It was a great day to be in Croke Park

It was the greatest of days in Croke Park on Sunday last. And Sam was very grateful to be there.

For good measure, I met Ger Loughnane for a few moments as we made our way to the car (parked in a cul de sac…that we won’t reveal to safeguard for the future)!

Loughnane paved the way in the nineties for Clare. Their messiah. He influenced Brian Lohan. The great full-back has many similar traits.

The courage of this Clare team knows no bounds. With four key players no longer on the pitch, they still won.

It was a final that had everything. Even the warm-up made for brilliant viewing. We were perched beside the Cork drills. It was real Harlem Globetrotters stuff watching the rolling of the wrists as the Cork forwards got ready.

As is the norm in Croke Park, you end up sitting beside a good neighbour. Behind me, Sam had a good chat with one of the sincerest of men from Roscommon Gaels. It is compulsory to meet the finest of folk from Athleague at big matches, and we had a good chat too with a man from St. Ronan’s that you’d love to spend the day chatting to.

The hurling was great. The drama was endless. We were all drained. One can only imagine how the players and management coped.

The friendly chat and banter among the supporters are always worth acknowledging. Not every sport has it when the stakes are so high.

Indeed, the Cork fans showed great humility after. Beaten by a point. In extra-time. And they could have had a last second free. But they had processed the fact that Clare was slightly the better team. And they accepted that. They beat Limerick twice, and hadn’t lost the All-Ireland final by the full-time whistle. This game deserved a replay.

At that whistle on 76 minutes, supporters were collectively leaning on each other trying to gather themselves. Whatever about on the pitch, in the stands there were people going down with cramps. The intensity and the emotion had everyone drained.

The hurling expert Shane O’Donnell rescued Clare in the first half. Tony Kelly produced the magic in Act Two and extra-time. They are geniuses. Both have secured their places on the Clare Team of the Millennium that’s not due for another 76 years.

It was after 7 p.m. before I got back to the car. Sam presumes that Ger Loughnane is still trying to get to his. Everyone wanted a photo with him. We did too. It would have been wrong not to.

It’s said that our deepest feelings as Irish people are represented on the sod of Croke Park on All-Ireland hurling final day. That was certainly the case on July 21st this year.

We will go again on  Sunday.

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