It was, writes Denis Walsh, an All-Ireland final of “mesmerising chaos and staggering twists”, Clare prevailing by a nose after “nearly 100 minutes of breathless play”. As Seán Moran puts it in his match report, the “extraordinary” spectacle “drained the emotional tanks of the capacity attendance”, the contest “a grand opera of a finale” to what was a riveting championship season. Heartbreak for Cork, but Nicky English believes Clare are deserving champions, saluting the entire team but two players in particular, Shane O’Donnell and Tony Kelly, the latter racking up “sensational scores”.
Gordon Manning heard from O’Donnell after the game, 11 summers since the then 19-year-old made his name with that hat-trick in an All-Ireland final replay. “If 2013 launched him as a star then 2024 is the year that confirmed him as one of the most important players in the story of Clare hurling.”
That tag very definitely belongs to Kelly too. “He does things that you don’t think are possible. You just stand back and be in awe,” said O’Donnell of his captain who, as Malachy Clerkin writes, “conjured up the magic required to get Clare over the line”. In Denis and Gordon’s player ratings, Kelly was awarded a stingy nine when he probably deserved 11 out of 10, but he at least had the consolation of being awarded the Liam MacCarthy cup – and no one was happier than his manager Brian Lohan that he was the man to raise it. That goal of his? “Ah here,” as Malachy put it in his piece on the game’s five key moments.
There was, need it be said, nothing but despondency in the Cork camp after the game, Paul Keane hearing from manager Pat Ryan. In all, the sides were level 15 times, as Paul Fitzpatrick points out in The Schemozzle, on what was a very special Croke Park day, the stadium “a dream factory and an abattoir for dreams”, writes Denis.
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The women of Galway and Kerry booked their spots at the venue after winning their All Ireland football semi-finals on Saturday, Galway reaching their first final since 2019 by beating Cork while Kerry saw off the challenge of Armagh to make their third decider in a row.
In golf, Philip Reid reports on Xander Schauffele’s British Open triumph and hears from Shane Lowry whose hopes of a second title were all but ended by his Saturday woes. His focus turns now to the Olympic Games where he will eye a medal, something he has in common with Rhasidat Adeleke – although as Ian O’Riordan notes, the quality of the opposition in her 200m Diamond League run on Saturday, when she finished fifth, is a reminder of just how hard it will be to secure a spot on the podium.
And in football, Richard Fitzpatrick tells us about Atlético Madrid’s efforts to “unearth gifted young Irish footballers”, the club having set up an official academy in Dublin.
TV Watch: Do you want to see highlights of the hurling All Ireland final? Of course you do – tune in to TG4 this evening (8.0). And the same channel has the best of the daily action from the Tour de France (9.0).
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