Cork find their way through the Munster final madhouse
Let's get crazy. Red blood rising. After a mixed Munster championship lacking in the usual quality, the f inal elected to veer into full-blown bedlam. Rollercoasters look like gentle teacups in comparison.
102 shots, almost half of them missed. A truly astonishing 95 turnovers. 24 different scores combined. Rough around the edges, which only served to magnify the madness.
The theme continued into the shootout. Five successful penalties and four futile. Declan Hannon, one of the greatest captains the game has known, surrounded by comforting team-mates while a Rebels tidal wave swept the Cork players away. The stadium announcer forced to repeatedly plead for Shane Barrett to come to the stand and claim Mick Mackey Cup.
Eventually, he emerged from the sea to make his speech. At that stage the joyous supporters had split between two podiums. Half flocked to the trophy presentation, the other screaming at the sky in front of the RTÉ studio as Dónal Óg Cusack roared back with a proud fist aloft. You thought Cork were coming. You really haven't seen anything like this. Somehow, 'Freed From Desire' found another level.
After going through the sporting wringer, an emotional outpouring was inevitable. The Cork captain signalled it with his touching tribute.
'To our leader and our manager, Pat Ryan,' he declared. 'I don't think Pat realises how much this group actually love him but I am going to tell him here today.' There's something about the sulphurous scent of Clare end flares and the sound of ironic jeers that greeted Patrick Horgan's missed free and the sight, the pure swagger, of Gearoid Hegarty slowing strutting past the open stand having plucked a puckout and rifled it over the bar that just gets the pulse racing. It is a senseless sensation. It makes 43,580 crowd in the Gaelic Grounds and the 50-odd characters at the centre of it do daft things. The Catalina Wine Mixer on a triple shot of chaos.
Members of both management teams should know the huffing and puffing that went on at half-time as the raced to referee Thomas Walsh was a bit embarrassing. The referee himself should know about the importance of sufficiently applying the sport's rulebook. Munster GAA should know that a pre-game musical set is unlikely to appeal to the final masses. They do it anyway and it is hard to blame them. In this madhouse on wheels, everyone is just trying to find their way.
Scoreboards will malfunction, the cramp-stricken referee will go down and be replaced, there will be noticeable alarm in the stand when they learn at the end of normal time that this decider could go to penalties. Seán O'Donoghue will show what it takes to actually get booked in this lawless realm by taking Aaron Gillane's hurl and firing it over the sideline.
In the search for some sort of cohort explanation for what unfolded on this frantic Saturday evening, it is worth remembering this simple reality: There was carnage all over the field. It impacted players in profound ways.
One of the all-time great Munster final goals can be denied by a terrific last stand by Eoin Downey. As a move, it was magnificent. Kyle Hayes long to Gillane, Tom Morrissey with a perfect floated handpass to Adam English who has an immense ability to peel into that space behind half-backs and boom. Downey to stand tall with a textbook denial. One minute later, he is turned inside out by Aidan O'Connor for the first green flag of the contest. This game was not just chaotic, it was cruel too.
All you can do is keep trying. Keep swinging. Keep driving. A long Patrick Collins restart dropped on top of Brian Hayes. A green mass descended and thrashed, like a swarm of hornets stirred from their nest. In normal circumstances it may have been a foul but these ae not normal circumstances. Patrick Horgan was bottled up too. Shane Barrett realised the chances of carrying through the home outfit's defence were slim, so he went old-school and pulled his way past instead.
Consider this. Cork headed back to the dressing room at the end of normal time after a string of disheartening wides. Horgan missed a free and was blocked down by Hayes. Robbie O'Flynn snapped too far right. Ciaran Joyce had an opportunity to clinch the winner but hooked it.
Some teams would be haunted by that sort of inaccuracy. The game was there for them. They let it slip. What should stand out above all else is how they responded. Seven shots from play in extra-time. Six points. Shane Kingston with yet another super sub salvo. Conor Lehane with an outrageous flick around Cathal O'Neill to score. Darragh Fitzgibbon with a clutch 65 to ensure there was no separating them.
Then he cramped up and missed the first penalty. Of course he did. Expect the unexpected. Don't try and resist the whirlwind. This isn't a hurling match. It's a twisted wonderland.
Both sides were spent at the death. Players lay flat on their backs as they watched the penalties unfold. Despite a sold-out stadium around them, nine men made what looked like the loneliest walk in the world. Limerick's devastation in defeat was obvious. What is comfort for them is cause for celebration for everyone else. This was an extraordinary and taxing and dramatic day. There is more to come.
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