Greatest All-Ireland Hurling Final Ever?

Medu

Exciting, yes. High in quality - no. Clare went missing for large portions of the game and completely lost their composure. This along with another awful refereeing performance and sheer will from Cork kept the game alive.
To me it felt like I was watching a minor final. Clearly some talent on pitch, more so from Clare, but they just don't know how to exploit it just yet.

awec

Medu wrote: »

Exciting, yes. High in quality - no. Clare went missing for large portions of the game and completely lost their composure. This along with another awful refereeing performance and sheer will from Cork kept the game alive.
To me it felt like I was watching a minor final. Clearly some talent on pitch, more so from Clare, but they just don't know how to exploit it just yet.

I'd far rather see games like that than cagey affairs with both teams fully composed for 70minutes.

both teams were let out of the cage yesterday by the coaches and it led to excitement from start to finish.

ultrapercy

awec wrote: »

I'd far rather see games like that than cagey affairs with both teams fully composed for 70minutes.

both teams were let out of the cage yesterday by the coaches and it led to excitement from start to finish.

I get blue in the face listening to hurling people blathering on about it being the greatest sport on earth etc etc. After watching the drawn and replayed finals, however I might have to reassess my position. Both games, to put it mildly, were very entertaining. Don't know about quality but as a spectator entertainment is the quality I appreciate.

sid waddell

ultrapercy wrote: »

I get blue in the face listening to hurling people blathering on about it being the greatest sport on earth etc etc. After watching the drawn and replayed finals, however I might have to reassess my position. Both games, to put it mildly, were very entertaining. Don't know about quality but as a spectator entertainment is the quality I appreciate.

True hurling men would never hear of yesterday being the greatest final of all-time. Only finals won by true hurling counties are in the running for that accolade.

The stranglehold of the "true hurling" brethren has been broken. True hurling men are hurting today.

Mal-Adjusted

sid waddell wrote: »

True hurling men would never hear of yesterday being the greatest final of all-time. Only finals won by true hurling counties are in the running for that accolade.

The stranglehold of the "true hurling" brethren has been broken. True hurling men are hurting today.

What exactly do you mean by "true hurling" men/counties? And how would you define who was or wasn't yesterday?

Annuv

sid waddell wrote: »

True hurling men would never hear of yesterday being the greatest final of all-time. Only finals won by true hurling counties are in the running for that accolade.

The stranglehold of the "true hurling" brethren has been broken. True hurling men are hurting today.

Most Davy-like of you Sid

Ace2007

Deleted User wrote: »

Did you actually watch the game?

8-32 scored in total??? It isnt an over used clique, the game was actually that good

Or were the defences just bad?

Annuv

People are entitled to make a distinction between greatest and most entertaining no matter where they come from.

Greatness is subjective, my own opinion is that it was not the greatest final we have witnessed. The level of skill on show yesterday did not even match the drawn game. The was a fair amount of fumbling, balls dropped from hands etc. In first half I don't think there was one puck out or clean catch made, with just handful of catches made in the second half.

In the first game we saw some scores of the highest quality that will stay in the memory for ever, Horgan's leveller, Collins pirouette, Conor Ryan's inspirational catch, solo and point and O'Donovan's equalizer I haven't watched yesterday's match again but I only recall Tony Kelly's long range point on the run off his bad side (if he has one) being comparable and maybe Nashes goal for being a spectacle that I don't think we've seen before or possibly will again

However what the game lacked in skill levels when compared to some other finals, it more than made up for in drama and entertainment. I think it was a great advertisement for the game and both teams are a credit to their counties.

I don't ever recall being as enthralled by a game that my own county were not involved in as I was in this, in a room from of neutrals we were on the edge of our sets throughout. Maybe that makes it the greatest for some, but I think it is acceptable to expect a game to stand of up to technical scrutiny for it to be considered the greatest ever

sid waddell

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

What exactly do you mean by "true hurling" men/counties? And how would you define who was or wasn't yesterday?

True hurling men must come from where the soil is good. The soil is bad in Clare, therefore Clare is not a true hurling county.

