Limerick reach All-Ireland hurling immortality in the Croke Park cauldron on weekend sporting boundaries… – The Irish Sun

THEY are immortal now, these men who delivered Limericks first ever three-in-a-row.

A sporting weekend which had started with Irelands rugby team chopping the All Blacks down to size in Wellington ended with hurlings green giants seizing the day against a defiant Kilkenny team at Croke Park.

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Declan Hannon became the first captain in history to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup on four occasions, eclipsing all the iconic names that have gone before.

He smiled: Its a nice achievement to have but as a player your job is to do a job for the team.

Individual accolades or anything like that are not irrelevant but when youre still playing they kind of are. Im overjoyed for the group and for everyone winning.

It is a nice piece of history for me but it is always about the group and it has to be. Otherwise we wouldnt be where we are.

As if to demonstrate that, when he was accepting the trophy yesterday, Hannon brought the injured Cian Lynch up to the podium to raise it with him. The mercurial Lynch is Limericks most gifted player and the ankle injury he suffered in a training game a week earlier robbed him of a chance to play. But he was there yesterday, hobbling on crutches and wearing a protective boot.

Manager John Kiely said: Hes involved in everything we do, hes our vice-captain so hes there always, at all times, and the boys are all there for him as well obviously.

Because its hugely disappointing for him to have had the season hes had sent off in the Fitzgibbon Cup final, tears his hamstring badly, misses ten weeks, comes back, does all the rehab, gets himself back in a position to play in an All-Ireland final and for him to experience an absolutely freak injury in training, seven days out...

Youre not going to be racing down the road into a bookies when you have that kind of luck. So it was heartbreaking for him, everybody was so disappointed for him. But being the man he was, he was absolutely committed to everything we did all week.

And the boys committed to making sure they werent going to let him be the reason that people might say, Thats why you lost that final.

And what a final it was. There were 60 scores during a frenetic, pulsating game where both teams rained high ball in on top of the opposing defence.

It started off at breakneck speed and despite the high temperatures, the pace of the game hardly dipped until the final whistle.

And at that final whistle, Limerick had become only the fourth county to ever achieve three successive All-Ireland senior hurling titles joining the elite club of Kilkenny, Cork and Tipperary.

Hannon said: The three-in-a-row for the group is a serious achievement. The standard of hurling in the country is amazing. To be able to back it up year in, year out is testament to the hard work and the hunger thats still there in the group.

Few players epitomised that hunger yesterday more than Gearid Hegarty and Diarmaid Byrnes.

Both were immense on a day when so many players on both sides emptied themselves.

Kilkenny had 15 different scorers. All five subs the Cats introduced got on the scoreboard. They finished the game with a tally of 2-26. And still ended up on the losing side.

Boss Brian Cody said: We got a good reaction. Thats what its for. Players come on and make a difference but there were so many players on the pitch and they all stood up.

They were manly and they were strong and they were powerful and they just fought it out to the bitter end. They had everything that youd want them to have.

Again, one team will always go home very, very disappointed and unfortunately. today thats us.

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Richie Hogan was one of those subs who scored when sprung from the bench but it remains to be seen if we will see him back in black and amber next year.

Cillian Buckley was an unused sub yesterday and while Walter Walsh made a massive contribution during the second half, there will also be questions over his future.

Cody took Kilkenny closer than many thought possible to beating Limerick but there was a sense this was the one last itch Kielys men needed to scratch beating the Cats in a final.

Hannon said: Kilkenny have been and probably still are the kingpins in hurling. Maybe for other people who have questioned Limerick over the years that they havent beaten Kilkenny to win an All-Ireland, maybe it will quieten a few people.

But there will be no stopping the chatter building now around Shannonside in the days ahead. How about a four-in-a-row? Five even. The age profile of this Limerick team means they will not be disappearing anytime soon.

As they took off around the pitch with Liam MacCarthy for a celebratory lap, Lynch hopped with them.

The two-time Hurler of the Year began the Championship by scoring a magical point while on his knees against Cork but was injured early on in the next game against Waterford.

He only returned to action for the closing stages of the semi-final win over Galway before the cruel blow that saw him miss the decider.

The concerning reality for the chasing pack is that with Lynch back next year, Limerick will be even stronger.

As Dreams got another airing at Croke Park, the Kilkenny players and management made their way off the pitch, Dolores ORiordans haunting voice guiding them down the tunnel.

Back out on the pitch, some young family members had by then joined the Limerick players as they soaked in a fourth All-Ireland SHC success in five years.

Kiely said: All I said to my two girls at home yesterday morning was, I hope you understand that when I was yere age, I went to see Limerick play Galway in the All-Ireland final in 1980. And it was the only time I was in Croke Park in my youth until I was in my twenties in 94. That was it.

They couldnt believe it. I said, Thats the way it was. So you just need to make sure you memory-bank this because you dont know how lucky you are.

Hurlings green giants immortal now.

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Limerick reach All-Ireland hurling immortality in the Croke Park cauldron on weekend sporting boundaries... - The Irish Sun