LAST Sunday was a horrible experience for Cork management, players and supporters, as another attempt to capture the Liam MacCarthy Cup evaporated, this time at the hands of Tipperary.
Deep in Croke Park’s bowels, under the Hogan Stand, is an unusually serene place on All-Ireland final day.
This is the area where the team buses stop and players are immediately ushered into the sanctity of the nearby dressing rooms on the most important sporting day of their lives.
It hadn’t been long after the final whistle sounded when members of the media took the lift from floor seven, high in the Hogan Stand, down to the ground floor. Walking the short distance into the media press room, we listened intently and asked Cork senior hurling manager Pat Ryan where did it all go wrong?
We also asked Tipperary’s Liam Cahill, Michael Breen and Jason Forde to try and sum up their emotions. What did the late Dillon Quirke still mean to them? Explain how they held their opponent to two points in the entire second half of an All-Ireland final.
A couple of hours later and with media requirements fulfilled, I made my way back out into the narrow area under the Hogan Stand, steeling myself for the long walk up Jones’ Road amid celebrating Tipperary supporters.
I’d been through the same, difficult process when Clare fans flooded the famous stretch the year before.
Lauren Healy, Sean and Brian O'Riordan, Sam Pickering and Adrian O'Dea, from Inchigeelagh, on the road to Croker.
Then, out of nowhere, Cork senior captain Rob Downey appeared.
The forlorn look on his face didn’t need explaining and that he wasn’t stopping to answer any questions. There was an exchange of forced smiles before we briefly shook hands. I said nothing, nodded and he uttered a quiet thank you before walking on.
Nothing more to be added. Nothing more to be gained from stopping the Cork captain and cross-examining him on what the hell had just happened. He continued walking whilst the noise of Tipperary’s celebrations reverberated from the winners’ dressing room.
That brief and awkward exchange occurred at the end of an afternoon the Cork senior hurling captain will want to forget.
Perhaps RTÉ pundit and former Tipperary All-Ireland winning manager Liam Sheedy said it best: ‘Cork were the best team in this year’s All-Ireland senior hurling championship until the All-Ireland final.’
The Rebels’ National League and Munster titles have, sadly, been quickly forgotten because of the manner of the 3-27 to 1-18 hammering at the hands of a ravenous Tipp.
Pat Ryan understands how it works. He has been around long enough, both as a player and manager, to know that a backlash is coming.
Deserved or not, Ryan must accept that change will be called for, both in his management team and senior panel, if Cork are to finally get over the line and end a 20-year All-Ireland SHC famine.
Ryan has endured more than most when it comes to what life can throw at you over the past couple of years. The Cork senior manager is level-headed and will do what he believes is, not what’s best for him, but for Cork hurling.
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My family and I spent Sunday night in the capital. We were thankful for an opportunity to hear our daughter, Caoilin, perform again with the Irish National Youth Choir, this time at Christchurch Cathedral.
A marvellous concert, amid such a beautiful setting, was the perfect antidote to what was witnessed at Croke Park earlier in the afternoon.
Hours of diligent preparation, rehearsals, hope and expectation came together in perfect harmony as the Irish National Youth Choir received a standing ovation. Amid the applause of a sold-out crowd, my mind drifted back to Croke Park.
Cork hurlers, despite over a year’s preparation and two trophy successes, failed to deliver on the most important stage of all. There was no Croke Park standing ovation, no moment of euphoria watching the Liam MacCarthy Cup being held aloft and no happy memories to reminisce over in later years.
Returning to our hotel and sitting at the bar with other crestfallen Rebel supporters, that was the thought that occupied our minds and conversations long into the night.
There will be other concerts for us to enjoy. Will there be other All-Ireland finals for a group of hurlers and a management team that has lifted our county’s and its diaspora’s spirits over the past two years?
Those are the thoughts that will occupy Pat Ryan during the long winter months.