Mal-Adjusted

sid waddell wrote: »

True hurling men must come from where the soil is good. The soil is bad in Clare, therefore Clare is not a true hurling county.

can you not come up with something better than that? :rolleyes:

jacool

Annuv wrote: »

In the first game we saw some scores of the highest quality that will stay in the memory for ever, Horgan's leveller, Collins pirouette, Conor Ryan's inspirational catch, solo and point and O'Donovan's equalizer I haven't watched yesterday's match again but I only recall Tony Kelly's long range point on the run off his bad side (if he has one) being comparable and maybe Nashes goal for being a spectacle that I don't think we've seen before or possibly will

Clare's 4th goal?
A few of the points Cork reeled off while halving the deficit from 8 to 4?

sid waddell

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

can you not come up with something better than that? :rolleyes:

Yes, but I'm too hungover at the moment.

Mountainlad

I actually thought Clare's skill level in particular was immense yesterday.

And without question the best all-ireland final I've seen. I really doubt that anybody else here has seen better.

I say that also while being loath to jump on the bandwagon of "was it the best etc ever' because that gets thrown around a lot here. But this was special.

Ace2007

Ace2007 wrote: »

Or were the defences just bad?

Ill accept that it wasnt rock solid defence wise but it would seem to have evolved into a game of 'You score this and we'll score more than you'. Excitement was helter skelter from the first to the last whistle. Quality and excitement wise combined though i think 2009 probably beat it but for excitement alone....yesterday won hands down

Ace2007

Deleted User wrote: »

Ill accept that it wasnt rock solid defence wise but it would seem to have evolved into a game of 'You score this and we'll score more than you'. Excitement was helter skelter from the first to the last whistle. Quality and excitement wise combined though i think 2009 probably beat it but for excitement alone....yesterday won hands down

I agree - the excitement was unreal, but quality wise cork's defence was poor - just look at 3 of Clare's goals - first ran through the heart of defence with no tackle and offloaded to a free man, second free man left again, and then the last he basically ran and ran and ran and fumbled it into the net (all be it majority of cork lads where up the other end). The 3rd Clare goal was confusion between the cork lads as well - and the ball broke to the unmark man again.

redzerologhlen

Deleted User wrote: »

Ill accept that it wasnt rock solid defence wise but it would seem to have evolved into a game of 'You score this and we'll score more than you'. Excitement was helter skelter from the first to the last whistle. Quality and excitement wise combined though i think 2009 probably beat it but for excitement alone....yesterday won hands down

Too add to that the lack of cynical fouls and dirty play in general really added to the game. I actually thought before the game it was the type of match that might boil over but I was pleasently surprised!! It may not have been the best but it will be remembered as one of the better finals for sure.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

2009 was easily the best I've seen. 2 great teams giving it everything, I thought 2010 was a bit of a disappointment after '09 tbh, the way that Kilkenny performed. Last years 1st final was particularly good also, but I'd have the 2 finals this year above them for the sheer excitement alone.

What a year for hurling, can't see it ever being topped. Most games were great spectacles (even Kk vs Offaly), and Kk and Tipp not being in the SF was a huge surprise, but contributed greatly I feel.

robbiezero

Super game entertainment wise.
But quality wise its not the best. That's a poor Cork side.
And for me for a greatest final ever, you need an element of a clash of giants which this certainly wasn't.

Lennonist

robbiezero wrote: »

Super game entertainment wise.
But quality wise its not the best. That's a poor Cork side.
And for me for a greatest final ever, you need an element of a clash of giants which this certainly wasn't.

I hate it when people talk this sort of pish. That was a brilliant game of hurling. Clare were clearly the better hurling team, but Cork kept coming back at them. It was an outstanding Final, the replay in particular, probably one of the best ever I would say.

robbiezero

Lennonist wrote: »

I hate it when people talk this sort of pish. That was a brilliant game of hurling. Clare were clearly the better hurling team, but Cork kept coming back at them. It was an outstanding Final, the replay in particular, probably one of the best ever I would say.

It was a great game of hurling, not a classic. An exciting finish doesn't make it a classic. Only for Pa Cronin getting soft frees from the ref the game would have been over with 30 minutes to play.
Where would that Cork team rank in terms of all time Cork teams?

Lennonist

robbiezero wrote: »

It was a great game of hurling, not a classic. An exciting finish doesn't make it a classic. Only for Pa Cronin getting soft frees from the ref the game would have been over with 30 minutes to play.
Where would that Cork team rank in terms of all time Cork teams?

