Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Whether that man was Austin Gleeson or Gearóid McInerney was always going to prove pivotal on the first Sunday of September.
The Galway centre back was given a thankless task of manning one of the most skillful, most unpredictable players in the country right now but with a massive, massive display at the heart of the Tribesmen’s defence, McInerney set the platform for a first All-Ireland success in 29 years.
In such a wild final – electric pace and breathless intensity – you could pick out more than one moment and call it significant. It’s adding up all those moments that wins or loses a game at the end of the day but Galway fans will remember vividly, probably forever, what unfolded at the edge of their own D in the 44th minute.
The Déise are coming strong, the game is tied 0-16 to 2-10 and Austin Gleeson has just plucked an almighty ball from the skies after a long run up and salmon-like rise from beneath a pit of scrambling bodies.
The roar from the Waterford contingent is deafening as Gleeson wraps his left hand firmly around the sliotar that has travelled the length of Jones’ Road all the way from the full back line after a short puckout.
If he puts this over, it’s going to be the biggest score of the day. It’s going to be one of those inspirational points that’s worth three.
Gleeson has been quiet so far but with 26 minutes left on the clock and the scores tied, this is his moment. This is the very moment Waterford need their big man to step up and make the biggest of plays in the biggest of games and kick them on to bridge over half a century worth of hurt. The leap, the catch, the evasion away from the maroon jerseys is comic book stuff and Waterford’s very own Roy of the Rovers is about to swing over his shoulder to raise the three roofs off of every Croke Park stand.
Like the eerie tales of the silence of the Colosseum as every sword swung back in ancient Rome, the home of the GAA falls still, completely entranced by the movement of Austin Gleeson’s hurl. Waterford natives are ready to jump, Galway fans’ hearts stop for a second that feels like eternity. A second that could shape the destiny of Liam MacCarthy.
Gleeson swings to put the ball over the bar.
Not today.
Gearóid McInerney sends him packing with a merciless rejection.
An outstretched hurl, perfectly placed and perfectly timed, is thumped in the way of what could otherwise be history.
Gleeson is denied the score of the game and Waterford are denied the lead.
Galway fans are now on their feet as their rivals in white fall flat. Louder and more aggressively the roars come as thousands and thousands of men, women and children from out west push McInerney harder and faster behind every step of Austin Gleeson’s.
McInerney gets him stopped eventually. Gleeson coughs up possession and, the very second that he does, three Galway lads pile in on top.
David Burke, Johnny Coen and even Joe Canning all join the scene as if they were instructed in no uncertain terms that the moment you see Austin Gleeson in trouble, you damn well swallow him up.
Winning the ball back against any player warrants celebration and significant notes but winning the ball off of Austin Gleeson after what he has just done is huge. It’s game-changing. It’s All-Ireland-winning.
In a moment that one of hurling’s most special talents was about to immortalise forever, Gearóid McInerney came charging behind to ruthlessly hammer the hammer and shut it down completely.
Gearóid McInerney, the same man who was said to be out pulling calves with his ol’ fella on Friday, put in one of the most monstrous shifts this hallowed turf has been lucky enough to host. He produced the biggest block, the biggest tackle and the biggest indication that Galway were not going to let this go when his county needed him most.
They say that every player is just a spoke on a wheel but this was the moment that Gearóid McInerney broke the whole wheel entirely.
