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86 August 5, 2018 GAELIC GAMES A spine-tinglingTHEGAMESBETWEENCORKANDLIMERICKAND glimpse of sport EQUALISER: Jason McCarthy I SAT in Croke Park’s senso- ry wonderland last Sunday, tears streaming from my eyes. Never have I felt so soul- soaringly alive. There are so many narrow, often at its very finest divisive definitions of what it is to be Irish. But here it was, a Eureka moment, something gorgeous and overwhelm- ing that touched the core, a visceral sense of identity, a euphoric taste of belonging, uncontainable, scream- out-loud joy. Hurling, in the divine sweet spot located by Limerick and Cork, Clare and Galway, felt like home. In an ever more homogenous planet, something uniquely, powerfully ours: a glorious, uplifting Celtic tattoo on the arm of summer. One which, in a cascade of scores and saves, exhibitions of extraordi- nary nerve and touch, courage and physical resilience, advanced to another level of fantasy. The two semi-finals assaulted the senses as profoundly as the handiwork of the Old Masters, until, eventually, in the overwhelming blur of beauty, there was only one rhetorical question. HEAT OF BATTLE: The one that asked whether a sport- Peter Duggan of Clare ing 24 hours ever blazed so brilliantly, is tackled by Aidan set off so many emotional tripwires Harte and Adrian and flooded the bloodstream with Tuohy of Galway such a riptide of adrenalin. Nickie Quaid, Peter Duggan and Joe Canning were not so much hurlers, last weekend, as makers of spells. Alchemy THE ALL-IRELAND HURLING As they worked their alchemy, there was that intense, acute connection that only the greatest works of art achieve. SEMI-FINALS DELIVERED It felt timeless, fathomless, provoc- ative and deeply moving, its haunting grace burrowing ever deeper into the audience’s psyche, until it located and SPECTACLES FOR THE AGES made its home in the soul. These were contests that would not look out of place hanging in a gallery. In any sport, you have moments – a “He had no connection to the larger Shane Dowling and Shane O’Dono- Rumble in the Jungle, Seve thrusting world…just a human being staying ghue, Colm Galvin and Peter Casey like a matador into the heart of Amen ROY CURTIS alive from one nanosecond to the found surreal calmness under intense Corner, Maradona bending the Mexican next, drawing one breath after anoth- pressure. World Cup to his will – that may come er, fully aware that each one might For a little while – calibrating angle along only once in a lifetime. be his last.” and velocity that might carry their Here were two in less than 24 hours. OPINION There is, of course, a world of sideline cuts to the post – Canning A pair of titanic, nerve-shredding, difference between war and elite or Tony Kelly might have been the epic semi-finals that yielded seven that pickpocketed the bullet from man inred,green,saffron and maroon sport and while, if comparisons can single occupant of the entire world. goals, 123 points and an even greater Seamus Harnedy’s chamber just as have felt with everything on the line, seem trite, there are, too, undeniable Yet neither their technique nor damburst of exhilaration and torment the Cork gunfighter was primed to at the epicentre of existence, trying similarities. nerve failed. and heroics and immortal snapshots. fire the kill-shot? to breathe as the walls closed in on Remember the dream sequence of A weekend that flooded Limerick Or Duggan, as the Clare forward pin- summer? Combatants perfect Clare team play that climaxed with a hope unknown for 45 years and balled against a wall of Galway bod- In Black Hawk Down, his masterful with Jason McCarthy resurrecting Cork with dark introspection, which ies, yet, even tossed in the spin-dryer, recounting of conflict in Somalia, More than anything, there is the the Banner in the final breath of propelled Galway and Clare back to was able to right his balance, bounce Mark Bowden shines a light on the ex- shared sense of combatants at that ex- Saturday’s exchanges? Thurles this afternoon. the ball off the ground, and fire a hilaration M60 gunner Shawn Nelson treme pitch of awareness, understanding Or, as the consequence of a misfire Along with the wonder and gratitude wondrous one-handed score? felt in that chaotic cathedral of war. the stakes and potentially enormous gusted over Croke Park like a burn- came the tiniest tinge of jealousy. How intoxicating was it to be in the “Close to death he had never felt so consequences of every intervention. ing Gulf desert shamal, Pat Horgan How must it have felt to be Quaid, arena, at the very heart of a contest thun- alive…with death breathing right in For so many of these young hurlers, holding his nerve to secure extra-time