There is a tradition of sportsmanship in GAA – you shake your opponent’s hand at the beginning and end, you might swap jerseys. Rugby has a mutual guard of honour – GAA sports do not. Antrim may be one of the six counties but I don’t recall hearing of guards of honour being afforded to Armagh in 1977 or for Down or Derry in football.
Now, several Offaly folk thought it was lovely that Antrim got to hurl in an All-Ireland Final and that it was wonderful that hurling’s top table became a crowded place. And that’s their business. But for many, most of all the hurlers, that 1989 defeat to Antrim was a bitter pill to swallow. It was a chance lost for a number of that Offaly team to end their careers by appearing in an All-Ireland Final. That was Delaney’s last match, Eugene finished a year later, Fogarty a year after that, and so on. And we would have had the Seniors and Minors on the same stage on All-Ireland final day. The two Troys in goal! Now, others would say it dodged an inevitable All-Ireland defeat to Tipperary.
Looking back, that defeat to Antrim was the beginning of a series of significant breakthroughs made at Offaly’s expense. Dublin in 1991, Waterford U21s in 1992, Klare in 1995, Wexford in 1996. Antrim would enjoy a number of league wins over Offaly, twice Down beat Offaly at Offaly venues. That was before Carlow, Westmeath and Kerry got in on the act.
For me, there is no room for sentiment in sport. But then, I don’t watch matches willing the gallant underdog to win. For me, Kilkenny and Tipperary brought hurling to a whole new plane in their several All-Ireland meetings between 2009 and 2016 and I would be quite happy to see the pair meet every year if they continued to bring the best out of each other. I can’t help that.
And looking back, the catalyst for the litany of the breakthroughs was the guard of honour. It ay have been well intentioned, and it would have been thought of on the spot, someone in shock after an unexpected defeat. But the symbolism was that Offaly were cool with others making a breakthrough at their expense. Nobody else (with the exception of Ireland rugby, often beaten by Italy and Argentina in the bad old days) has ben on the receiving end of so many breakthroughs.
As for tomorrow, it is disappointing that Offaly have chosen to field the ‘second’ team. As I explained Thursday night, they should have chosen to keep the momentum. Particularly when working from a blank canvas as opposed to improving a team taken over from a previous management. Instead, we have a team (Antrim) facing 15 individuals. How could it be otherwise, they have never hurled together before? It gives Antrim the belief that they can beat Offaly if and when they next meet. And it offends the Birr club who are putting on their ‘Sunday best’ to showcase their hard work and their facilities.
frankthetank wrote:Excellent preview as always POTH but there is a point I must raise and it is something you have referenced frequently on this site over the years.
Following the 1989 All Ireland Semi - Final defeat to Antrim Offaly did indeed form a guard of honour for the victors. Rather than viewing it the way you do, as some sort of ceremonial surrender, I view it as a remarkable display of sportsmanship. No person that lives in the Republic has any idea as to what life was like for Catholics in the 6 counties during the Troubles. Those Antrim hurlers risked more than we can comprehend to just travel to training and matches and to have a hurl in your boot at an RUC checkpoint would have been a serious issue. Let alone walking around Belfast city centre in a GAA top.
I for one believe that that guard of honour showed that the Offaly hurlers acknowledged the sacrifices and the very real risks that that Antrim team endured to reach the promised land of an All Ireland Final and those risks are something that we can't even manage to attempt to comprehend. Instead of being ashamed of the actions of the Offaly hurlers after the game it should be something we cherish to show what a sporting and rational people we are. Hurling in 1989 ( and still is) was only a game. The Troubles were life and death.