THERE’S A STORY — probably apocryphal — told about George Best’s debut for Manchester United.
The Belfast lad takes the ball, turns inside a couple of grizzled defenders and dispatches the ball past the opposing goalkeeper. A young reporter in the press box turns to his colleagues to ask for the time of the goal.
“Never mind the minute, lad,” answers a veteran hack, “just note the date.”
Henry Shefflin was sent off in the 33rd minute at Semple Stadium on Sunday. But should we note 28 July, 2013 as the day we finally said farewell to the greatest team the game has known?
Brian Cody refused to blame referee Barry Kelly for the Cats’ defeat, when speaking to RTÉ cameras afterwards and he could only say through gritted teeth that this was Cork’s day.
Did you think it was a sending off?
Man-of-the-match
Irony of ironies. Glen Rovers marksman Patrick Horgan made hay in Thurles and was duly rewarded by The Sunday Game panel with the piece of Waterford Crystal. The Cork forward was dismissed in the Munster final, of course, but saw his red card rescinded after a Croke Park hearing last Saturday morning. Horgan, like Shefflin, got the line from a Westmeath whistler. But Shefflin has no need for an appeal this season.
Anthony Nash though should clear a space on his mantlepiece for a second All Star award however. Check out this incredible double save from a retaken penalty, which proved crucial.
Return of the King?
So what now for Shefflin? The Ballyhale clubman is the best in the business but this season has been amongst his worst, thanks to injury and now this red card. The Cats’ talisman will turn 35 before the national league throws in again and it’d be fair to assume retirement was one option he’d ponder over Christmas, all things being equal.
You’d suspect he’ll be back though; Shefflin won’t want that red card to be the full stop on his hurling career.
Life of Brian?
What of Shefflin’s boss? Brian Cody insisted it wasn’t the time to ponder his own involvement in the Black and Amber set-up. When asked by Joanne Cantwell about his plans, Cody said: “I have no idea obviously. I have no idea at all.
“I feel the same as every other year about it, I have no idea, there is no decision made about anything. I won’t even consider it for a long, long time.”
D’Unbelievable stuff, Ger
Top marks to Tipperary comedian and actor, Pat Shortt, who sent this update from his pub in Castlemartyr. That’s one for the hurt locker, Cody.
Spot the Corkman on the Sunday Game set
Donal Óg Cusack’s business casual rig-out of smart blazer and red trousers tells the viewer he’s a neutral pundit. But a Rebel.
Motivational mantra of the day
‘May the best horse jump the fence” – who else? Davy Fitz. The Clare man was in flying form on the line, as per usual, throwing shapes and winding up his opposite number, Anthony Cunningham.
Noisy neighbours
The Banner dispatched their friends from across the border in Galway with a 1-23 to 2-14 win over Galway. Next up? Clare’s neighbours from down the road in Limerick. This’ll be fun.
No show like a Joe show
With that defeat in Thurles, Joe Canning’s place on ‘The Best Players Never To Win An All-Ireland XV’ is secured for another 12 months. The Portumna man was deployed by Cunningham at full forward — where even Giovanni Trapattoni felt he should start, according to Michael Lyster.
But the young forward failed to light up the stage once again and after he missed an incredibly straightforward free, below, in front of the posts, even those duties were taken off him.
Mark of the man however, he hung around for ages after the whistle to sign autographs for young fans on the pitch. And the Galway Races start tomorrow, I suppose.
Stargazing live
Presenting lots of the BBC’s astronomy programming these days, perhaps Dara Ó Briain can explain to Brian Cody how the stars aligned for Cork and Clare on Sunday. The London-based comedian was in Thurles for the double bill; this was his view though:
Talking points
- It was an emotional day for Clare’s Cathal McInerney yesterday. His grandfather Tom, a former Limerick hurler, passed away on Friday and his funeral is to take place on Tuesday.
