted the men of Clare who were going for a historic first u-21 All-Ireland title. I couldn't get over the physique of the Banner men. They were huge in stature, without a doubt they were physically the strongest U21 team I've ever seen. They must have been pumping the weights all winter long. Their credentials couldn't be knocked before Sunday’s game. They had beaten Limerick, Waterford, and Galway to make it to the final, so it was obvious they had plenty of hurling skills as well. This decade has been good to Kilkenny at this grade, four titles, our most in any decade, have been won, the feeling while being gracious in defeat to any Banner man that I met, is that we left this one behind us. Clare won and the very best of luck to them but the boys in the Black and Amber will be kicking themselves when they see the replay of Sunday’s game. Clare took the game to Kilkenny right from the start, they drove at the Kilkenny halfback line at every occasion and drew numerous frees which senior star Colin Ryan repeatedly converted. Kilkenny found it hard to win primary possession from their own puck-outs, to me it has been their Achilles heel all year. When they did manage to get the ball in their hands they had no trouble finding the target. Clare had the lion’s share of possession in the first half but only led by ywo points at the break. Kilkenny can thank their fullback line of Paul Murphy, Paddy Nolan, and Conor Fogarty for Clare's slender lead. The trio and keeper Colin McGrath, were immense throughout this game.
Michael Walsh must have dished out some harsh words and shrewd advice at the interval because they came out a different side altogether. They were far more positive, the positioning of Richie Hogan at centre forward had a huge effect. Hogan was Kilkenny's top scorer with five points but it was his timely and unselfish passes to colleagues that really did the damage during Kilkenny's dominance - his vision and awareness is unreal. Kilkenny were on top, they cut out the needless frees and were opening up the Clare halfback line - but sadly poor finishing eventually cost them the title. They must have shot at least six or seven bad wides at a pivotal time of the game. Clare sensed that they weren't driving home their advantage. Richie Hogan brought out a top class save from the Clare keeper Donal Tuohy in the 49th minute. Clare stormed back into the game, the man of the match John Conlon scored 2 significant points with 10 minutes to go; suddenly that famous Banner roar that we were accustomed to in the mid nineties was heard once again. They took the lead on the stroke of full time when Cormac O'Donovan pointed. Kilkenny's last chance fell to John Joe Farrell, the Thomastown man who has been Kilkenny's leading goal getter all season cut through the Clare defence but somehow he couldn't manage to get in his shot. There were slight claims for a penalty but they fell on deaf ears, we had probably used up all our luck the previous week. Clare held on for a famous victory. The stewards once again tried to ruin the day by stopping the fans from entering the pitch. There was no way they were going to stop the emotional and jubilant Clare fans, plan B was quickly put into action. This victory will be a great boost to Clare hurling at a time when it is needed most. The Kilkenny men can be proud of their effort but as I said earlier they'll know that they let it slip.
