Teams in the final on merit

SOMETIMES you ride your luck and you get away with it. Cork and Clare did it this year, both in terms of the league and championship.

That’s the way Cork selector and All-Ireland medal winner Johnnie Crowley sees things. A member of the Cork team that beat Clare in the Munster final in Killarney in 1986, Crowley said, “We both have young teams and there is a lot of talent there. Every game we played, you can see it from the Clare point of view as much as the Cork point of view, they have improved and improved. Both teams are in the final on merit and nobody can detract from that.”

In a year in which the league format came in for a lot of criticism, Crowley said the progress of Clare and Cork to the All-Ireland final is a vote of confidence to the format.

“It shows hurling is getting tighter and tighter. There is nothing between teams and a bit of luck on the day can mean a lot. Hurling has been the winner this year. There have been great games, every game has been a good game.

“A lot of teams had a bit of luck. We had a bit of luck and Clare had a bit of luck and sometimes you ride your luck and get away with it. Limerick didn’t have a bit of luck last week [semi-final]; it didn’t happen for them.”

He said while tactics are a big part of the modern game, at the end of the day it’s 15 v 15.

“They’re pulling fellas back and out and here and there but it depends on the way teams approach games. We all approach with a certain amount of tactics but if a team goes out to do one thing and the other team gets a few scores. It can belly up.

“You have to be ready. You have to be able to hurl. Hurling and speed is a big part of it. Croke Park is a big place and you can’t be caught out.”

Asked about the age profile of players, he noted, “The Kilkenny fellas have been getting older but they are still winning All-Irelands. It’s a big commitment, a four-night-a-week job and, yes, there are more younger players on county panels.

“The Cork public in the ’70s and ’80s and ’90s expected you were there every so often and all of a sudden now we haven’t been there since 2006. There is a seven-year gap. People are hungry, and we are bringing on a new generation.

“You can see it at training, kids are there and parents are bringing them. It’s creating a huge buzz. It’s the same in Clare and Limerick, all new teams to the fore”, Crowley said.

The Cork selector believes Clare’s U- 21 success is giving huge momentum to the seniors.

Who will be crowned All-Ireland champions? “It has the makings of a great game. Both are young, both are hungry and mad to win. Croke Park is the ideal venue and it should be a fast, pacey game; a right cracker. The bookies have it right, it’s even-steven,” he concluded.