Let's hope the hurling final delivers

The hurling summer has delivered plenty of thrills and spills and after it all, we’re left with one of the most intriguing final pairings for some time.

The prospect of Clare and Cork doing battle in Croke Park on Sunday week is a tantalising one. It has the potential to deliver one of the all-time great finals.

After the weekend, Cork will feel as though they are in the driving seat. It’s set up beautifully for them.

Their performance against Limerick was one for the ages. The Treaty Men will rightly go down as one of the best teams of all time, yet even they couldn’t crack the nut that is five All-Irelands in a row. Ultimately, it came down to razor thin margins and two late wides for John Kiely’s team, when they had momentum, will haunt them over the coming months.

Yet, from an early stage, there was just a feeling about Cork, wasn’t there? The ball was breaking nicely for them, their score-taking was exceptional and there was just a general energy off their display that suggested they were up for the challenge.

Pat Ryan has moulded a fine side together and, for a few years, there has been a sense that Cork are coming given their underage success. Maybe now, they’ve finally arrived.

The win over Limerick in Munster helped their season catch fire. But the origin of this year’s drive momentum started, strangely, in defeat. Their two-point loss to Clare in the province, having already lost to Waterford, left them with no option but to beat Limerick. In that backs-to-the-wall environment, Cork found their spark.

Up front, the Rebels were electric. Look at the spread of scorers - each of their starting six forwards scored at least three points, with Brian Hayes contributing a marvellous 1-4.

Defensively, they looked solid too and even accounting for Aaron Gillane’s brilliance they repelled much of what Limerick threw at them, especially at stages when the reigning champions looked like clicking into gear.

All year, even with Cork’s brilliance, I have had a feeling about Clare.

Brian Lohan’s charges produced a superb second half to see off the challenge of Kilkenny on Saturday afternoon to propel themselves to a first All-Ireland decider in 11 years.

Under Lohan, the Banner have been a real joy to watch. Their part in the greatest Munster final - that of 2022 - was outstanding and the same could be said of their contribution to the 2023 final reversal at the Gaelic Grounds.

Critics can argue that at the top level it is all about silverware and results and there is an element of truth attached to that but, at the same time, the whirlwind that is the Munster Championship has been all the better for Clare’s participation in recent years.

In Shane O’Donnell, they have the in-form hurler in the country. It’s hard to believe that, in 2013, when they nabbed an All Ireland at the expense of Cork, O’Donnell and Tony Kelly were only teenagers yet played the role of the protagonists. They remain central to Clare’s efforts.

Last weekend’s display against Kilkenny was a curious one. For the opening 35 minutes, it looked like it was going to be a case of the same old story; a semi-final defeat to the Cats, as was the case in the previous two seasons.

Lethargic, off colour, chugging along without ever spluttering into life, Clare were on the back foot in virtually every sector. Just look at the first ten minutes: players like John Conlon, one of the mainstays of the team, making simple mistakes.

Yet they managed to stay in touch, largely thanks to Kilkenny’s profligacy in front of goal. Unlike previous incarnations of Kilkenny teams, Derek Lyng’s side failed to keep their foot on the throat and kill off any semblance of life.

Yes, Kilkenny led by five at the break but they established that lead with just a 46 percent efficiency rate. They could’ve been halfway back down the road with a little more care in front of goal.

For all that, they still looked cosy and even more so when they scored their second half goal to go six in front but then, finally, Clare took off.

David McInerney roared into the game and several others did too. David Fitzgerald might be an All Star of just two years ago, but he’s still so underrated. He gets through an amount of often unseen work around the middle third and is a consistent score getter. Clare also have some depth up front, outside of the O’Donnell-Kelly duo - Ian Galvin, David Reidy and Aidan McCarthy are all top class operators.

Above all though, there’s a real spirit to this Clare team. They battle ferociously hard, they are backed by a huge support and in Brian Lohan they’ve a true warrior on the sideline who has been there and done that.

In the aftermath of Saturday’s triumph, Lohan made the following remarks.

“You don’t want to be the nearly guy or the nearly team all the time,” he said, in reference to coming up short in three Munster finals and two All Ireland semi-finals in the last three seasons.

You could argue that, in Clare and Cork, we have two nearly teams contesting the final. Clare’s last All-Ireland was 2013; Cork’s in 2005. It’s time for one of them to end the wait.

The decider of 11 years ago between the two counties was only settled after a replay. Domhnall O’Donovan’s equalising point for Clare in the first game was the stuff of legend.

I watched that match in the College Bar at what is now known as University College Galway. At that time, they checked our IDs before letting us in to make sure we were old enough; if we went this time around, they’d be checking our IDs to make sure we’re not too old to go in!

Lets hope the final of 2024 delivers as many thrills and spills.