when Limerick’s keeper made that dering along the high road to history? his face…a state of complete mental blissfully cast into the crossfire, it was on Sunday? intervention for the ages, the one How animated and vital must every and physical awareness. as if life had regained a vital edge. On and on it unspooled, so many August 5, 2018 87 CLARE AND GALWAY HITA DIVINE SWEETSPOT SPORTS WORLD “Astheyworkedtheir alchemy,therewasthatintense, Embrace that acuteconnectionthatonlythe greatestworksofartachieve” All-Ireland buzz 1. Our lives would be infinitely poorer without a GAA summer. talking WARRIORS: Pat Horgan Yes, there are controversies and GAA of Cork is tackled by Seán complaints: Newbridge or Nowhere, Finn of Limerick the Liam Miller benefit game and ticket ints... distribution for today’s replay in Thurles po a recent high-profile sample tray. with Yet, what a treasure, what a national monument the game of hurling is. ROY Anyone who allowed the beauty of CURTIS last week’s semi-finals to wash over them can only have felt reinvigorated, electrified by the heavenly light shone players ahead of the All-Ireland final on the old coliseum. and has warned of the corrosive effect Bill Shankly defined his mission at of hype. But, really, while accepting his Liverpool in simple terms: “To make concern, the great green tribe should the people happy.” pay absolutely no heed. Last week’s enriching double header Life is short, there is a whole universe continued hurling’s mesmeric summer of bad stuff out there. To the point that trend. It made the people swoon. not to mainline on the high-grade buzz 2. Can Michael Murphy escape of the next fortnight would amount to negligence. Tyrone’s shackles? Limerick have not won an All-Ireland Donegal fans will pray that their in 45 years. creative mainspring can deliver Without getting overly existential, another summer hymn. what is the point of it all if the county Murphy (right), a once-in-a- declines now to binge drink from the generation talent, long ago played glass of fizzing excitement they have the freight on his inter-county been seeking out for decades? journey, yet Mickey Harte Even the players should feel has continually found no duty to be po-faced or to ways to clip his wings. hide from the madness all The chairman of the around them. Tir Chonaill board Embrace it, enjoy it, be has scored just three inspired by it. These are points from play in his the days of your lives. last six championship collisions with 5. Was Peter Duggan’s Donegal’s fellow Ulster point the greatest alpha males. ever scored, was Nicky Justin McMahon, Quaid’s ‘steal’ the moment Cathal McCarron and, most of the summer? recently, Padraig Hampsey have been Maurice Fitzgerald’s sideline kick that successfully deployed in a velcro man- did for Dublin in 2001 has resided at marking role to frustrate Murphy. the top of my all-time list for 17 years. Donegal have argued that some After last Saturday that Semple of the shadowing has crossed the Stadium score detonation of genius line, though a counter-argument has a bedfellow. could be made that Murphy, a hugely Duggan’s score for Clare – bouncing physical presence, frequently blurs the the ball from hurl to ground and firing boundaries of what’s permitted. a one-handed score where just Still, it was significant to hear Declan staying standing while being pinballed Bonner call for the referee to be vigilant from one Galway body to the next in protecting Murphy – and the slighter was a feat – had a degree of sorcery DRAMA TO THE END: Limerick Ryan McHugh – from roughhouse that separates it from even the best of treatment. Bonner understands that, goalkeeper Nickie Quaid makes the rest. with Paddy McBrearty absent, a a save from Seamus Harnedy Quaid’s vital nicking of the sliotar towering display from his greatest from Seamus Harnedy’s hurl as of Cork in the final moments of player is the key to securing a place in Limerick stared into the abyss was their All-Ireland semi-final the All-Ireland semi-final. miraculous, something that nobody 3. Can Galway survive if McInerney who saw it will ever forget. and Canning miss out? Pure intoxicating theatre. moments of thrilling uplift, making can burst through any obstacle. The Hurling’s champions are wobbling on the people happy or tearing out rest of us will simply relish what this their hearts. summer of stunning renewal might the throne. Bad enough that a resurgent Clare In the defining extra-time mo- offer us next. ments, it felt like the assault on the As the 30 gladiators gallop into the replicated Kilkenny’s achievement in senses was strong enough to carry Thurles arena, we can remember the pushing Galway to the brink.

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