- Last man standing: Tom Kenny is the only player left in the 2013 championship who has won an All-Ireland senior medal on the field of play. Shane O’Neill was an unused sub for Cork in 2005. That shows you just how open this summer has been.
- Waterford coasted to a comfortable win over Antrim in the All-Ireland minor quarter-final in Ashbourne but the game was marred by a serious injury suffered by Antrim player Jude McCurdy in the closing stages. The neck injury prompted the ref to blow the tie up prematurely.
Goal of the weekend
Take a bow Michael Meehan. The Galway man beat 10 Corkmen — by our count — with the last real action of the game against the Rebels on Saturday night. The Tribe still exit the championship after their 1-17 to 1-16 defeat but this isn’t a bad wave goodbye despite that effort on 72 minutes.
Friends reunited
Saturday saw Cavan’s highly-rated footballers in unchartered waters, featuring as they did in a senior football championship game in Croke Park for the first time. The Breffni had not lined out at GAA HQ since 1997. They made harder work than expected against London but now go into a meeting with Kerry in the more familiar role as underdogs.
The counties will meet in Croke Park on Sunday but 66 years ago the counties were in action in New York in the famous 1947 Polo Grounds All-Ireland final.
Cavan’s Eugene Keating seems focused:
Jimmy’s winning pushing matches
We thought with the exit of Kieran McGeeney and Kildare, the championship had lost any connection to the world of mixed martial arts. Enter Donegal boss Jim McGuinness and his counterpart on the Laois line, Justin McNulty. It’s clear there’s no love lost between the contemporaries and they had to be separated during the clash in Carrick-on-Shannon.
The All-Ireland champions, of course, ultimately became the third football team to come out the better side of a six-day turnaround, thanks to a 0-14 to 0-8 scoreline.
“We’re back where we want to be and that’s the important thing,” McGuinness told Newstalk afterwards. “We did a very honest evaluation of where the game was lost the last day. We came to very solid conclusions about where that game was lost, and their focus was 100% throughout the week.”
Ladies football
It was a busy weekend in the first round of the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies SFC qualifiers. Champions Cork have been drawn against Armagh in round two while Laois face Meath in an all-Leinster affair. Westmeath have been drawn to face Mayo while Clare take on beaten Ulster finalists Tyrone. The ties to be played on 10 August.
Sat-nav
Sean Cavanagh starred for Tyrone as they booked their quarter-final spot. The Red Hand saw off Meath on a scoreline of 0-17 to 2-9. Afterwards Cavanagh stripped off to reveal this GPS vest.
More importantly, Mickey Harte had to face suggestions that his side were overly cynical in the closing stages of the game, with Cavanagh and others making several so-called rugby tackles.
“Sure, there was rugby tackles earlier in the game so why would you call one more cynical than the other. Both teams committed fouls that were blatant from time to time so I don’t think we can point to the ones at the end and say they were any different to the ones at the start.
“I mean, we had players pulled down in a similar fashion at other times in the game when the momentum was with us. We can’t just be looking at this last little bit of the game and saying that’s cynical, it’s not. It happened during the game. Both sides were guilty of it from time to time, so what?”
What’s next?
Good question. And quite a lot.
- RTÉ had first and fourth pick for the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals. And, in their wisdom, Montrose chiefs have gone for Dublin v Cork next Saturday night as top billing along with Monaghan v Tyrone.
- TV3 will show the mouth-watering meeting of All-Ireland champions Donegal and Connacht kingpins in a repeat of last year’s finale on Sunday. The curtain will be raised by Kerry and Cavan, which throws in at 2pm.
- In the hurling, we’re down to two Clare managers (Davy Fitz and Anthony Daly) two Leeside bosses (JBM and John Allen), four hopeful sets of fans and one incredible season. The Rebels will take on Dublin on 11 August before midwest rivals Limerick and Clare meet on the 18th.
May the best horse jump the ditch, says Davy Fitz after defeat of Galway
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12 images that sum up a super Sunday of hurling in Thurles
