Tough day in Sunday school

Three games in different fields around the country, games spread out geographically and chronologically. Surprises

Three games in different fields around the country, games spread out geographically and chronologically. Surprises. Near misses. Disappointments. A typical GAA Sunday. Games as sermons. Tales with morals.

Strangest business of the afternoon was Down and Tyrone in the Ulster final at Clones. Down are a nascent side under new management and finding their way. It's a surprise to some that they are in the Ulster final at all.

No surprise to anyone of course that Tyrone are there. They have been sniffing glory since the early 1990s and never quite inhaling. Yesterday should have been a stepping stone back to the big time for them.

Yet they ended up drawing and being grateful for as much. They saw Down lose a key player, Greg McCartan, to a dubious offence (throwing the ball at a player), but conceded four goals into the bargain.

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Having led for most of the first half, Tyrone went behind just before the break, and things got worse soon afterwards when goals number two and three went in and left them nine points down with just over 20 minutes left.

Tyrone worked hard, however, and pulled themselves back to level. Then, like a man who gets his fingers onto the top of the precipice only to have them stamped on by a hobnailed boot, they saw Down go to the other end and score a goal through James McCartan.

That should have ended it, but the hunger in Tyrone burns their bellies even on good days. They set about recovering from this latest set back and were in the ascendant when the final whistle blew. Final score 4-8 to 1-17. Back to Clones next weekend.

Pearse Stadium in Galway was busy for the second successive weekend, this time staging perhaps the biggest hurling occasion in Galway history. For a hurling inaugural in the refurbished venue fate couldn't have provided a better draw than a championship match between Galway and their most fervent rivals from Tipperary.

Of course you can't always get what you want. Those who saw Tipp's capitulation to Clare earlier in the year felt that they would be easier pickings than a pack of three-legged wildebeests all summer, and in Galway hopes were high that the local lions would be chewing Tipp carcass for the rest of the month.

Yet after a sharp start, when it seemed they had forgotten how to hit wides, Galway fell away mysteriously. And soon appeared to forget how to score. A timely goal by Benny Dunne seemed to confirm them in their lassitude.

Galway struggled through the second half as if under hypnosis and got to the 69th minute of the game seven points down. Then they came to and with the help of a generous amount of time added on they whittled the lead to one point before the final whistle blew.

They lost by 1-18 to 1-17 and must have been kicking themselves that the word comeback didn't enter their heads until so late.

The biggest game of the day also turned out to be the worst. Kerry and Limerick played out 70 minutes of humdrum bordering on awful football in lovely Fitzgerald Stadium and afterwards people vied to remember when they last saw a worse Munster final. The most common guess was 1951.

In the end Kerry won it, if not quite at a canter at least hobbling a lot faster than Limerick.

Early on such an outcome had seemed unlikely as Limerick, with the innocence of youth and the confidence of the well coached, swarmed all over Kerry. Sadly, they had no sting.

From a mountain of possession they gouged just three points, and things got even worse when Michael Reidy opted not to take much a run-up for a penalty kick and saw his effort saved comfortably by Declan O'Keeffe.

Then Stephen Kelly, easily the Limerick forward who was causing Kerry the most trouble, had an accidental clash of heads with Eoin Brosnan and went off concussed.

It being Limerick's Day of Unrelenting Bad Luck, Brosnan went on to play a blinder and Kerry scored 1-5 before half time to go in wondering what all the fuss was about.

After the tea and biscuits Kerry almost teased Limerick. Seamus Scanlon, the Kerry midfielder, got a second yellow card and watched the rest of the game from the bench. Kerry gave away another penalty, but by then Limerick's two penalty takers were off the field and Muiris Gavin crashed his shot off the woodwork.

A tough day in school.

"We're not that far off," said their manager, Kerry native Liam Kearns. "We are young. We thought we could do it. I felt we were in shape. I think the lads feel that we showed them no respect. We got into them.

"I don't think we played as well as we could. We were kicking good scores in the lead-up to this. We didn't do it today. Stephen Kelly was a huge loss. He was really worrying them." And he sighed.

"We were hoping we didn't have another lesson to learn. We did."

They weren't alone. Galway and Tyrone were absorbing stern tutorials too That's Sunday school. GAA style.