It was the part of your comment when you said - "you need an element of a clash of giants which this certainly wasn't" - that annoyed me. It's a devalued All Ireland because Kilkenny, Cork or Tipp didn't win it appears to be where you are coming from.

It was an outstanding Final, the pace was relentless, the ref literally couldn't keep up with it. If hurling games continue at that sort of pace, they should consider two refs on the pitch, one for each half that can consult with each other as well.

It was a great Final won by an excellent Clare team that could win more All Irelands given how young and gifted they are.

ShamoBuc

robbiezero wrote: »

It was a great game of hurling, not a classic. An exciting finish doesn't make it a classic. Only for Pa Cronin getting soft frees from the ref the game would have been over with 30 minutes to play.
Where would that Cork team rank in terms of all time Cork teams?

Bit of a ridiculous question. The greatest Cork hurling team played in lots of Crap hurling matches - fact. This particular Cork team ( no matter where they rank on the All Time list) played in 2 of the best final matches I have seen.
You don't have to be a great team to play in a great match - thought that was obvious.

allthedoyles

Final and replay were brilliant clean hurling games . - I would have been disappointed that no hurls were broken in either match . - I used to love the physical stuff as a player .

I love the 'clash of the ash '

ShamoBuc

allthedoyles wrote: »

Final and replay were brilliant clean hurling games . - I would have been disappointed that no hurls were broken in either match . - I used to love the physical stuff as a player .

I love the 'clash of the ash '

You can have the clash of the ash and a clean game, it just so happened that no hurleys were harmed in the production of these games.

robbiezero

Lennonist wrote: »

It was the part of your comment when you said - "you need an element of a clash of giants which this certainly wasn't" - that annoyed me. It's a devalued All Ireland because Kilkenny, Cork or Tipp didn't win it appears to be where you are coming from.

Didn't mean that at all. I mean it was two teams that kinda came out of nowhere and stumbled into an All-Ireland, both by back door etc, both teams nowhere in the years leading up to this, so its hard to know just how good these two teams are.

Giants was the wrong word to use, but I meant two teams at the peak of their powers and at the top of the hurling tree i.e. Clare, Limerick, Offaly, Wexford in the second half of the 90's.

Over the next few years, this Clare team should be one of the "giants", I very much doubt Cork will be.

robbiezero

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Bit of a ridiculous question. The greatest Cork hurling team played in lots of Crap hurling matches - fact. This particular Cork team ( no matter where they rank on the All Time list) played in 2 of the best final matches I have seen.
You don't have to be a great team to play in a great match - thought that was obvious.

It was a really great match, but to be the "greatest final ever", it has to have some bit of context for me i.e. a fantastic game between two great teams.
Not an exciting really open game between a fantastic young team with immense potential and a very average side.

deadybai

my top 5 finals are

1.Kilkenny v Galway drawn match 2012
2.Kilkenny v Tipp 2009
3.Cork v Galway 1990
4.Cork v Clare Replay 2013
5.Kilkenny v Tipp 2011

The reason why I chose the 2011 final is purely because it was Kilkennys 'sweet victory'. Also from a neutral perspective, I would regard the 2008 and 2011 finals the greatest ever performance by a single team in the final.

Akrasia

The final replay was an absolutely stunning showcase for the game of hurling. If we could get the Voyager probes back we would be putting a recording of this game onto the golden record so that aliens in a million year wil be able to enjoy the spectacle that was fought in Croke Park yesterday.

The talent in this clare team is, as Fitzy will say 'unreal' and the Cork team just played their hearts out. They never ever gave up and that's what made the game so great.

Next year's Munster championship will be something to look forward to.

As good as the clare team are (and they are very good) The game is very dynamic and Waterford, Limerick, Cork and Tipp are all great teams who have the potential to unleash themselves on the day. We're certainly looking at a golden age in inter county hurling.

deadybai

Gaa banter have put up a poll asking was yesterdays final the best ever. so far 71% think yes it was

One_More_Mile

It was a great game to watch but Cork backs were terrible- would KK in their pomp allow uncontested runs down the center? Not a chance. Terrible defence from cork. Cadogen, Rock O Sullivan etc.. would hardly have let O Donnelll have such a free ride