REACTION FROM THE GALWAY CAMP:THIS ALL-Ireland final could have been remembered for what Joe Canning did. Established residents of the press box don't do clapping or cheering but there was plenty of it after Canning's goal yesterday. It was an exhilarating sight to behold.
One man instantly compared Canning leaving four Kilkenny defenders in his wake to Christy Ring.
The problem with legends, though, is long after they pass away, their dips in form during matches or the bad misses are largely erased from the collective consciousness. People don’t want to hear about a hurler taking a magical score and then going awfully quiet midway through the second half.
People rarely want to hear about them striking wides unless, of course, they are desperately important and costly. Canning appeared to go ashen-faced on 69 minutes. One second after his free eased wide. One second after the Liam MacCarthy cup looked destined to be draped in black and amber.
People remember those moments forever unless redemption comes instantly.
Davy Glennon’s burst in to Jackie Tyrrell presented Canning with such an opportunity and the purity of his injury-time strike, the sliotar swerving mid-air and then holding a clean line between the posts.
People will remember that. It was the score that gives Galway another chance at breaking Kilkenny’s control of hurling. It was a score that gives Canning another 70 minutes on the highest sporting plain a hurler can aspire towards. It gives JJ Delaney another chance to silence him too.
The Galway management of Anthony Cunningham, Mattie Kenny and Tom Helebert followed Brian Cody into the media room underneath the Hogan stand. This sterilised environment can lend itself to bland, uninteresting quotes.
Cody had been savagely entertaining, telling one Tipperary-born scribe he “looked forward to reading his column tomorrow”. Cutting off a perceived enemy before they can even load their gun, never mind point it in his direction.
You can only imagine what he is like when angry with an opposing manager.
We can only lip read.
The decision by referee Barry Kelly to punish Tyrrell for fouling Glennon sparked some interesting scenes on the line. Cody spoke so much to Cunningham the Galway manager gave him the universal hand signal for ‘please stop talking’ (hand turned into imaginary mouth by moving fingers rapidly).
“That game,” Cunningham said, avoiding the issue, “there was no false stroke in it. It was brilliant sportsmanship, by all sides. That has always been the case with Kilkenny; they are tough, they are hard but they are honest. There was no blackguarding and it was a brilliant spectacle. Great sportsmen on either side.”
Cliché-ridden with little coherency, the arms-folded Galway trio took turns fielding questions, instead of one voice imparting one reaction. In fairness, this is uncharted ground for everybody but they seemed eager to get the hell out of the room, board the bus and begin hatching plans for the replay.
“We created three opportunities in those last four minutes and it came down to that last free,” said Kenny. “Joe composed himself, took his time over the ball, and stroked it beautifully over the bar. Who better can you have standing over the ball in that pressure situation than Joe Canning to deliver that final score for us?”
What about the Henry Shefflin penalty? Surprised he only took the point, nudging Kilkenny in front, instead of blasting for goal like he did around a similar time in the 2009 final?
“Early on?” Cunningham asked, referring to Shefflin’s cleverly disguised free in the first-half. “He went for a goal in the first half from the 21 and it was saved on the line. The last one it was a drawn match at the time and it put them ahead. You are nearly better to take your point.”
Cody told Henry to do what he felt was best. Cunningham was asked what instructions he would give Canning in a similar situation.
“In that scenario you are looking to get ahead. As I said, if it is saved it is a big, big bonus to the other team. We’d have probably done the same thing.”
Did Kilkenny change their tactics from the Leinster final? “They upped their intensity. Kilkenny are Kilkenny. They play their system. They’ve deadly forwards and their defenders’ tackling rate is very high. It was nothing new for us today with how Kilkenny came out there.”
A few more disjointed questions and answers followed before: “We’re going to wrap it up there, try and hit the road, if that’s okay.”
Not really a day for clarity, more a case of holidays being rescheduled, banquets adjourned, club games postponed.
The season has three weeks to run yet.
