Kiladangan simply refused to accept defeat in Tipperary county hurling final

Over a week on from the replayed county final and the GAA’s version of the chattering classes are still busy thanks to Alan Flynn’s post-match outburst. Ironically, the comments will have done more to distract from the club’s fine achievement than anything else.

I missed the game, so had to do with the video version, which admittedly is a poor substitute for the real thing. It struck me as a better game than the original, certainly less cautious and more open, with significant swings and roundabouts lending high entertainment.

Kiladangan won because they seemed to take more from the drawn match and brought a better game to the re-fixture. Willie Connors was central to the improvement, stamping a dominant influence around that half back zone and rightly getting the gong for the best on show.

They could (should?) have won by more. Their wides count was in the high teens and they had a number of goal opportunities before Sean Hayes finally finished one. Probably lucky to survive the first day, they drove on this time and were full value for the outcome.

Sarsfields will have regrets, deep regrets. They led by six following a blistering start with Paddy Creedon’s goal, and again they were four-up into the home straight. Each time, however, they let the opposition back and can have no qualms about the final outcome.

Ultimately, they didn’t improve from the first day and therein lies the difference. For a team that has been noted for its spread of scorers all season, the stats in this replay are amazing. Accustomed to an average nine or ten scorers, they were down to just four this time – and only three of those from play. Astonishing!

Kiladangan won because of the quality in the side and their battle-hardiness. They’ve been here before, know the routine and just kept coming back after each patch of dominance from Sarsfields. Sean Hayes has emerged as a really bright prospect, his goal a crucial item, though Patrick McCormack won’t enjoy watching the replay and his poor positioning.

Declan McGrath has drawn notice too. He had a crucial hand in the goals both days as well as taking scores himself. These two and Billy Seymour are the most likely to interest Liam Cahill - despite Alan Flynn’s comments! Ongoing injury remains an issue, it seems, with Willie Connors despite his stellar showing in this replay.

The team captain did neither himself nor the club any favours with such unwise comments. I know after-match atmospheres can be febrile; the adrenaline is still pumping and there’s a lot of steam to be released. Yet you’d expect one so experienced to be able to control the emotions.

When you drill down into the perceived grievance, there’s no real substance to it. A new manager has no obligation to keep former panellists and will want to put his own stamp on affairs. You get the phone call and you’re in; the phone stays silent and you’re out – simple as.

As for bringing Darragh Egan into the rant, that just discredits the comments even further, given the year Wexford had.

All in all, it’s an unfortunate postscript to a great achievement, one made even worse by the decision to take down Noel Dundon’s column, ‘The View’, from the County Board website. There’s lots that needs to be done with that neglected website but removing legitimate commentary isn’t one of them.

Elsewhere, Lorrha came up well short against Corofin in the Munster intermediate race. A late goal for the Clare champions may have given a skewed impression on the scoreboard, but there was still no doubting the overall superiority of the Banner side.

It’s a disappointing outcome from a Tipperary perspective. Two years ago, our senior B championship was rebranded as premier intermediate, with the associated right of representation in the All-Ireland club series. In theory it meant that the 17th best team in the county would now go forward instead of the 33rd as heretofore.

The expectation was that we’d be much more competitive but thus far that hasn’t materialised. Roscrea lost to Monaleen in last year’s Munster decider but this time there’s an even earlier exit for Lorrha.

The Tipp champs can have no complaint here. Brian Hogan’s return to Oz was an obvious loss to the team but they were second best all over in this contest. We had more silly short-passing out of defence, which cost Lorrha a goal in the opening minutes.

Then ‘Bonnar’ Maher fed Eoin McIntyre for an instant reply, but as the half wore on it was Corofin who showed the finer touches. Lorrha relied on Colm Fogarty frees but the Clare lads had a range of scorers as they built up a four-point interval lead.

An early push by Lorrha at the start of the second half pulled the margin back to just one point but that was as good as it got. Diarmuid Cahill had the second of his hat-trick of goals for Corofin ten minutes after the restart and thereafter Lorrha were always chasing a lost cause.

The movement, workrate and slicker stickwork of the Clare champs was obvious, as was their economy – I only ticked four wides for them in the entire hour.

Late on ‘Bonnar’ was red-carded for something that occurred off the ball. I suspect that was a career first from a player who has always been exemplary in his attitude. It summed up a dismal day of frustration for the Tipp champions.

Finally, Liam Sheedy put his name to an Irish Examiner piece last week, which was thought-provoking, whether you agree or not with the sentiments. His topic was the plight of the game at club level, as well as the split season and linked matters.

I’m always fascinated by the inherent contradictions that emerge when people start commenting on these issues. For example, if you want to extend the inter-county season, as Liam does, then that immediately impacts the club with less space available for the local games. Yet Liam also wants the club programme expanded with more matches. Square that circle, if you can.

Furthermore, it’s a bit incongruous to argue for an extended inter-county season and then complain about the year being too long for inter-county players. You can’t have it both ways.

The TJ Reid example is interesting in this respect. He’s a generational player, exceptional in every way, who’s playing with a county that regularly gets to All-Ireland finals and semi-finals and a club that does likewise. Of course, in those circumstances he’s going to be training all year and that will remain the case no matter what system is employed.

Inter-county players are a very small percentage of the total playing population and within that cohort TJ Reid is part of another tiny minority who repeatedly get to club and county All-Ireland finals. In effect he’s a minority within a minority. To legislate for such cases at the expense of the broader playing community would be ridiculous.

I view the TJ Reid scenario as one of the inconveniencies of success, one that most players would give their right arm to experience.

Squaring the circle between the demands of club and county is a highly complex issue, where it’s easy to highlight difficulties but very challenging to find solutions. Ask anyone who’s tasked with organising fixtures and you’ll soon get a lesson on the realities.

With our multiplicity of grades, the overlaps between them, the need to reach deadlines and all of this multiplied by two with hurling and football, you can easily see the problems. Sound bites are easy – sound solutions are not.